ABSTRACT
In South Italy the main factor constraining crop yield is the soil water shortage. In spite of adequate values of annual precipitation and soil water storage capacity the high levels of incident radiation and wind speed cause a massive evaporation flux. Under these environmental conditions the stage at which grain crops are susceptible to drought appear to be critical coincides with the period of maximum atmospheric evaporation demand. Due to plant water status the rates of leaf expansion and plant growth largely determine the crop yield. Therefore meteorological measurements supported with physiological data provide one of the best means to establish the time of plant water stress: in particular the infrared thermometry along with the strategy of limited irrigation allow to increase the water use efficiency (WUE) of the crops.
