Abstract: Studies on the status of field water supply in semiarid area of western Liaoning Province showed that the water consumption by crops mainly came from rainfall in growing season and soil water storage.An insufficient rainfall, and especially, a serious water shortage in early growing season was the important cause for the decrease of crop yield.Water supply from rainfall accounted for 75.6% of water comsumption, and that from soil water storage was up to 24.4%.There was a linear relationship between water consumption by crops and rainfall in growing season.

Key words: Semiarid area, Field water supply, Water consumption by crops