ISHS Acta Horticulturae 278: Symposium on Scheduling of Irrigation for Vegetable Crops under Field Condition
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO IRRIGATION SCHEDULING IN HORTICULTURE |
| Authors: | P. Braun, P. Buss |
| Abstract:
This paper is an extension of a paper by Buss (1989) and describes the main features of a technique developed to schedule irrigation in areas high in spatial variability of soil factors and crop characteristics. The technique systematically integrates data from surveying and monitoring soil, crop, climate, irrigation systems and management factors which are used to plan and implement irrigation schedules for permanent horticultural plantings. First the soil, irrigation system and crop are surveyed to produce an irrigation scheduling plan, that consists of units with similar amounts of water storage and patterns of water extraction with time. Repeated measurements of soil water content are then made using a neutron moisture meter (NMM) calibrated on site. These data together with climatic data, irrigation events and cultural management practices are entered as site specific information into a computer database. The computer program provides an easy to interpret presentation of the incoming information. In this way soil water removal and crop behaviour can be interpreted with regard to site specific environmental and management factors. The presented technique provides additionally a template to develop an irrigation schedule elsewhere by systematically integrating important information responsible for the soil-water/ plant behaviour. | |
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