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Category: Drip Irrigation News

Drip Irrigation Scheduling

Drip Irrigation scheduling is the process of deciding when to run the drip irrigation system, and for how long. It is a complex topic but of utmost importance because it influences whether the crop gets the right amount of water and nutrients, and whether valuable water is wasted to runoff or deep percolation. Irrigation scheduling combines data and agronomic expertise in that the irrigator must balance known facts such as weather, chemistry, stage of plant growth and farm cultural operations.

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Troubleshooting

To help farmers, dealers, and manufacturers recognize and understand some of the problems that have been experienced with drip tape (problems that are quite different from manufacturing defects), the Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) published a drip tape problem guide called “Diagnosing and Avoiding Damage to Drip Tape.” Problems that are quickly detected and properly identified can often be remedied, or be avoided in the future.

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Drip Irrigation Guide: Owner’s Manual

The Drip Irrigation Owner’s Manual was developed by Toro to be a comprehensive drip irrigation guide for both new and existing row, field, and permanent crop growers. The manual helps growers take full advantage of the precise, efficient, and practical benefits of a drip irrigation system. Topics include drip irrigation system overview, starting-up your drip irrigation system, basic system operation, fertigation, chemigation, salinity management, system maintenance, and maximizing your investment. The Drip Irrigation Owner’s Manual heavily references both government and academic sources, is beautifully illustrated, and is simply written in lay terms.

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Drip Irrigation Definitions & Best Practices

Drip irrigation may be defined according to a number of performance parameters including flow rates, wetting pattern, pressure rating and construction material. Regardless of the specific type, make, or model the following are drip irrigation definitions, characteristics, and best practices. Water is applied at a low flow rate – Emission device flow rates are typically measured in gallons per hour (GPH), resulting in low application rates. Water is applied for long periods of time – Irrigation duration may be hours rather than minutes when the application rate is low. Water is applied frequently – Irrigation events may occur daily, or even muliple times per day, when the application rate is low. Water is applied at low pressure – Operating pressures typically range between 10-30 psi, rarely exceeding 60 psi, for most emission devices. Water is applied directly to the soil and the plant’s root zone – Water drips, or sprays,

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Farm Irrigation for Food Safety

Agricultural water quality and food safety issues are important, and growers are finding that drip irrigation is a valuable tool to help solve their problems. Drip Irrigation Avoids Runoff – In fruit and vegetable row crop production, significant runoff often occurs during the first couple of weeks of production when sprinklers are used to germinate seed or set transplants. Much of this runoff is wasted and creates water quality problems in surface water supplies or in ground water supplies. Some producers are eliminating the need for sprinklers during the first few weeks of production by paying close attention to soil preparation techniques and drip tape selection to successfully germinate and/or set the crop with drip irrigation system that is typically only used for in-season irrigation. This practice prevents runoff and deep percolation, saves water and reduces sprinkler pipe and movement costs. Farm Irrigation Utilizing Drip Irrigation May Reduce the Presence

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Financial Benefits of Drip Irrigation

It is a common misconception that a drip irrigation conversion will take several years to pay for itself.  In fact, farmers and landscapers converting to drip irrigation have realized quick drip irrigation benefits, payback and substantially improved profits. For example, a corn and soybean farmer in Nebraska installed a drip irrigation system originally believing that the conversion would take over 5 years to pay for itself. But to his surprise, it took less than two years!  This is partly because corn prices rose, yields were better than expected and government EQIP funds contributed $330/acre towards the system’s cost.  In addition, costs dropped an estimated $160/acre due to reduced fuel, labor, chemical, fertilizer and cultivation expenses.  Even without subsidies, these benefits would have paid for the system in a little over three years. The drip irrigation payback chart below depicts 3 different “payback” scenarios based on actual results: Drip Irrigation Payback

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Advantages of Drip Irrigation

Today it is more important than ever to use water resources wisely and to irrigate intelligently. Consequently, many farmers have turned to drip irrigation and have enjoyed improved profitability by increasing crop yield and quality while at the same time reducing costs from water, energy, labor, chemical inputs and water runoff. Many landscapers have also enjoyed significant water and capital investment savings using drip irrigation, while simultaneously improving plant vigor by delivering water and nutrients directly to the plant roots and avoiding unnecessary wetting of plant leaves. Drip irrigation is the targeted, intelligent application of water, fertilizer, and chemicals that when used properly can provide great benefits, such as: Increased revenue from increased yields Increased revenue from increased quality decreased water costs decreased labor costs decreased energy costs decreased fertilizer costs decreased pesticide costs Improved environmental quality Click here to learn more about the advantages of drip irrigation. Click this

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Drip Irrigation Efficiency for Conserving Water

Drip irrigation has enabled farmers, nurserymen, and landscapers to conserve water for decades. This is primarily because, in contrast to gravity or sprinkler irrigation, drip irrigation efficiency and technology applies water slowly and directly to the targeted plant’s root zone. In addition, drip irrigation technology has extremely high application uniformity, even when pressures vary from hilly terrain or long lengths of run, or where planted areas are oddly shaped. Water is conserved in the following ways through drip irrigation efficiency: Drip irrigation application uniformity is very high, usually over 90% Unlike sprinklers, drip irrigation applies water directly to the soil, eliminating water loss from wind. Application rates are low so water may be spoon fed to the crop or plant root zone in the exact amounts required (even on a daily or hourly basis).  In contrast, other methods entail higher water application quantities and less frequency.  If young plants need

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WEBINAR REVIEW: Making Drip Irrigation Pay

Last week, we blogged about a free webinar produced by the Grange Network called “Making Drip Pay” that discussed how to increase income, reduce costs, and improve flexibility with drip irrigation. Led by Inge Bisconer of Toro Micro-Irrigation, the webinar highlighted how growers have quickly paid for the investment. For example, Chris and Stephen Cox, a father son team in Kansas, paid for their $1,100 per acre system in 1.5 years by increasing corn yields by 100 bushels per acre, and by reducing costs by about $160 per acre. They also received $330/acre of EQIP cost share.

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