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Modelling impacts of precision irrigation on crop yield and in-field water management

R. G. Perea,A. Daccache,J. R. Díaz,E. C. Poyato,J. Knox

Published 2018 in Precision Agriculture

ABSTRACT

Precision irrigation technologies are being widely promoted to resolve challenges regarding improving crop productivity under conditions of increasing water scarcity. In this paper, the development of an integrated modelling approach involving the coupling of a water application model with a biophysical crop simulation model (Aquacrop) to evaluate the in-field impacts of precision irrigation on crop yield and soil water management is described. The approach allows for a comparison between conventional irrigation management practices against a range of alternate so-called ‘precision irrigation’ strategies (including variable rate irrigation, VRI). It also provides a valuable framework to evaluate the agronomic (yield), water resource (irrigation use and water efficiency), energy (consumption, costs, footprint) and environmental (nitrate leaching, drainage) impacts under contrasting irrigation management scenarios. The approach offers scope for including feedback loops to help define appropriate irrigation management zones and refine application depths accordingly for scheduling irrigation. The methodology was applied to a case study in eastern England to demonstrate the utility of the framework and the impacts of precision irrigation in a humid climate on a high-value field crop (onions). For the case study, the simulations showed how VRI is a potentially useful approach for irrigation management even in a humid environment to save water and reduce deep percolation losses (drainage). It also helped to increase crop yield due to improved control of soil water in the root zone, especially during a dry season.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2018

  • Venue

    Precision Agriculture

  • Publication date

    2018-06-01

  • Fields of study

    Agricultural and Food Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1007/s11119-017-9535-4
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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