Irrigation: Scheduling

Jennifer Laffan

Dec 2015 · AgGuide Water Series Book 3 · NSW Agriculture

About this ebook

Scheduling irrigation is about planning when and how much water to apply to a crop to achieve crop production or a particular quality. The principles of scheduling water apply to all crops, however the critical timing, methods and techniques can vary with the crop.

This book is about:

·      the ways in which specific crops respond to stress and the effects of the timing and degree of stress and the growth stage of the crop

·      evapotranspiration (ET) and  crop water use to schedule irrigations

·      developing an irrigation schedule

·      terms used to describe the amount of water available to a crop

·      soil moisture probes and where to locate them

·      water quality issues to consider.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Safety

Chapter 3: Environmental Impacts Of Irrigation     

Chapter 4: The Need For Water Varies

Chapter 5: Factors Affecting Evapotranspiration

Chapter 6: Scheduling Irrigations

Chapter 7: How Soil Holds Water

Chapter 8: Data From Soil Moisture Probes

Chapter 9: Do You Need A Calibrated Probe?

Chapter 10: Implementing A Deficit Strategy

Chapter 11: Placement Of Soil Probes

Chapter 12: Irrigation Water Quality

Appendix 1: Determining PAWC

Appendix 2: Determining RAW From Soil Texture

Appendix 3: Determining Starting And Final Soil Moisture

Appendix 4: Calibration Of Soil Moisture Monitoring Tools

Appendix 5: IrriSAT – Weather based scheduling tool

Further Information

About the author

Jennifer Laffan has written many publications and training resources for the NSW Department of Primary Industries, including others in the AgSkills series.