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Efficient Nutrient Management Through Fertigation
Published in Megh R. Goyal, Basamma K. Aladakatti, Pradeep Kumar, Engineering Interventions in Sustainable Trickle Irrigation, 2018
Mahesh Rajendran, Archana Irene
Precise and efficient use of water and nutrients are prime concerns of sustainable crop production. Fertigation is a sophisticated and efficient method of applying fertilizers, in which the irrigation system is used as the carrier and distributor of crop nutrients. Correct design of micro irrigation is an essential prerequisite for efficient distribution of nutrients thus, avoiding deficiency in some pockets and excess in other areas. Various types of fertilizers meant for open-field and greenhouse conditions may be chosen for appropriate use for achieving maximum FUE. Fertigation scheduling should be developed before stating fertigation, considering essential criteria, such as native soil fertility status, targeted yield, variety or hybrid, growing conditions, nutrient uptake pattern, actual soil, and plant nutrient concentrations. Fertigation with WSFs is a costly process due to high cost of WSF. Hence, fertigation with imported grades of WSF has to be targeted in high-value crops for getting greater net return and to have shorter payback periods. The synergism and combination of water and nutrient lead to an efficient use by the plant. On the basis of studies conducted on different field and horticultural crops, it was found that adoption of this technology improves the yield and NUE of crops. It is also highly beneficial to farming community to reduce the cost of production. Further, it helps in maintaining the soil health for better productivity and reducing environmental pollution.
Precision Irrigation and Fertigation for the Efficient Water and Nutrient Management
Published in Ajai Singh, Wastewater Reuse and Watershed Management, 2019
A well-designed fertigation system can reduce fertilizer application costs considerably and supply nutrients in precise and uniform amounts to the wetted irrigation zone around the tree where the active feeder roots are concentrated. Applying timely doses of small amounts of nutrients to the trees throughout the growing season has significant advantages over conventional fertilizer practices. Fertigation saves fertilizer as it permits applying fertilizer in small quantities at a time matching with the plants nutrient need. Besides, it is considered eco-friendly as it avoids leaching of fertilizers. Liquid fertilizers are best suited for fertigation. In India, inadequate availability and the high cost of liquid fertilizers restrict their uses. Fertigation using granular fertilizers poses several problems namely, their different levels of solubility in water, compatibility among different fertilizers and filtration of undissolved fertilizers and impurities. Different granular fertilizers have different solubility in water. When the solutions of two or more fertilizers are mixed together, one or more of them may tend to precipitate if the fertilizers are not compatible with each other. Therefore, such fertilizers may be unsuitable for simultaneous application through fertigation and would have to be used separately. This article reports on the various issues of fertigation, i.e., advantages, and limitations, selection of water-soluble fertilizers (granular and liquid), fertigation scheduling in various crops and fertigation system for efficient fertigation programme and response of plants to fertigation; and it is economic.
Agriculture
Published in Hemanta Doloi, Ray Green, Sally Donovan, Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for Smart Villages, 2018
Hemanta Doloi, Ray Green, Sally Donovan
In developed economies, fertiliser application can be undertaken using existing irrigation systems, in a process known as fertigation. This process allows a mixture of water and fertiliser being precisely applied using a computer, tablet, or even a mobile phone, allowing applications to be controlled interactively with crop conditions. For example, this system can be set to apply water when moisture levels in the soil are below a certain threshold, and similarly fertiliser can be applied at set times after planting, particularly when young shoots are at the point they uptake nutrients. This type of system injects water and fertiliser into the soil, rather than applying it on top of the soil, making it much less likely it will be picked up by the wind, or washed off by rainwater. Unfortunately, the sophisticated digital technology required to make such a system function properly is unlikely to be available to many smallhold farmers in developing economies, at least in the short term. However, providing farmers with a simplified form of this technology along with education on plant growth cycles and appropriate fertiliser application is achievable. The key is to make the technology small enough to be able to service small farms, and affordable. The energy required to pump the water nutrient mixture to the fields could be powered by small scale alternative energy generation technology – e.g. solar, wind, micro-hydro, wave and current generated energy. The cost of the necessary digital and energy generation technology is steadily decreasing and becoming more affordable for smaller scale applications, even in more remote villages in developing countries.
Farmers’ perceptions, adoption and impacts of integrated water management technology under changing climate
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2023
Hongyun Zheng, Wanglin Ma, David Boansi, Victor Owusu
The third channel demonstrates how IWMT adoption influences farmers’ irrigation investments and farm output. First, IWMT adoption optimizes water transportation and application, which increases water utilization efficiency. Fertigation reduces water waste through pipeline transport and applies water to plant roots (Jayakumar et al., 2017). The unique water transmission and application in fertigation practice contribute immensely to improving water utilization efficiency, which has been widely proven by field experiments (Chatzimichael et al., 2019; Luo & Li, 2018). In comparison, traditional furrow irrigation systems are often associated with irrigation water evaporation during soil transmission. Second, IWMT adoption helps reduce fertilizer and nutrition loss and accelerates fertilizer uptake during crop production. Fertigation enables the efficient utilization and precise application of fertilizers and nutrients based on soil conditions. Notably, fertilizer is applied to soils with wetted volumes, thus improving the fertilizer utilization efficiency. For example, in a field experiment conducted in India, Sidhu et al. (2019) reported that subsurface drip fertigation saves about 20% nitrogen fertilizer in rice and wheat production. Third, IWMT adoption enables farmers to design flexible plans, ensuring efficient and effective irrigation and fertilization. Fertigation allows for timely water supply in different cultivation stages and frequent fertilizer supply to avoid extremely high or low nutrient concentrations in the soil (Sandhu et al., 2019). Increased flexibility in irrigation and fertilization frequency helps farmers avoid unexpected climate shocks, such as extreme droughts (Rehman et al., 2022).
Micro-irrigation development in India: an analysis of distributional pattern and potential correlates
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2019
A. Suresh, Aditya K.S., Girish Jha, Suresh Pal
Micro-irrigation is mostly used for high-value crops like fruits, vegetables and plantation crops (Evans & Sadler, 2008; Kumar, 2016). The possibility of more effective fertigation through drip systems makes it more convenient and cost-effective. Sprinkler irrigation is largely used for field crops. MI systems, being capital-intensive, are mostly adopted by cultivators of high-value crops. In that context, a positive sign is expected for this variable.