Irrigation Monitoring

The Irrigation Monitoring Service offered by Agri-Tech is a full monitoring package from crop emergence through to harvest of the crop or Autumn dormancy in the case of fruit.

In practice an initial visit is made to the farm where the service is explained in detail to the grower, and where background knowledge can be obtained. This enables us to get an insight in to the individual production unit and any constraints there may be to work within. It also enables us to get an understanding of how the decision to irrigate has been made in the past.

Once a grower has decided that they wish to utilise the system a decision is made with our guidance as to haw many monitoring sites there should be on the unit / farm.

Access tubes are then installed by us into the growing crop in an area of the field / block that is representative with regards to soil type, crop growth etc. The grower assists with this decision as their knowledge of the soil underneath is of paramount importance. Three access tubes are installed per monitoring area / site.

Once the tubes are installed, the crop monitoring generally commences.
We have a range of instrumentation to hand which measure soil moisture, but the most accurate and repeatable is the Neutron Probe, used by our own consultants to base their recommendations on.

The readings are taken on a weekly basis by the same consultant. This enables us to form a partnership with our growers by providing a weekly consultation through the growing season. Each consultant carries Probe laptop and printer on board the vehicle. Each week a reading is taken, and a graphic printout of the soil profile produced clearly displaying the soil moisture deficit, crop daily water use, and how the plant is using water.

From this data together with a weather forecast for the area, the consultant is able to predict the crop use for the next week such that the grower is left with a clear irrigation plan for each area monitored. Ideally we like to meet up with the grower / irrigation manager etc to go through the recommendations, such that everybody is clear on the information provided.

Those wishing to predict climatic changes  more accurately between the weekly visits in the growing season, are using the Vantage-Pro Weather data carefully watching daily changes which can be related back to the weekly probe readings and crop use with considerable effect.

In summary, good irrigation practice will lead to:-

• Improved quality and yield
  
• Reduced pumping costs
  
• Improved water efficiency
  
• Reduced nutrient leaching
  
• Manipulate soil moisture content according to growth stage
  
• Potentially higher profits