Description

There is an urgent need to boost crop production per drop of water used in agriculture and so ensure that water use efficiency is increased without having a detrimental impact on downstream water quantity and quality in order to provide food security and sustainable water management for agriculture. An integrated strategy for managing soil, water, plants, and nutrients must be the foundation for any improvements in the management of water resources. The schedule of irrigation should be optimised, as well as more effective irrigation techniques like drip irrigation. To ensure that crop development is not constrained by nutrient or physical limitations and that every drop of water can be used for growth, soil fertility needs to be enhanced. Demand-based irrigation scheduling that considers the various crops' water requirements, growth stages, and the current environmental conditions can result in efficient water uptake by crops. By reducing the amount of soil evaporation losses in relation to plant transpiration in the field, agricultural water usage efficiency can be increased. The ability to measure soil evaporation and plant transpiration provides data on irrigation requirements for certain crop types and growth phases, which is important for water management and conservation. This book provides valuable insights throughout the chapters.