Author
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Vories, Earl |
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Submitted to: InfoAg Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 2/7/2007 Publication Date: 3/1/2007 Citation: Vories, E.D. 2007. Precision irrigation. InfoAg Mid-South Conference, February 7-8, 2006, Starkville, MS. Available: http://www.infoag.org/ConferenceBuilder/cb_SpeakerInfo.asp?SPID=261&SSID=305&PRID=598 Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Many cotton growers in the Mid-South now use variable-rate application for seed, fertilizer, plant growth regulators, and defoliants. However, some of the potential benefit of variable-rate application can be masked by applying a uniform rate of water across the field. The University of Georgia Precision Farming team at the National Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory (NESPAL) in Tifton, Georgia, and their collaborators developed a system they called Variable-Rate Irrigation (VRI). The system varies the amount of water applied to different portions of a field by varying the system speed and pulsing individual sprinklers. Prototype systems were installed and tested, and recently a private company began selling and installing a system for existing pivots based on the NESPAL design. In 2006, one of the VRI systems was installed on a quarter-mile long center pivot irrigating a cotton field on the Judd Hill Plantation near Trumann, Arkansas. The field has variable soils and overlapping areas from two adjacent pivots. The system will be programmed to apply variable irrigation rates based on the soils, overlap areas, and irrigation studies in the field. Soil moisture sensors, aerial imagery, and yield monitor data will be analyzed to determine the impact of the irrigation treatments. Additional instrumentation will be added to record the flowrate and water pressure as the system operates and records of fuel use will be kept. In this way the potential of VRI in the Mid-South will be evaluated. |
