Evaluating two irrigation controllers under subsurface drip irrigated tomato crop

  • Hussein M. Al-Ghobari King Saud University, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, Agricultural Engineering Dept. PO Box 2460, Riyadh 11451
  • Fawzi S. Mohammad King Saud University, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, Agricultural Engineering Dept. PO Box 2460, Riyadh 11451
  • Mohamed S. A. El Marazky King Saud University, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, Agricultural Engineering Dept. PO Box 2460, Riyadh 11451
Keywords: smart irrigation, ET controllers, subsurface irrigation, automatic controllers, irrigation water use efficiency, arid region, tomato yields

Abstract

Smart systems could be used to improve irrigation scheduling and save water under Saudi Arabia’s present water crisis scenario. This study investigated two types of evapotranspiration-based smart irrigation controllers, SmartLine and Hunter Pro-C2, as promising tools for scheduling irrigation and quantifying plants’ water requirements to achieve water savings. The effectiveness of these technologies in reducing the amount of irrigation water was compared with the conventional irrigation scheduling method as a control treatment. The two smart irrigation sensors were used for subsurface irrigation of a tomato crop (cv. Nema) in an arid region. The results showed that the smart controllers significantly reduced the amount of applied water and increased the crop yield. In general, the Hunter Pro-C2 system saved the highest amount of water and produced the highest crop yield, resulting in the highest water irrigation efficiency compared with the SmartLine controller and the traditional irrigation schedule. It can be concluded that the application of advanced scheduling irrigation techniques such as the Hunter controller under arid conditions can realise economic benefits by saving large amounts of irrigation water.

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Author Biography

Mohamed S. A. El Marazky, King Saud University, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, Agricultural Engineering Dept. PO Box 2460, Riyadh 11451

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Published
2017-01-20
How to Cite
Al-Ghobari, H. M., Mohammad, F. S., & El Marazky, M. S. A. (2017). Evaluating two irrigation controllers under subsurface drip irrigated tomato crop. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 14(4), e1206. https://doi.org/10.5424/sjar/2016144-8615
Section
Water management