Can Irrigation Scheduling Improve the Yield/Consumptive Use Ratio? -
Ronald D. Bliesner, Daniel Spare, and Aaron M. Beutler
An irrigation scheduling program based on FAO-56 Penman-Montieth evapo-transpiration estimation and neutron probe soil moisture measurement has been in operation on a 28,000 hectare center-pivot irrigation project located in northern New Mexico for the past 5 years. The program has resulted in a reduction in applied water of about 20% compared to the average for the ten years prior to implementation of irrigation scheduling. Reduced groundwater discharge as a result of the reduced deep percolation has reduced phreatophyte growth and consumptive use. Reduced water ponding and runoff in the fields has allowed increases in yields and reduced consumptive use in some crops as a result of scheduling. Yields also have improved for most crops as a result of better farming practices not directly attributable to irrigation scheduling. While the yield/consumptive use ratio has improved with scheduling it has not been possible to quantify the improvement with the available data.
Proceedings, EWRI World Water Congress 2005 Anchorage, Alaska, USA.
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