A practical guide to irrigation scheduling, helping farmers and irrigators determine when and how much water to apply for productive, efficient and sustainable irrigation management.
Who this guide is for
- Farmers and primary producers
- Irrigation managers and operators
- Agricultural advisors and consultants
- Students studying irrigation and water management
What you'll learn
- The principles of irrigation scheduling
- How crop water requirements change throughout the growing season
- Factors that influence evapotranspiration
- Weather-based irrigation scheduling techniques
- Soil-based and plant-based monitoring methods
- How soil stores and supplies water to plants
- Using soil moisture probes and monitoring equipment
- Deficit irrigation strategies and their applications
- Water quality considerations for irrigation
- Practical approaches to improving irrigation efficiency
Irrigation scheduling is about knowing when to irrigate and how much water to apply to achieve crop production goals while avoiding moisture stress or unnecessary water use. Although the principles apply across all irrigation enterprises, the timing and techniques required can vary significantly between crops.
This guide explores the factors that influence crop water demand, including weather conditions, crop type and soil characteristics. It provides practical guidance on scheduling methods and explains how soil moisture monitoring can support more informed irrigation decisions.
The publication also examines water quality considerations, deficit irrigation strategies and the effective use of soil probes to measure and manage available soil moisture. These tools can help irrigators improve water-use efficiency while maintaining productive and sustainable farming systems.
Whether you are managing a commercial irrigation enterprise, upgrading your irrigation knowledge or studying agricultural water management, this guide provides practical information to support better irrigation decisions.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Safety
Chapter 3: Environmental impacts of irrigation
Chapter 4: The need for water varies
Chapter 5: Factors affecting evapotranspiration
Chapter 6: Scheduling irrigations
Chapter 7: How soil holds water
Chapter 8: Data from soil moisture probes
Chapter 9: Do you need a calibrated probe?
Chapter 10: Implementing a deficit strategy
Chapter 11: Placement of soil probes
Chapter 12: Irrigation water quality
Publication Details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Author | Jennifer Laffan |
| Publisher | NSW Department of Primary Industries |
| Series | AgGuide Water Series |
| Catalogue Number | B953 |
| ISBN | 9781742567877 |
| Format | A4 |
| Pages | 66 |
| Publication Year | 2015 |