Adoption of water-conservation irrigation practices could potentially reduce water and energy use and increase profitability, as well as protect the environment. Precision irrigation consisting of soil sensors (SS) for irrigation scheduling and variable rate irrigation (VRI) was compared with conventional uniform irrigation (URI). The study was conducted in South Alabama during the 2018 and 2019 corn growing seasons. The SS-VRI and URI treatments spanned the length of the field and were compared across five different management zones (MZ) that exhibited soil and terrain differences. Soil water tension sensors were installed on each MZ-treatment area to monitor hourly soil water changes. Results showed that on the two zones covering 55% of the study field, MZ 1 and MZ 2, the SS-VRI treatment, on a two-year average, resulted in 26% less irrigation water applied compared to the URI treatment; however, there were no statistical differences between yields or yield variability among treatments. Even though in MZ 4, there was not a substantial difference in irrigation water applied among treatments, soil sensors increased the precision of irrigation rate determination during the peak of high crop water demand. Findings from this study showed that as rainfall amount and distribution change over a crop growing period, soil sensor-based irrigation scheduling could be used to prevent over- or under irrigation. With proper management, the combination of soil sensors and VRI provides farmers with the opportunity to reduce water use, while increasing or maintaining yields; however, farmers must consider the investment and operating costs relative to the benefits.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.