Field Study of Variable Rate Irrigation Management in Humid Climates

Sui, Ruixiu; Yan, Haijun

doi:10.1002/ird.2111

Cited by 42 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(40 reference statements)

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“…Compared to the uniform application, VRI increases crop productivity. The results comparing the water productivity of sorghum and corn showed that there was more than 20% increase in water productivity for both crops using VRI [35]. Another study conducted in a 4-ha field, VRI resulted in a significant difference in corn yield in a dry year.…”

Section: Impact Of Variable-rate Irrigationmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The basic requirements for the VRI technology are sensors and spatial information, prescription maps and a system to incorporate VRI prescription (e.g., LEPA, lateral irrigation, etc.) to apply in the field [35]. At present, there are several irrigation technologies for conservation irrigation, such as sprinkler, drip, and other micro-irrigation systems but limited site-specific studies have been done [30,[36][37][38].…”

Section: Variable-rate Irrigation Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agronomic Basis and Strategies for Precision Water Management: A Review

2019

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Agriculture faces the challenge of feeding a growing population with limited or depleting fresh water resources. Advances in irrigation systems and technologies allow site-specific application of irrigation water within the field to improve water use efficiency or reduce water usage for sustainable crop production, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. This paper discusses recent development of variable-rate irrigation (VRI) technologies, data and information for VRI application, and impacts of VRI, including profitability using this technology, with a focus on agronomic factors in precision water management. The development in sprinkler systems enabled irrigation application with greater precision at the scale of individual nozzle control. Further research is required to evaluate VRI prescription maps integrating different soil and crop characteristics in different environments. On-farm trials and whole-field studies are needed to provide support information for practical VRI applications. Future research also needs to address the adjustment of the spatial distribution of prescription zones in response to temporal variability in soil water status and crop growing conditions, which can be evaluated by incorporating remote and proximal sensing data. Comprehensive decision support tools are required to help the user decide where to apply how much irrigation water at different crop growth stages to optimize water use and crop production based on the regional climate conditions and cropping systems.

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Section: Impact Of Variable-rate Irrigationmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Variable-rate Irrigation Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agronomic Basis and Strategies for Precision Water Management: A Review

2019

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“…Significant crop yield increases or reduction in water withdrawals resulting from VRI adoption were not observed in most studies. However, Sui and Yan (2017) found reduction in water withdrawals with VRI compared to a uniform irrigation method. Most of these studies, except for Barker et al (2018b), have been conducted at smaller scales, which may or may not be representative of commercial-field-scale agricultural production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…A number of field studies on VRI have been conducted to quantify the benefits of VRI (Stone et al, 2015;Stone and Sadler, 2016;Barker et al, 2018b;Sui and Yan, 2017). Significant crop yield increases or reduction in water withdrawals resulting from VRI adoption were not observed in most studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Site-specific irrigation management in a sub-humid climate using a spatial evapotranspiration model with satellite and airborne imagery

Bhatti

Heeren

Barker

et al. 2020

Agricultural Water Management

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Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) considers spatial variability in soil and plant characteristics to optimize irrigation management in agricultural fields. The advent of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) creates an opportunity to utilize high-resolution (spatial and temporal) imagery into irrigation management due to decreasing costs, ease of operation, and reduction of regulatory constraints. This research aimed to evaluate the use of UAS data for VRI, and to quantify the potential of VRI in terms of relative crop and water response. Irrigation treatments were: (1) VRI using Landsat imagery (VRI-L), (2) VRI using UAS imagery (VRI-U), (3) uniform (U), and (4) rainfed (R). An updated remote-sensing-based evapotranspiration and water balance 1 B h a t t i e t a l . i n A g r i c u l t u r a l W a t e r M a n a g e m e n t 2 3 0 ( 2 0 2 0 ) 2 model, incorporating soil water measurements, was used to make prescriptions for the VRI treatments at a field site in eastern Nebraska. In 2017, the mean prescribed seasonal irrigation depth (I p ) for VRI-L was significantly greater (α=0.05) than the I p for U for soybean. In 2018, I p for soybean was greatest for VRI-U treatment followed by the U and VRI-L treatments, with all being significantly different from each other. No significant differences in I p for maize were observed in 2017 or 2018. In all cropyear combinations, the VRI and U treatments had significantly greater evapotranspiration (ET) than the R treatment. Yield differences among treatments were not significant (except for rainfed maize compared to VRI-L in 2017). For maize in 2017, IWUE for VRI-L was comparable to the U treatment. The UAS imagery was a better match for the scale of crop management than Landsat imagery, particularly for thermal data. The multispectral UAS data was successfully used in the crop coefficient ET model for real-time irrigation, but using UAS to determine accurate canopy temperatures for surface energy balance modeling remains a challenge.

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“…In the second year, VRI treatment water application depths ranged from 18% less to 10% greater water application. In Mississippi, Sui and Yan (2017) compared VRI and UI for corn and soybean production and reported VRI used 25% less water with no overall significant difference in yields.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Water Conservation Using Site-Specific Variable Rate Irrigation

Stone¹,

Bauer²,

Sigua³

2019

Applied Engineering in Agriculture

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Abstract. Site-specific variable-rate irrigation (VRI) systems can be used to spatially manage irrigation within sub-field-sized zones and optimize spatial water use efficiency. The goal of the research is to provide farmers and consultants a tool to evaluate the potential benefits of implementing VRI. The specific objective of this research is to evaluate the potential water savings using VRI management compared with uniform irrigation management to maintain soil water holding capacity above 50% depletion using two irrigation scenarios: 1) a standard 12.5 mm irrigation per application; and 2) an application to refill the soil profile to field capacity. A 21-year simulation study was carried out on a selected field with varying degrees of soil and topographic variability. The simulated field had 12 soil mapping units with water holding capacities in the top 0.30-m ranging from 42 to 70 mm. The 21-year simulation covering all weather conditions for each soil produced only two significantly different irrigation management zones for scenario 1, and for scenario 2 only one management zone. However, when the 21-year period was divided into periods with different ratios of rainfall to reference evapotranspiration, the simulations identified 1 to 5 management zones with significantly different irrigation requirements. These results indicate that variable rate irrigation system design and management should not be solely based on long term average weather conditions. Years with differing weather conditions should be used for potentially identifying management zones for VRI systems. Irrigation application depths between management zones ranged from 17 to 38 mm. However, when the actual soil areas of the study field were utilized to calculate the total volume of irrigation water applied, it resulted in an increase in water usage in the 2 and 4 management zones ranging from -1.2% to 5.8%. Water usage with VRI over uniform irrigation was greater by -1.6% to 6.8% in the 12.5 mm irrigations and by -1.2% to 2.2% for the field capacity irrigations Keywords: Management zones, Precision farming, Variable-rate irrigation, Water conservation.

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Field Study of Variable Rate Irrigation Management in Humid Climates

Cited by 42 publications

References 45 publications

Agronomic Basis and Strategies for Precision Water Management: A Review

Agronomic Basis and Strategies for Precision Water Management: A Review

Site-specific irrigation management in a sub-humid climate using a spatial evapotranspiration model with satellite and airborne imagery

Potential Water Conservation Using Site-Specific Variable Rate Irrigation

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