IRRIGATION SCHEDULING
Irrigation scheduling helps eliminate or reduce instances where
too little or too much water is applied to crops. Scheduling is
performed by all growers in one way or another. However,
proper irrigation scheduling involves fine-tuning the time and
amount of water applied to crops based on the water content
in the crop root zone, the amount of water consumed by the
crop since it was last irrigated, and crop development stage.
Direct measurement of soil moisture content is among the
most useful methods for irrigation scheduling. The extent to
which farmers can utilize advanced irrigation depends on their
access to water and labor. The economics, and in particular
the critical impact of water availability on the yield, also play a
role on the uptake of advanced irrigation scheduling.