Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung WBF Agroscope
Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung WBF Agroscope
Well regulated irrigation – key to water control
Thomas Anken
Agroscope, Tänikon, CH-8356 Ettenhausen
Controlling soil water content
Farmer underestimate soil water content easily by 30 %
No efficient irrigation without soil water content control
Cocoa, Juazeiro, Northeastern Brazil
Rio Sao Francisco Brazil
Abundant water is still available but first restrictions are in place
Soil water control
New soil moisture probes for LoRa are finding their way to the market
Smart phone application makes a difference!
• no cabeling necessary
• easy to handle
• low cost
Non-restricted and regulated deficit
Automated control allows for driving different water regimes
Meteo stations & sensors are getting much cheaper
ex. Agriscope
ex. Pessl is including weather forecast for irrigation steering
flowmeter & electric valve
ET0 as a base for the irrigation regulation
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
03.11.16 14.11.16 25.11.16 06.12.16 17.12.16 28.12.16 08.01.17 19.01.17 30.01.17 10.02.17 21.02.17 04.03.17 15.03.17 26.03.17 06.04.17 17.04.17 28.04.17 09.05.17 20.05.17 31.05.17 11.06.17 22.06.17 03.07.17 14.07.17 25.07.17 05.08.17 16.08.17 27.08.17 07.09.17 18.09.17 29.09.17 10.10.17 21.10.17 01.11.17 12.11.17 23.11.17 04.12.17 15.12.17 26.12.17 06.01.18 17.01.18
mm/day
ET0 Farm - Juazeiro (BA) ET0 Farm - Ilhéus (BA)
mm irrigation = ET0 * Leaf area index * crop constance
Cocoa tree adapt well to drip irrigation
fine roots are concentrated below the dripperline
Dendrometers are usefull stress indicators for fruit trees
0% irrigation 0% irrigation
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
27.06.2018 02.07.2018 07.07.2018 12.07.2018 17.07.2018 22.07.2018 27.07.2018 01.08.2018
Cbar
T3Median 20 T3Median 40
8000 8500 9000 9500 10000 10500 11000 11500
27. Jun 18 29. Jun 18 30. Jun 18 02. Jul 18 03. Jul 18 05. Jul 18 07. Jul 18 08. Jul 18 09. Jul 18 11. Jul 18 12. Jul 18 14. Jul 18 15. Jul 18 17. Jul 18 18. Jul 18 20. Jul 18 21. Jul 18 23. Jul 18 24. Jul 18 26. Jul 18 27. Jul 18 29. Jul 18
D550 D548 D547
µm
stop of irrigation shrinkage of the stem very strong stress
• Shaded trees performed about 10-20 % better than unshaded ones
• Shading decreased the water need of about 30 %
• Is it worth to invest in shading nets or using other trees for shading?
• Good windbreaks are essential – cocoa is very sensitive against wind!
Cocoa: Shaded and wind protected trees have a better performance
Details see “cocoa handbook” http://smartfarming.agroscope.ch/
(teleagronomy for apple and cocoa)
Thermal cameras for drones
• Interesting relative comparisons
• Not yet a standard tool for farmers
(Perich et al. 2020)
Switzerland: Irrigation of potatoes (A. Keiser, HAFL)
• network of Sentek probes for potatoe production in CH
• accurate irrigation is important for quality & yield
• 200 locations are online
• www.bewaesserungsnetz.ch
Potatoe have shallow roots (A. Keiser, HAFL)
very high water content below 50 cm
www.agrometeo.ch – irrigation network for fruit trees in CH
• watermark probes are installed in about 10 orchards (at least 6 probes per orchard) in 30 and 60 cm depth
• some farmers have an
automated irrigation system installed
(Ph. Monney, Agroscope, Conthey)
Switzerland: automated control of soil moisture in apple orchards
precipitation
irrigation
(Ph. Monney, Agroscope, Conthey)
Monitoring fruit growth is demanded by farmers
(Monney & Anken 2019)
