The Importance Of Precision Irrigation In Commercial Greenhouses
There’s a global water crisis, and that’s not a surprise to anyone. Water is essential to life, but it is also a limited resource. Agriculture accounts for at least 70% of freshwater use, which is why we have to use it efficiently to avoid increasing the global water crisis.
Precision irrigation is one of the best methods to improve water use. This method allows the application of water to the plants at the right time and place. Plus, it uses the necessary doses to avoid misuse. This way, farmers can enjoy better products using fewer resources.
What are the Benefits Of Using Precision Irrigation?
Avoids Water Waste
With this technique, you place water only within the active rot ozone. As a result, there’s no wastewater in between crop rows. You can also forget about the percolation of water below the active root zone when using the precision irrigation method.
In short, you apply water only where it can be successfully absorbed by the plants so that they can generate more yield.
It Reduces Leaching & Run-Of
With the precision irrigation technique, you apply water and nutrients straight to the plant’s root zone in small doses. Therefore, there’s no excessive application, and there’s no surface run-off either.
Additionally, there’s no leaching of plant nutrients, which is indeed important because that would be a waste of resources. Keep in mind that leaching nutrients also means groundwater contamination risk, something that could severely affect your business.
It Reduces Evaporation In Your Greenhouse
Whether you are an agricultural distributor or an entrepreneur with a hydroponic farm, precision irrigation is the most efficient way to water and care for your plantation.
Using the precision irrigation method means there’s less water loss because there’s no risk of evaporation. Applying water to the greenhouse by sprinklers or pivot usually means 10 or even 30% of evaporated water (before it touches the ground).
Allows You To Reuse Wastewater
Another benefit of using precision irrigation is the reuse of wastewater thanks to its advanced system. With this method, wastewater goes straight to the plant’s root and it does not come in contact with the crop itself. This means that you can turn your useless water into a useful resource even when growing edible crops.
Best of all, you can reuse this water without creating health risks to the consumers.
What’s The Difference Between Precision Irrigation & Pivot?
The main difference is that pivot or flood apply large quantities of water in a short period. Besides, this technique uses lower watering frequencies. By using lower watering frequencies, the water availability also drops, creating extreme saturation conditions in the soil.
Saturated soil leads to stressful conditions for the plant’s roots, increasing the likelihood of rotting, and as you can guess, rotting is not something an agricultural distributor or producer wants.
How Does Precision Irrigation Eliminate Leaching?
Precision irrigation systems work according to the soil’s ability to absorb water. These systems ensure that water stays in the active root zone while being used by the crop.
Having water only in the active root zone means that nutrients won’t be washed away. Besides, it is an effective method to apply fertilizers too.
How Effective Is This Method?
Precision irrigation systems achieve from 90 to 100% water use efficiency, which is more than what sprinkler systems do (from 80 to 85%). This efficiency is based on how the effectiveness of the method on crop performance and mostly on yield.
Where Can I Find A Reliable Commercial Hydroponic Supplier?
Now that you know the basics about precision irrigation, maybe it’s time to plan your next move and get the required supplies and items to improve your greenhouse farming business. With Dutch Direct you can get the best solutions for your greenhouse needs.
We connect our clients directly with leading manufacturers. We have partnered with top-quality manufacturers around the world to offer only the best agricultural supplies at cost-effective prices.
Our experienced team and product experts are here to help you identify the best solutions to optimize your business. Contact us now for more information!