Environmental monitoring is a significant driver for wireless sensor communication. Its potential to provide dynamic real-time data about monitored variable will enable to measure properties that have not previously been observable. A low cost consumer version soil moisture monitoring system was built using a gypsum block to take moisture readings, a peripheral interface controller (PIC) with a...

I ncreasing production efficiency is becoming a major theme for producers in order to maintain or increase their economic return in an increasingly competitive global market. In the case of irrigated agriculture, producers must also address increasing public concern about water conservation, water quality, and environmental protection. Two irrigation management issues require attention in order...

In a desk study, nitrogen (N) fertilizer application rates were studied and Nconcentrations at one meter depth or at the drain were estimated for Chrysanthemum grown in twelve greenhouse cropping systems, differing in soil type, supplemental lighting and transmissivity. Two N-saving strategies were also studied of which one estimated the N-concentration in the irrigation water to comply with th...

Yield-loss models were developed for tobacco infected with Meloidogyne incognita grown in microplots under various irrigation regimes. The rate of relative yield loss per initial nematode density (Pi), where relative yield is a proportion of the value of the harvested leaves in uninfected plants with the same irrigation treatment, was greater under conditions of water stress or with high irriga...

Nitrogen and water application rates and timing depend on the final yield a grower expects the potato crop to achieve. Therefore precise measurements of 1) the nitrogen status of the crop and 2) the water status of the soil are needed. A crop growth model LINTUL-Potato calculates yields and the associated resource requirements based on the temperature dependent length of the growing season, the...

Plant metabolic activity in arid and semi-arid environments is largely tied to episodic precipitation events or ‘‘pulses’’. The ability of plants to take up and utilize rain pulses during the growing season in these water-limited ecosystems is determined in part by pulse timing, intensity and amount, and by hydrological properties of the soil that translate precipitation into plant-available so...

The design and operation of supplementary irrigation schemes are dependent upon an accurate estimation of the "total available moisture" in the soil. This has been defined as the amount of water held between the limits of field capacity and wilting point in the effective rooting depth of the crop. Under irrigated conditions the effective rooting depth is that depth of soil from which the crop c...

The use of indicators for sustainability evaluation is an important step towards operationalization of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development. Many literatures on framework for sustainable water management consider any one dimension of sustainability. In this paper, the sustainability of an irrigation system is assessed from economic and environmental dimension. An optimizat...