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Distribution and storage characterization of soil solution for drip irrigation

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Abstract

The increased use of marginal quality water with drip irrigation requires sound fertigation practices that reconcile environmental concerns with viable crop production objectives. We conducted experiments to characterize dynamics and patterns of soil solution within wet bulb formed by drip irrigation. Time-domain reflectometry probes were used to monitor the distribution of potassium nitrate (KNO3) and water distribution from drippers discharging at constant flow rates of 2, 4 and 8 L h−1 in soil-filled containers. Considering results from different profiles, we observed greater solute storage near the dripper decreasing gradually towards the wetting front. About half of the applied KNO3 solution (48%) was stored in the first layer (0–0.10 m) for all experiments, 29% was stored in the next layer (0.10–0.20 m). Comparing different dripper flow rates, we observed higher solution storage for 4 L h−1, with 45, 53 and 47% of applied KNO3 solution accumulating in the first layer (0–0.10 m) for dripper flow rates of 2, 4 and 8 L h−1, respectively. The results suggest that based on the volume and frequency used in this experiment, it would be advantageous to apply small amounts of solution at more frequent intervals to reduce deep percolation losses of applied water and solutes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Brazilian research funding agency FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) (Contracts # 03/00067-6 and # 05/00906-3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Agricultural Science, Federal University of São Carlos, Araras, SP, Brazil

    Claudinei F. Souza

  2. Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Marcos V. Folegatti

  3. ETH, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland

    Dani Or

Authors
  1. Claudinei F. Souza
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  2. Marcos V. Folegatti
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  3. Dani Or
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claudinei F. Souza.

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Communicated by J. Ayars.

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Souza, C.F., Folegatti, M.V. & Or, D. Distribution and storage characterization of soil solution for drip irrigation. Irrig Sci 27, 277–288 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-008-0143-y

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