Nutrient Dynamics and Moisture Distribution under Drip Irrigation System

Abstract

A rational nutrient and water use can play a much higher synergic and supplementary effect on plant productivity. Therefore, understanding water and nutrient interaction is of paramount importance for sustainable crop production. Between different methods of irrigation, micro irrigation systems are the most efficient and increasingly adopted worldwide. Drip methods are specifically designed to wet the root zone and to keep root zone at or near an optimum level of soil moisture. Fertigation is the most efficient method of fertilizer application, as it ensures application of the fertilizers directly to the plant roots as per crop demand. Study of the moisture distribution pattern helps in the effective management of drip method. The volume and pattern of soil wetted from a point source basically depends on soil properties, quantity of water, rate of application and irrigation regime. Dynamics of nutrient explains the way of nutrients uptake, retained, translocated and cycled over time and distance in a system. Drip irrigation distributes water and nutrients uniformly when compared to conventional methods. The amount of fertilizer lost through leaching can be as low as 10 per cent in fertigation whereas it is 50 per cent in the traditional system. Research on the distribution of soil moisture and the dynamics of nutrients can therefore guarantee that the right amount of both water and nutrients are accessible at the root zone, meeting the plant’s total and temporal requirement of these two key inputs.