Yield, quality and profitability of sensor-controlled irrigation: a case study of snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus L.) production

Saavoss, Monica; Majsztrik, John; Belayneh, Bruk E.; Lea‐Cox, John D.; Lichtenberg, Erik

doi:10.1007/s00271-016-0511-y

Cited by 18 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…They noted that there was less occurrence of plant diseases in the nursery due to the elimination of over-watering. Saavoss et al [112] reported a 65% increase in profit due to the implementation of a wireless sensor network-based closed-loop control system in a nursery. The authors noted that the increase in profit was due to improvement in crop quality and yield resulting from the precise control of irrigation applications.…”

Section: Decision Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced Monitoring and Management Systems for Improving Sustainability in Precision Irrigation

et al. 2017

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Globally, the irrigation of crops is the largest consumptive user of fresh water. Water scarcity is increasing worldwide, resulting in tighter regulation of its use for agriculture. This necessitates the development of irrigation practices that are more efficient in the use of water but do not compromise crop quality and yield. Precision irrigation already achieves this goal, in part. The goal of precision irrigation is to accurately supply the crop water need in a timely manner and as spatially uniformly as possible. However, to maximize the benefits of precision irrigation, additional technologies need to be enabled and incorporated into agriculture. This paper discusses how incorporating adaptive decision support systems into precision irrigation management will enable significant advances in increasing the efficiency of current irrigation approaches. From the literature review, it is found that precision irrigation can be applied in achieving the environmental goals related to sustainability. The demonstrated economic benefits of precision irrigation in field-scale crop production is however minimal. It is argued that a proper combination of soil, plant and weather sensors providing real-time data to an adaptive decision support system provides an innovative platform for improving sustainability in irrigated agriculture. The review also shows that adaptive decision support systems based on model predictive control are able to adequately account for the time-varying nature of the soil-plant-atmosphere system while considering operational limitations and agronomic objectives in arriving at optimal irrigation decisions. It is concluded that significant improvements in crop yield and water savings can be achieved by incorporating model predictive control into precision irrigation decision support tools. Further improvements in water savings can also be realized by including deficit irrigation as part of the overall irrigation management strategy. Nevertheless, future research is needed for identifying crop response to regulated water deficits, developing improved soil moisture and plant sensors, and developing self-learning crop simulation frameworks that can be applied to evaluate adaptive decision support strategies related to irrigation.

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Section: Decision Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced Monitoring and Management Systems for Improving Sustainability in Precision Irrigation

et al. 2017

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“…Water savings alone were not adequate to encourage investment in sensor networks; growers changed practice only when there was a financial incentive from reduced production time, lower plant losses, or reduced chemical inputs. Changes in practice (i.e., sensor network for irrigation control) were often applied to additional areas under production after the technology was proven effective, accurate, and easy to use and maintain [49][50][51]. Reduction in labor requirements and pumping costs were appreciable for sensor network applications in containerized pot-in-pot production system [52].…”

Section: Economic Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social and Economic Aspects of Water Use in Specialty Crop Production in the USA: A Review

Majsztrik

Behe

Hall

et al. 2019

Water

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Understanding human behavior is a complicated and complex endeavor. Academicians and practitioners need to understand the underlying beliefs and motivations to identify current trends and to effectively develop means of communication and education that encourage change in attitudes and behavior. Sociological research can provide information about how and why people make decisions; this information impacts the research and extension community, helping them formulate programs and present information in a way that increases adoption rates. Life cycle assessment can document how plant production impacts the environment. Production of ornamental plants (greenhouse, container, and field produced flowers trees and shrubs) accounted for 4.4% of the total annual on-farm income and 8.8% of the crop income produced in the United States in 2017, representing a substantial portion of farmgate receipts. Greenhouse and nursery growing operations can use this information to increase production and water application efficiency and decrease input costs. Information related to the environmental impacts of plant production, derived from life cycle assessment, can also inform consumer purchase decisions. Information from water footprint analysis quantifies the relative abundance and availability of water on a regional basis, helping growers understand water dynamics in their operation and informing consumer plant purchases based on water availability and conservation preference. Economics can motivate growers to adopt new practices based on whether they are saving or making money, and consumers modify product selection based on preference for how products are produced. Specialty crop producers, including nursery and greenhouse container operations, rely heavily on high quality water from surface and groundwater resources for crop production; but irrigation return flow from these operations can contribute to impairment of water resources. This review focuses on multiple facets of the socioeconomics of water use, reuse, and irrigation return flow management in nursery and greenhouse operations, focusing on grower and consumer perceptions of water; barriers to adoption of technology and innovations by growers; economic considerations for implementing new technologies; and understanding environmental constraints through life cycle assessment and water footprint analyses. Specialty crop producers can either voluntarily adapt practices gradually to benefit both economic and environmental sustainability or they may eventually be forced to change due to external factors (e.g., regulations). Producers need to have the most current information available to inform their decisions regarding water management.

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“…The VWC indicates the quantity of water available per unit volume of medium, which is easy to measure and control as long as the lower limit (LL) and drained upper limit (DUL) thresholds are defined (Smith 529 and Mullins, 2000;Jones, 2004;Lal and Shuckla, 2004;Gebregiorgis and Savage, 2006). In contrast, the soil water potential is the energy status of water per unit volume of medium, which directly determines whether the substrate water is available to plants (Scanlon et al, 2002;Jones, 2004;Bittelli, 2010;Lea-Cox et al, 2011). Both are related to each other, but this relationship is different for different substrates and depends on pore size distribution (Gebregiorgis and Savage, 2006;Van Iersel et al, 2013).…”

Section: Scheduling Irrigation In Small-volume Containersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, in commercial nurseries which support the agricultural and forestry sectors, it is becoming increasingly important to develop efficient irrigation systems. Improved irrigation practices by nurseries can save water and reduce the costs of irrigation, and have the potential to improve seedling quality, reduce leaching of nutrients, and lower the incidence of pathogen infestation (Belayneh et al, 2013;Lichtenberg et al, 2013;Bayer et al, 2015;Saavoss et al, 2016;Lea-Cox et al, 2017;Wheeler et al, 2017). Many biological and biophysical processes, such as seed germination, seedling nutrition and growth, as well as transpiration and evaporative cooling, are dependent on sufficient moisture via efficient irrigation (Bittelli, 2010;2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Sensors for the improvement of irrigation efficiency in nurseries

Kaptein

Light

Savage

2019

WSA

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Traditional timer-based systems for irrigation management, which are more commonly used in commercial nurseries in South Africa, are not ideal as they may not irrigate seedlings efficiently. A sensor-based irrigation system is presented as an alternative, as this can provide several benefits to nurseries and nursery-grown seedlings. Small-sized soil water sensors that could fit in small-volume nursery containers (25 to 100 mL), and could be integrated into an automated irrigation system, are reviewed. Several experiments have been conducted internationally to measure soil water status of small-volume containers in soilless substrates, and a large body of knowledge is now available. In this review, we describe the principles of several currently commercially available sensors that can be adapted to this purpose, giving advantages and disadvantages of each type. We conclude that a sensor-based irrigation system has great potential to address the challenges associated with irrigation scheduling, while improving water usage in most nurseries.

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Yield, quality and profitability of sensor-controlled irrigation: a case study of snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus L.) production

Cited by 18 publications

References 17 publications

Advanced Monitoring and Management Systems for Improving Sustainability in Precision Irrigation

Advanced Monitoring and Management Systems for Improving Sustainability in Precision Irrigation

Social and Economic Aspects of Water Use in Specialty Crop Production in the USA: A Review

Review: Sensors for the improvement of irrigation efficiency in nurseries

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