This presentation formed part of the Farming Futures workshop 'Irrigation in a changing climate: save water, save money, get fit for the future'. 17th November 2009

1. Irrigation in a changing climate Save water, save money – improve your irrigation scheduling Peter White Water Management Cloverlea, Nuttery Lane, Aldringham Leiston IP16 4QW UK ‘ phone 07785 393925 Office ‘phone and fax 01728 454 839 Email: [email_address] www.irrigationworld2000.com

3. Peter White Water Management Cloverlea, Nuttery Lane, Aldringham Leiston IP16 4QW UK ‘ phone 07785 393925 Office ‘phone and fax 01728 454 839 Email: [email_address] www.irrigationworld2000.com Leading the way in soil and substrate moisture monitoring solutions, interpretation and advice for more than 15 years.

5. The technology What happens... The smart probe is inserted into an installation tube drilled through the soil profile. Sensors are located at 10cm intervals which take a reading of the surrounding soil moisture every 30 minutes. The data is recorded and uploaded to the internet it can then be viewed by the grower as a tool to better manage their irrigation. The system displays both changes in soil moisture at each depth and a summed graph of the moisture available to the crop Benefits... *Prevent crop water stress from under or over watering *Reduced nutrient leaching *Reduced disease pressure, *Better root development *Better utilisation of water supplies, Improved quality and yield = Increased profits

6. View On your PC View on your phone Web Server Our consultancy input Data Collection GPRS

7. So what can we learn from the soil moisture data collected?

8. Salad onions – A graph of readings for each depth over time Irrigation/rainfall event Soil drying as the crop takes up water

9. Salad onions Top 30cm Summed – available water in the active root zone Excess water draining out of the active root zone Water available to the crop

10. Salad onions Separate Depths Rainfall passing through at 50cm leaching nutrients out of root zone

11. Salad onions Top 30cm Summed Red line is suggested optimum moisture application schedule for most situations. Certain soils with hydrophobic properties should not be dried to far or they become difficult to re-wet Refill the rooting zone, not just wet the top soil, give all the roots access to water and nutrients

12. Salad onions Top 30cm Summed ? ? How close to field capacity do we want to refill the soil to? Depends on soil type, crop stage and weather forecast Every situation is different

13. More data... Good irrigation Potatoes on light land Separate Depths Water uptake at 50cm

14. Moisture stressed Over irrigation 6 days 8mm/day More data... Good irrigation Potatoes on light land Summed

15. And the result of good water management in this crop? 32T/Ac by August

16. This graph shows the sum of the 3 sensors in bagged strawberries. When daily irrigation was turned off.... See how water demand increases as soil is allowed to partially dry Optimum conditions for healthy roots

17. Where ET models fail... When is 30mm irrigation not 30mm irrigation?

18. Our probes monitor moisture where it matters – the crop root zone “ your probes are not working, we put on 30mm of water from a boom and your probes have not picked it up” A couple of potato growers have called us this year.... Water lying in the furrow Looked like a generous irrigation from the roadside

19. We know our sensors are accurate and reliable so what was happening?

20. Cross section of potato ridge immediately after irrigation Time to put the spade to work.... ET model would assume you had refilled the ridge, yet you can see only the top few cm had wetted up, most of the irrigation had run off into ridge Infiltration rate of the extremely dry ridge too slow to take in 30mm boom irrigation in one application

21. Saturated furrow, probably leaching nutrients but no roots here at this stage of the crop Does it matter ? at this stage YES – none of the irrigation reached the roots of these young plants The ridge – bone dry, crop is drought stressed, restricting growth and what about moisture for scab control on young tubers?? The solutions Not easy, but if you do not know you have a problem you can not address it. Apply little and often, each application will penetrate a little further into the ridge providing you do not let the previous irrigation dry out Move to drip? Does this happen on your land too?

22. Another ET example.... Similiar ET Figures Very different actual water uptake

23. Cost effective tools to help you make informed decisions about your irrigation Provides evidence of appropriate efficient water use when applying for abstraction licences Improve yield, increase quality, better utilise water, labour and fuel

24. Contact us to arrange a trial system for 2010 Want to know more? Like to try a system in your crops? PeterWhite, Cloverlea, Nuttery Lane, Aldringham Leiston IP16 4QW UK ‘ phone 07785 393925 Office ‘phone and fax 01728 454 839 Email: [email_address] www.irrigationworld2000.com Jonathan Munslow, Rowley Farm Harley Shropshire, SY5 6LX UK ‘ phone 07977 299 113 [email_address]