Advances in irrigation management and technology in potato cultivation: experiences from a humid climate

Description

For many farmers, irrigation is an essential component of potato production, serving to maximise yields and meet quality assurance targets for retailers and consumers. In recent years, rising costs for labour and energy (pumping) have led to considerable attention being given to improving on-farm irrigation efficiency and water productivity, or ‘more crop per drop’. This chapter focuses on recent advances in both in-field water management (notably irrigation scheduling) and application equipment, including the challenges in implementing precision irrigation technologies to improve productivity and reduce water demands. The chapter reports evidence relating to research and practitioner experiences from the United Kingdom, which has a humid climate and where irrigation is supplemental to rainfall, but the issues raised and measures proposed are equally applicable to other environments where water resources for agriculture are under scrutiny and potatoes are an important commodity crop.

Table of contents

1 Introduction
2 Precision irrigation (PI) for potatoes
3 Scheduling challenges in managing PI
4 Assessing potential ‘water savings’ from PI on potatoes
5 Engineering PI for potatoes
6 Other factors
7 Drip irrigation on potatoes in the United Kingdom: past usage and future uptake
8 Conclusion
9 Where to look for further information
10 Acknowledgements
11 References