New Focus on Cotton Webcast Reviews On-Farm Irrigation Scheduling

By Cotton Grower Staff|September 28, 2018

A new webcast – titled “On-Farm Irrigation Scheduling in Georgia: AgWET (Water Efficiency Team)” – has been added to the Focus on Cotton online series from the Plant Management Network and Cotton Incorporated.

Approximately 90% of growers in the southeastern United States irrigate crops when they observe visible stress. But, by this point, the crops have already lost yield. Yield and quality can be maintained and sometimes increased with irrigation scheduling.

This 24-minute presentation by Wesley M. Porter, assistant professor and extension precision ag and irrigation specialist in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department, University of Georgia, Tifton, describes how a large-scale irrigation scheduling project has been implemented in Georgia, offers responses to the project, and suggests improvements that can be made. He covers four main topics in the webcast:

How to select a sensor type
How to select where to place sensors within the field
How to look at the data from sensors
What to consider when adopting a soil moisture sensor system

Although this presentation focuses on Georgia, the information provided applies to growers across most of the United States. Irrigation scheduling is a critical tool for successfully managing irrigation on crops while maximizing irrigation water use efficiency and, in some cases, increasing quality and yield.

The Focus on Cotton series contains more than 75 webcasts, plus presentations from five conferences, on various aspects of cotton crop management, including agronomic practices, crop protection, harvest and ginning, soil health and fertility and precision agriculture. These presentations are accessible online at any time without a subscription.