scholarly journals A robotic irrigation system for urban gardening and agriculture

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 198-207
Author(s):  
Ioannis Gravalos ◽  
Avgoustinos Avgousti ◽  
Theodoros Gialamas ◽  
Nikolaos Alfieris ◽  
Georgios Paschalidis
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Robotic System ◽  
Urban Gardening ◽  
Irrigation Treatments ◽  
Comparison Of The Results ◽  
Irrigation Technologies ◽  
Sustainable Irrigation

Water supply limits and continued population growth have intensified the search for measures to conserve water in urban gardening and agriculture. The efficiency of water use is depended on performance of the irrigation technologies and management practices. In this study, a robotic irrigation system was developed that consists of a moving bridge manipulator and a sensor-based platform. The manipulator constructed is partly using open-source components and software, and is easily reconfigurable and extendable. In combination to the sensor-based platform this custommade manipulator has the potential to monitor the soil water content (SWC) in real time. The irrigation robotic system was tested in an experimental soil tank. The total surface of the soil tank was divided by a raster into 18 equal quadrants. The water management for maintaining water content in the soil tank within tolerable lower limit (refill point) was based on three irrigation treatments: i) quadrants whose SWC is below the refill point are irrigated; ii) quadrants are irrigated only when the daily mean SWC of the tank is below the refill point and only for those whose actual SWC is lower than that limit; and iii) quadrants are irrigated every two days with constant amount of water. A comparison of the results of the three irrigation treatments showed that the second treatment gave less irrigation events and less applied water. Finally, we could conclude that the performance of the fabricated robotic system is appropriate and it could play an important role in achieving sustainable irrigation into urban food systems.

scholarly journals Research Advances in Adopting Drip Irrigation for California Organic Spinach: Preliminary Findings

Agriculture ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Montazar ◽  
Michael Cahn ◽  
Alexander Putman
Keyword(s):  
Downy Mildew ◽  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Irrigation Treatment ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Shoot Biomass ◽  
Irrigation Treatments ◽  
Spinach Downy Mildew

The main objective of this study was to explore the viability of drip irrigation for organic spinach production and the management of spinach downy mildew disease in California. The experiment was conducted over two crop seasons at the University of California Desert Research and Extension Center located in the low desert of California. Various combinations of dripline spacings and installation depths were assessed and compared with sprinkler irrigation as control treatment. Comprehensive data collection was carried out to fully understand the differences between the irrigation treatments. Statistical analysis indicated very strong evidence for an overall effect of the irrigation system on spinach fresh yields, while the number of driplines in bed had a significant impact on the shoot biomass yield. The developed canopy crop curves revealed that the leaf density of drip irrigation treatments was slightly behind (1–4 days, depending on the irrigation treatment and crop season) that of the sprinkler irrigation treatment in time. The results also demonstrated an overall effect of irrigation treatment on downy mildew, in which downy mildew incidence was lower in plots irrigated by drips following emergence when compared to the sprinkler. The study concluded that drip irrigation has the potential to be used to produce organic spinach, conserve water, enhance the efficiency of water use, and manage downy mildew, but further work is required to optimize system design, irrigation, and nitrogen management practices, as well as strategies to maintain productivity and economic viability of utilizing drip irrigation for spinach.

scholarly journals Irrigation technology in South Africa and Kenya

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 2218-2225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Otávio Câmara Monteiro ◽  
Jokastah Wanzuu Kalungu ◽  
Rubens Duarte Coelho
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nongovernmental Organization ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Irrigation Technology ◽  
Irrigated Area ◽  
Irrigation Technologies ◽  
Sustainable Irrigation ◽  
Modern Technologies

This paper reviews various irrigation technologies in both South Africa and Kenya that enable improvements in their socio-economic conditions. The two countries are located in semi-arid areas that experience extreme fluctuations in the availability of rain water for plant growth. Population growth exceeds the ability to produce food in numerous countries around the world and the two countries are not an exception. This experiment examined the constraints that farmers face and the role of government and nongovernmental organization in the uptake of modern technologies for irrigation. Detailed mechanisms and options to secure sustainable irrigation which are economically viable are considered. Despite the higher production of cereals and grains, fruits, and flowers also thrive in the two countries. Total irrigated area, crops grown and irrigation systems used in the two countries are discussed.

scholarly journals Sustainable Irrigation through Renovation of Pond: A Case Study on Change of Crop Production, Irrigation, Cropping Pattern and Cropping Intensity Level in Sub Himalayan Terai Region of India

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-18
Author(s):  
Ganesh Das ◽  
Sankar Saha ◽  
F. H. Rahman ◽  
Surajit Sarkar ◽  
Sujan Biswas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Intensity Level ◽  
Cropping Pattern ◽  
Cropping Intensity ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Sustainable Irrigation ◽  
Rainfall Region ◽  
Rural Appraisal

Terai region of West Bengal fall under high rainfall region but 90% rainfall occurs in kharif season and drought observed during rabi season.  NICRA project started in the Cooch Behar District during 2011. The project area and plan of work were selected on the basis of participatory rural appraisal method. The experimental trial was conducted from 2011 to 2019. The objective of the experiment was to development of sustainable irrigation system through renovation of pond and its impact on crop production. It was found from the study that pond renovation has potential impact on increasing crop yield, cropping intensity, copping system and area of irrigation.

scholarly journals Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Practices to Enhance Seed Production by `Anaheim Chili' Peppers

1990 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.O. Payero ◽  
M.S. Bhangoo ◽  
J.J. Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Seed Production ◽  
Seed Yield ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Trickle Irrigation ◽  
Total N ◽  
Leaf Petiole ◽  
Total Seed

The effects of six applied N treatments differing by rates and frequencies of application on the yield and quality of pepper (Capsicum annuum var. annuum L. `Anaheim Chili') grown for seed was studied. The timing of N applications was based on crop phenology, leaf petiole nitrate-nitrogen concentrations (NO3-N) minimum thresholds, and scheduled calendar applications of fixed amounts of N. Solubilized NH4NO3 was applied through a trickle-irrigation system to ensure uniform and timely applications of N. Rate of mature (green and red) fruit production was unaffected by any treatment except weekly applications of 28 kg·ha-1 of N, which stopped production of mature fruit before all other treatments. Early season floral bud and flower production increased with increasing amounts of N. The two highest total N treatments produced more floral buds and flowers late in the season than the other treatments. Total fruit production was maximized at 240 kg N/ha. Differences in total fruit production due to frequency of N application resulted at the highest total N level. Red fruit production tended to be maximized with total seasonal applied N levels of 240 kg·ha-1 and below, although weekly applications of N reduced production. Total seed yield was a function of red fruit production. Pure-1ive seed (PLS) production was a function of total seed production. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) for red fruit production also decreased with N rates >240 kg·ha-1, but PLS yield and NUE decreased in a near-linear fashion as the amount of total seasonal applied N increased, regardless of application frequency. Season average NO3-N (AVE NO3-N) values >4500 mg·kg-1 had total seed and PLS yields less than those treatments <4000 mg·kg-1. Six-day germination percentage was reduced with weekly N applications of 14 kg·ha-1. Seed mass was reduced with weekly N applications of 28 kg·ha-1. Final germination percent, seedling root length and weight, and field emergence were unaffected by any of the N treatments. These findings indicate that different N management strategies are needed to maximize seed yield compared to fruit yield and, therefore, there may be an advantage to growing `Anaheim Chili' pepper specifically for seed.

scholarly journals Variation characteristics of stem water content in Lagerstroemia indica and its response to microenvironment

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Liang ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Yandong Zhao ◽  
Chao Gao ◽  
Hailan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Growth Cycle ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Multiple Regression Equation ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Rational Allocation ◽  
Variation Characteristics ◽  
Stem Water

To achieve a rational allocation of limited water resources, and formulation of an appropriate irrigation system, this research studied the change characteristics of stem water content (StWC) in plant and its response to micro-environmental factors. In this study, the StWC and micro-environmental factors of Lagerstroemia indica in Beijing were continuously observed by BD-IV plant stem water content sensor and a forest microclimate monitoring station from 2017 to 2018. The variation of StWC and its correlation with environmental factors were analyzed. The results showed the StWC of Lagerstroemia indica varies regularly day and night during the growth cycle. Meanwhile, the rising time, valley time, and falling time of StWC were various at the different growth stages of Lagerstroemia indica. The results of correlation analysis between StWC and micro-environmental factors indicated that the StWC of Lagerstroemia indica was positively correlated with air relative humidity, while it was negatively correlated with total radiation and air temperature. The multiple regression equation of StWC and micro-environmental factors of Lagerstroemia indica was StWC = 11.789-1.402Rn-0.931T-1.132Ws+0.933RH-3.368ST+2.168SMC, and the coefficient of determination of the equation was of 0.87. Furthermore, the results illustrated that the irrigation should pay attention to supplementing irrigation in time during the peak growing season of fruit.

scholarly journals Urban Gardening in the Crisis Conjuncture

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-172
Author(s):  
Christopher Maughan ◽  
Christopher Maughan
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Urban Community ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Critical Studies ◽  
Urban Gardening ◽  
Alternative Food Movements

Urban gardening finds itself at a juncture – not only are crises caused and exacerbated by the industrial food system urgently demonstrating the need for more localised, sustainable, and democratically-determined food systems, but alternative food movements are increasingly negotiating crises of their own. Critical Foodscapes was a one-day conference part-funded by Warwick’s Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) and the Food GRP. The conference was put together with the intention of bringing a ‘critical studies’ approach to the emerging research area of urban community food growing; namely, to put critical – but constructive – pressure on some of the assumptions which underlie current theory and practice of the various forms of urban food growing. This article offers some reflections on the conference itself as well as on the prospects for urban gardening more generally.

Hydrological processes and water flux quantification in agricultural fields under different tillage and irrigation systems using water stable isotopes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alba Canet-Marti ◽  
Angela Morales-Santos ◽  
Reinhard Nolz ◽  
Günter Langergraber ◽  
Christine Stumpp
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Water Flow ◽  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Hydrological Processes ◽  
Agricultural Fields ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Water Fluxes ◽  
Irrigation Systems

&lt;p&gt;Sustainable agriculture should be based on management practices that improve resource usage efficiency and minimize harmful impacts on the environment while maintaining and stabilizing crop production. Both tillage and irrigation can have a great influence on hydrological processes within agroecosystems. However, it remains difficult to directly assess the effect of practices on water fluxes which has been mainly indirectly quantified by complex numerical modelling methods in the past. Therefore, the objective of the study was to use a space for time concept and measure oxygen and hydrogen isotopes (&amp;#948;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O, &amp;#948;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;H) in the pore water of soil profiles as well as moisture contents for quantifying the soil water balance and fluxes. Covering all combinations, soil profiles and isotope analysis was performed for 16 sites planted with winter wheat and managed with different tillage (conventional tillage (CT), reduced tillage (RT), minimal tillage (MT), and no-tillage (NT)) and irrigation systems (hose reel boom irrigation with nozzles (BI), sprinkler irrigation (SI), drip irrigation (DI) and no irrigation (NI)). The results indicated that the more intense the tillage, the lower the water content. Among the irrigation systems, DI had the highest average water content. Tracing the minimum in the isotopic composition of the pores water within the depth profiles showed a deeper percolation of water in the CT fields, which indicates higher water flow velocity. Considering both water content and differences in water flow velocities resulted in water fluxes ranging from 90 to 151 mm yr&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;. The losses due to evapotranspiration varied between 57 and 80%. The resulting evapotranspiration within tillage and irrigation variants decreased in the order RT&gt;CT&amp;#8776;MT&gt;NT, and SI&gt;BI&gt;DI&gt;NI. Thus, the method revealed that the lower water content in CT fields is a consequence of deeper water infiltration. Moreover, irrigation water contributed mostly to evapotranspiration, and drip irrigation showed the lowest evapotranspiration losses among irrigation systems. This study demonstrated that water stable isotopes can be used as indicators and are a promising method to quantify water fluxes in agricultural fields with great potential for evaluating management practices.&lt;/p&gt;

Sustainable Irrigation: Karez System in Afghanistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Abdullah Azami ◽  
◽  
Jay Sagin ◽  
Sayed Hashmat Sadat ◽  
Hejratullah Hejran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Irrigation Scheme ◽  
Irrigation Systems ◽  
Irrigation Methods ◽  
Sustainable Water Supply ◽  
Water Based ◽  
Sustainable Irrigation

In Afghanistan, water is mostly used for agricultural purposes. The water supply chain requires updating to ensure its sustainability. Different irrigation methods – such as surface water based irrigation (via canals), groundwater based irrigation, and the Karez irrigation system – are applied across the country. Considering the compatibility of the Karez system with the environment, it can be deemed the most effective irrigation scheme, as it allows collecting a significant amount of groundwater and conveying it to land surface via sub-horizontal tunnels using gravity. This article analyzes Afghanistan’s Karez irrigation systems currently feeding water to over 170,000 ha of farmland with a potential to expand and become a component of sustainable water supply chain.

scholarly journals Effects of Soil Temperature, Water Content, Species, and Fertilization on Soil Respiration in Bamboo Forest in Subtropical China

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Houxi Zhang ◽  
Zhuangzhuang Qian ◽  
Shunyao Zhuang
Keyword(s):  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Bamboo Forest ◽  
Subtropical China ◽  
Bivariate Model ◽  
Natural Factor ◽  
Change Pattern

Understanding the change pattern of soil respiration (SR) and its drivers under different bamboo species and land management practices is critical for predicting soil CO2 emission and evaluating the carbon budget of bamboo forest ecosystems. A 24-month field study was performed in subtropical China to monitor SR in experimental plots of local bamboo (Phyllostachys glauca) without fertilization (PG) and commercial bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) with and without fertilization (PPF and PP, respectively). The SR rate and soil properties were measured on a monthly timescale. Results showed that the SR rate ranged from 0.38 to 8.53 µmol CO2 m−2s−1, peaking in June. The PPF treatment had higher SR rates than the PP and PG treatments for most months; however, there were no significant differences among the treatments. The soil temperature (ST) in the surface layer (0–10 cm) was found to be the predominant factor controlling the temporal change pattern of the monthly SR rate in the PG and PP treatments (i.e., those without fertilization). A bivariate model is used to show that a natural factor—comprised of ST and soil water content (SWC)—explained 44.2% of the variation in the monthly SR rate, whereas biological (i.e., bamboo type) and management (i.e., fertilization) factors had a much smaller impact (less than 0.1% of the variation). The annual mean SR showed a significant positive correlation with soil organic matter (SOM; r = 0.51, P < 0.05), total nitrogen (TN; r = 0.47, P < 0.05), total phosphorus (TP; r = 0.60, P < 0.01), clay content (0.72, P < 0.05) and below-ground biomass (r = 0.60*), which altogether explain 69.0% of the variation in the annual SR. Our results indicate that the fertilization effect was not significant in SR rate for most months among the treatments, but was significant in the annual rate. These results may help to improve policy decisions concerning carbon sequestration and the management of bamboo forests in China.

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