Soil Moisture Monitoring
Description
Plenty has been written about soil moisture management. In a nutshell, the ‘right amount of water in the soil’ is critical to successful seed germination, plant growth and ultimately, maximum crop returns. The challenge, however, is determining ‘the right amount’
Why Monitor?
The question isn’t why monitor. The question is how can you monitor better than you already are to improve your financial performance. Some important considerations include:
- How can irrigation be managed to ensure the plant root zone maintains an optimal amount of moisture, maximising crop growth?
- How can you be sure that you’re not irrigating too much and that the excess is going below the root zone into the water table, costing you money and raising environmental concerns?
- How fast is the crop using the water?
- How much should you irrigate & when should you start irrigating after rain?
- When should you start irrigating?
How can monitoring improve the ‘bottom line’?
A crop that is not limited by water availability (or affected by over watering) during its growth cycle will obviously yield better than one that is. Maintaining soil moisture between field capacity (full) and a predetermined refill point (set at the level below which water availability is considered limiting) is the key to achieving optimum yield and optimum quality. Optimal soil moisture is also critical to soil nutrient uptake. As fertiliser dissolves in water, when soil moisture is low, so is nutrient availability. In addition optimal soil moisture maximises the rate at which plant nutrients are released from organic and mineral reserves in the soil, thus making them available to plants (mineralisation).
Important considerations when selecting a monitoring device include; the reading range (wet to dry or only part thereof), suitability to your irrigation system and soil type, sensitivity to salinity, volume of soil measured, installation method required, availability of technical support, capital cost and usage costs.
Area
Tasmania
Further Info
Contact: gdell@serve-ag.com.au
Product Range: MEA gypsum blocks, GTBug and G-Bug, EnviroScan |
