Water Saving Technologies &

Fertigation
A.S.SUBBARAO
as.subbarao@netafim.com
Ph : 8142244704
 Drivers For Crop Production With Less
Water

Growing population Food security Unpredictable rains

Groundwater mining Alternative demands

Water Scarcity
Worlds Water
Total Water : 1,400 million km3
Fresh Water : 2.53% (35 million km3)

Usage in (%) World Europe Africa India

Agriculture 69 33 88 83
Industry 23 54 5 12
Domestic use 8 13 7 5
3
 Kg of rice: 3000 – 5000 liter
If water is priced at 1 paise a liter, it costs
Rs. 1,20,000 for growing paddy in one hectare land
Virtual water for some important products

Commodity Virtual water

1 cup of coffee 140 litres
1 litre of milk 800 litres
1 kg maize 900 litres
1 kg of wheat 1100 litres
1 kg of rice 5000 litres
1 kg sugar 3200 litres
Different Technologies - Grow More With Less Water
Irrigation Systems – Response option to level of
water scarcity

Irrigating the Soil?

Irrigating the Plant?
Irrigating soil Vs Irrigating plant
 What Farmer Needs?

Higher Profits!

Reduced risk

Simple and adoptable technology

Tools to achieve more WUE
Drip Irrigation
Is a production tool which delivers water,
plant nutrients and chemicals:

 in the right place

 in correct amounts DRIP
 at the right time
 frequently
 with highest efficiency Higher Input Value
Yield saving addition
& uniformity

Drip enables the grower to help crops achieve higher crop yield and
premium quality, and hence greater profits!

14
Impact of Drip Irrigation
Saving in Water – Saving in Fertilizer – Saving in Power –
48 % 34 % 33 %

Saving in Labour –
40 %

Source : Agriculture Finance Corporation

MORE CROP PER DROP
(Source: Netafim India)
MORE CROP PER DROP
COTTON WITH DRIP
IRRIGATION
 Sub SUBSURFACE
Surface Drip (SDI) for More Crop Per Drop
DRIP IRRIGATION

 High Water Use Efficiency

 High Nutrient Use Efficiency

 Possibility of Mechanized cane cultivation & Automation

Triple advantageous technology

A production tool which delivers water, plant nutrients & plant protection
chemicals:
Theoretical Irrigation Scheduling
for drip irrigation in Orchards
Back Menu Next
SDI Installation Depth

21
 MORE CROP PER DROP - SUGARCANE
250

200 2360
Cane Yield (Tons/ha) &
Applied water (mm/ha)

150 185
120

100 1120

Furrow

Furrow
SSDI

SSDI
50

0
Yield Applied water
Joint R&D Trail Netafim & Shakti Sugar - India: Furrow Vs SSDI
Cane Yield And Water Requirement
 MORE CROP PER DROP
SUB SURFACE DRIP IN SUGARCANE
 SUB SURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION

• Water Use Efficiency

• Nutrient Use Efficiency

• Mechanized cultivation
 MORE CROP PER DROP

Drip irrigated Maize

Grain Yield
Variety :
Surface: 7 tons/ha
Drip: 12.9 tons/ha

Water saving
Surface: 450 mm
Drip : 257 mm
Water saving: 57%

(Source: Praveen Rao & Chandrasekhar, 2012)

Classical questions of Irrigation
Management

• when to irrigate?
• how much to irrigate?
• how best to irrigate?
 WR = E + T
What is
Evapotranspiration?
Soil Evaporation (E)
+
Plant Transpiration (T)

Evapotranspiration
 IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT

ETo x Kc = ETc

x =
Reference crop ET Crop coefficient growth Crop Water requirement
reflecting evaporative Stage-wise under optimal water supply
demand of the atmosphere and agronomic conditions

Sugarcane – Determination of Water Requirement

 IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT

Sugarcane:
Phenological crop
growth phases
Moisture Extraction Pattern - Potato

Soil
% Soil moisture
Depth (cm)
Extraction

0 – 15 48.50

15 – 30 24.20

30 – 45 16.75

45 – 60 10.3
(Source: Sharma et.al., 1993)
 CROP MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY –
IRRIGATION & FERTIGATION AUTOMATION

Control

Management

Nutrigation Monitoring

32
GREEN HOUSE, NET HOUSES,
TUNNELS

➢ An integrated solution that provides an ideal

environment for cultivation all year round.
MORE CROP PER DROP

20 kg / sqmt
RICE WITH DRIP IRRIGATION – MORE CROP PER DROP

12 tons/ha
Rice – Water demand by growing method

Source – WTC - ANGRAU

FERTIGATION precisely delivers
Fertigation

the plant nutrients via irrigation

system in the crop root zone
according to the crop demand
during crop growing season

Dripline

Wetted
38 bulb N = Nitrogen, K = Potassium
P = Phosphorus, + = Micro elements
 FERTIGATION VERSUS SOIL FERTILIZATION

FERTILIZATION FERTIGATION
Why Fertigation?
1. To maximize production and income
2. To maximize fertilizer use efficiency
3. To minimize production cost
4. To maximize soil productivity
5. To decrease the environment pollution

Nutrient Application According to the Uptake Rate of the Crop

 MORE CROP PER DROP
VEGETABLES CROPS:DRIP Vs CONVENTIONAL IRRIGATION

YIELD (Kg/acre) WATER USE (m3/acre)

CROP surface drip % more Surface drip %
savi
ng
Tomato 9,800 30,000 206.0 1901 1007 47.0
Capsicum 6,500 35,000 438.0 2041 1161 43.1
Bhendi 3,100 12,000 287.0 1683 1043 38.0
Brinjal 6,000 16,000 166.0 2483 1488 40.0
Beans 2,300 5,000 117.0 1776 1120 36.9
Baby corn 2,500 3,800 52.0 1462 820 43.9
Gherkins 5,000 22,000 340.0 1343 856 36.2
Carrots 6,000 15,000 150.0 1965 1301 33.8
Cauliflower 7,000 12,000 71.4 1562 1040 33.4
cabbage 8,550 22,000 157.3 1504 1016 32.4
 MORE CROP PER DROP

FRUIT CROPS:DRIP Vs CONVENTIONAL IRRIGATION

YIELD (Kg/acre) WATER USE (m3/acre)

CROP surface drip % more Surface drip %
savin
g
Banana 23,000 35,000 52.0 7040 3880 44.8
Grapes 8,000 14,000 75.0 3520 2320 34.0
Pomegranate 6,000 12,000 100.0 3920 2196 43.9
Sweet lime 4,000 12,000 200.0 6640 2560 61.4
Mango 3,000 6,000 100.0 5100 3324 34.8
Papaya 30,000 80,000 166.6 9120 2920 68.0
Watermelon 9,000 18,000 100.0 1680 1000 40.5
Kinnow 8,000 22,000 175.0 884 692 21.7
Guava/tree 1,60 3,00 87.5 6.4 5.2 18.7
 MORE CROP PER DROP

FIELD CROPS:DRIP Vs CONVENTIONAL IRRIGATION

YIELD (Kg/acre) WATER USE (m3/acre)

CROP surface drip % more Surface drip % saving
Sugarcane 30,000 75,000 150.0 9800 4960 49.3
Cotton 1,000 2,500 150.0 3600 1680 46.6
Onion (big) 10,000 18,000 80.0 2080 1120 46.1
potato 6,000 20,000 233.3 2400 1100 54.1
Chilli (dry) 1,200 3,500 191.6 1708 980 42.6
Grain corn 1,500 3,500 133.3 2304 1500 34.9
Pop corn 1,000 2,000 100.0 2200 1208 45.1
Groundnut 1,200 3,000 150.0 2620 1680 35.9
chickpea 1,200 2,000 66.6 1808 1048 42.0
100 tons / ha
Summary
• Saving in water is equal to saving in investment for creating
additional water resources
• The technology is proven in many parts of the world including
India.
• Benefit to farmer - Higher crop yields, better utilization of available
resources such as land, water and fertilizers; savings in cost of
cultivation
• Nation will benefits from this technology by fulfilling their vision for
decreasing non-productive water use (wastage of water under
conventional irrigation systems) to increase water productive
efficiency besides conserving water for beneficial uses.

GROW MORE
WITH LESS
THANK
YOU