TNAU Agritech Portal :: Crop Protection

Water is an essential input to achieve desired growth and yield of any crop. Water requirement of a crop is the quantity of water needed for normal growth, development and yield and may be supplied through precipitation or by irrigation or by both. On an average, pigeonpea uses around 200-250 mm water to produce about one tonne grain ha-1. Micro irrigation is just one of the many irrigation and water management technological tools, but it is a tool that has manifold advantages. Micro irrigation can reduce the wastage of water to a negligible amount and the transport of contaminants to surface water and groundwater. Irrigation events can be fine tuned to spoon feed water and nutrients just in time to avoid plant stress. It can optimize crop production (maximize economic yield for each unit of water) and in many cases increase the quality of agricultural products.