Page 57 - soil-plant-water relationship and water requirement

SOIL-PLANT-WATER RELATIONSHIP AND WATER REQUIREMENT

They are:

x. Where water resources are abundant as compared to cultivated
land the aim should be to obtain maximum yield per unit area of
land.
xi. Where water resources are limited as compared to cultivated land
the aim should be to obtain maximum production per unit volume
of water used.

Irrigation scheduling offers several advantages:

 It enables the farmer to schedule water rotation among the various
fields to minimize crop water stress and maximize yields.
 It reduces the farmer's cost of water and labour as it minimizes the
number of irrigations.
 It lowers fertilizer costs by holding surface runoff and deep percolation
(leaching) to a minimum.
 It increases net returns by increasing crop yields and crop quality.
 It minimizes water-logging problems by reducing the drainage
requirements.
 It assists in controlling root zone salinity problems through controlled
leaching.
 It results in additional returns by using the "saved" water to irrigate
non-cash crops that otherwise would not be irrigated during water-
stress periods.

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