Irrigation Scheduling in Greenhouse Crops

Dr Sunil Garg
Principal Scientist
Department of Soil and Water Engineering
PAU Ludhiana
 IMPORTANCE
 Scheduling of irrigation is a process to decide ‘when to irrigate’ and
‘how much to irrigate’ to the crops.

 Proper scheduling is essential for efficient use of irrigation water,

inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, labour etc.

 Appropriate scheduling of irrigation not only saves water, but also,

saves energy besides, higher crop yield.
 Farmers are generally irrigating their crops on either time interval
basis (say weekly interval, ten days interval) or based on the
appearance of the crops (based on wilting symptoms).
 There are several soil, plant and atmospheric (meteorological)
indicators in addition to combination approach, critical stage
approach etc. to decide when to irrigate? the crop.
Importance of irrigation scheduling in greenhouse
• Greenhouse production systems decrease crop water requirements by as much as 20% to 40% compared to
open field cultivation.

• Considering the number of different plant species grown in prevailing greenhouse environments, the types of
substrate and container sizes, field and soil characteristics, and the different irrigation systems, it becomes
obvious why irrigation scheduling becomes complex if it is to be achieved with any level of precision.

• Therefore, an accurate short term estimation of crop water requirements in protected cultivation are a
prerequisite for optimal irrigation scheduling; as evapotranspiration (ETC) could occur so rapidly that water
loss can cause plant damage before wilting symptoms become visible.

• Even in soilless cultivation systems, irrigation represents a very large and potentially important loss of
nutrients and a source of environmental pollution (i.e., drain to waste hydroponics systems) as a surplus of
20% to 50% of the plant’s water uptake in each irrigation cycle is often recommended.

• Indeed, annual use of irrigation water ranges from 150 to 200 mm (e.g., leafy vegetable) in soil-based
greenhouse crops to 1000 to 1500 mm in soilless-grown (e.g., Solanaceae, cucurbits).

• For container nursery production, those values could be as high as 2900 mm.
Irrespective of the type of greenhouse cultivation system used (i.e., soil or
soilless), irrigation scheduling should be managed

• to supply plants with the volume of water equal to the volume of transpired
water for maintaining crop productivity,

• to overcome the differences in water discharge achieving high water

uniformity

• to move excessive salts towards the rooting system, avoiding soil salination.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• To study the importance of scheduling of

irrigation to crops.

• To learn the detailed methods of

scheduling of irrigation along with their
merits and limitations.
 MAIN BODY
 Most of the farmers follow irrigation practices which are resulting in
either under-irrigation or over-irrigation of crops, resulting in low
production per unit of water (water use efficiency).
There are two situations farmers are frequently faced:
 Where adequate water is available, farmer aims is to produce
maximum yield per unit of land and unit of water.
 Here, he has to provide optimum irrigation schedules, with time-
sequence for number of irrigations and quantity of each irrigation,
for ensuring optimum crop yield with high water-use efficiency.
 Where a limited quantity of water is available, he aims to produce
maximum yield per unit of water.
 In this case, information is to be provided for rationalizing the
limited water distribution over the available land, applying water at
moisture sensitive stage of crop growth and withholding irrigation
at other stages.
 I. WHEN TO IRRIGATE
 Crops vary with their soil moisture requirement for maximum yields
and quality of produce.
 Most plants are efficient in absorbing water from soil, if the soil
moisture level is nearing at field capacity (-0.33 bar).
 As the soil moisture level drops from field capacity due to
evapotranspiration and other losses, soil moisture tension naturally
increase and eventually crops can’t extract needed moisture from soil
for their optimum growth.
 Crops start to wilt and growth is first retarded and then completely
stops.
 When the moisture level is restored again by addition of irrigation
water or rain, some crops regain their growth and show little or no
permanent damage.
 Other crops, however, are permanently damaged.

(Cont)..
 These crops are generally drought tolerant. Ex. Sorghum, pearl millet,
finger millet, cotton.
 For certain crops, providing irrigation at 25% depletion of available
moisture enhance yield levels.
 Ex. Maize, wheat. Crops should not experience moisture stress in the
period between two irrigations, which naturally happens under field
condition especially under light textured (sandy, sandy loamy) soils.
 Irrigation has to be given when there is adequate moisture in the soil to
meet transpiration demand of the crop and evaporation need of
atmosphere.
 By knowing the amount of moisture available in the root zone of the crop
and the evapotranspiration demands of the crop and atmosphere, it is
easy to determine when irrigation is needed.
 There are several approaches to decide ‘when to irrigate’ based on soil,
plant and atmospheric parameters, combination of soil and atmospheric
parameters and critical crop stage approaches.
Irrigation Scheduling -- Primary Factors

• Know available soil water for each unit depth of soil

• Know depth of rooting for each crop
• Know allowable soil moisture depletion at each stage of plant growth
• Use evapotranspiration data to estimate crop water use
• Measure rainfall in each field
• Know water retention and container capacity (volume) used for nursery
crops
Available Soil Water
• Soil absorbs and holds water in much the same way as a
sponge.
• A given texture and volume of soil will hold a given amount
of moisture.
• The intake rate of the soil will influence the rate at which
water can be applied.
• The ability of soil to hold moisture, and amount of
moisture it can hold, will greatly affect the irrigation
operational schedule.
Soil Moisture
• Hygroscopic water is moisture that is held too tightly in the soil to be
used by plants.

• Capillary water is moisture that is held in the pore spaces of the soil
and can be used by plants.

• Gravitational water drains rapidly from the soil and is not readily
available to be used by plants.
Soil moisture
• The permanent wilting point represents the boundary
between capillary water and hygroscopic water.
• Because hygroscopic water is not usable by plants,
continuous soil moisture levels below the permanent
wilting point will result in damage to or death of the
plants.
• Field capacity represents the boundary between
gravitational water and capillary water. It is the upper
limit for soil moisture that is usable by plants.
 Soil Indicators

 These methods involve in determining moisture content of

the soil and finding the deficit level in available moisture.

 Based on pre-determined minimum water content, irrigation

is given to bring the soil to field capacity.

 The soil water content is determined either by direct

measurement or inference from measurements of other soil
parameters such as soil water potential or electrical
conductivity.
Gravimetric method
 It is the direct method of measuring the moisture content of
soil.
 Samples taken from the field, weighted, dried at 105°C for
about 24 hours till constant weight is obtained and again
weighed after drying.
 The difference in weight between the wet (WS1) and oven dry
(WS2) samples gives the moisture content (Pw) in percentage.

WS1-WS2
Pw (%) =
WS2

The method is simple and reliable, but, time consuming

and sampling is destructive.
 Feel and appearance method
 With experience, farmer can judge soil water content by the feel
and also appearance of the soil.

 Soil samples are taken with a probe or soil auger from each
quarter of the root zone depth, formed into a ball, tossed into air
and caught in one hand.

 From the description given in books, available moisture

percentage is estimated for different textures of soils.

 Considerable experience and judgment are necessary to estimate

available soil moisture content in the sample within reasonable
accuracy.
 Tensiometer method
 Irrigation can be scheduled based on soil
moisture tension.

 Tensiometers (Irrometers) are installed at

specified depth in the root zone.

 When the soil moisture tension reaches to a

specified values (0.5, 0.75 or 1.0 bars etc.)
irrigation is scheduled.

 This method
 Tensiometers are generally used to schedule of however, fails to
irrigation in orchards, especially in coarse provide the quantity
textured soils.
of water to be
irrigated.
 Electrical resistance method
 The principle involved in electrical resistance method is
that a change in moisture content of the soil gives
change in electrical conductivity in a porus block placed
in a soil.

Gypsum, nylon, nylon and fibre, fibre glass blocks are

generally used to measure a tension of different levels.

Use of tensiometers and electrical resistance (gypsum

blocks) methods are not popular, because, tensiometer
have working range of 0 to 0.8 bars, whereas, gypsum
blocks don’t work at low level tensions.
 Plant indicators
 The primary objective of irrigation is to
supply of water to meet the plant needs.

 Monitoring plants is the most direct method

of determining irrigation scheduling.

Plant parameters have to be

related to soil water content to
determine the irrigation scheduling.

(Cont)…
 Appearance and growth
 Deliberate visual indicators to asses the water need in plant are leaf
and shoot wilting, leaf colour, drooping of leaves, rolling of leaves etc.
 But, appearance and growth are not often effective parameters for
deciding irrigation scheduling, as plants exhibit visible symptoms of
deficiency long after they experience moisture stress.
 When partial or full stomatal closure occurs due to reduction of
transpiration (because of reduced availability of water to the plant),
there is a rise in leaf temperature.
 A hand-held infrared thermometer measures the difference between
plant canopy temperature (Tc) and air temperature (Ta) and displays
Tc-Ta values.
 This Tc-Ta value is much useful for scheduling of irrigation. Positive
values in Tc-Ta values are an indication of more temperature in the
canopy than atmosphere (stress in plant canopy) and irrigation is to be
given.
 Leaf water potential
 Leaf water potential indicates the water needs to plants.
 Leaf water potential is measured by removing a leaf and placing it in a
pressure chamber /apparatus.
 The pressure in the chamber is slowly increased until fluid is forced from
the leaf.
 The pressure used is a measure of the leaf’s moisture potential.
 The leaf age, leaf exposure to solar radiation and time of day when leaf
is sampled all significantly influence the results.
 Lower potentials indicate a greater need for water. This method is not
extensively used since considerable time, care and training are required
to obtain reliable results.
 Stomatal resistance
 Leaf resistance to vapour diffusion into the atmosphere is primarily
governed by the degrees of stomatal closure which under sufficient
day light is mainly regulated by leaf water deficits.
 Stomatal resistance is, therefore, an index to the need for water,
since it is related to the degree of stomatal opening and the rate of
transpiration.
 High resistance generally indicates significant stomatal closure,
reduced transpiration rates and the need for water.
 Leaf diffusion parameters are used to measure stomatal resistance.
 The skill required to take measurements and time involved to
interpret limit the use of this method for research purposes.
 Meteorological indicators
 When supply of soil moisture is adequate for the plant,
evapotranspiration is primarily controlled by the evaporative demand
of the air atmosphere.
 Meteorological concepts and approaches have been used as
indicators to determine ‘when to irrigate?’.
 Irrigation can be conveniently scheduled to a crop, if allowable water
depletion in the root zone and evapotranspiration of the crop for
short periods during the crop period is known.
 At the end of each such period, the crop sown after the soil is
brought to field capacity would require irrigation with the depth of
water sufficient to meet the total cumulative evapotranspiration less
effective rainfall during the period since previous irrigation.
 IW/CPE approach
 In this approach, a known quantity of irrigation water
(IW) is applied when cumulative pan evaporation
(CPE) reaches a predetermined level.
The amount of water given in each irrigation ranges
from 4 to 6 cm, the most common being 5 cm of
irrigation.
Scheduling irrigation at an IW/CPE ratio of 1.0 with 5
cm of irrigation water is applied when the CPE
reaches 5 cm.
Generally, irrigation is scheduled at 0.75 to 0.8 ratio
with 5 cm of irrigation water.
In IW/CPE ratio approach, irrigation can also be
scheduled at fixed level of CPE by varying amount of
irrigation water.
 However, the equipment to measure CPE and
IW are not easily available with the farmers.
 Time Domain Reflectometry
Time domain reflectometry. The speed of an electromagnetic signal
passing through a material varies with the dielectric of the material.

http://www.campbellsci.com.au/hydrosense
Time Clock
• A time clock or operation sequencing device can be used as a primary
control to cause the irrigation system to apply water intermittently. 
Intermittent water application helps compensate for the water penetration
delay and can prevent over-irrigation.

• One time clock with two circuits, one normally on or closed and the other
normally off or open (single pole double throw) can serve two greenhouse
areas controlled by two tensiometers.  One area can be controlled by the
normally on circuit while another is controlled by the normally off circuit. 
This causes two sections or houses to be irrigated on intermittent cycles. 
Each irrigation system is shut off by the switching tensiometer after
adequate irrigation.
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Sensors show plant responses to changes in the environment (irrigation, lighting,

temperature changes,...) or plant manipulation (pruning, harvesting,...).

Sensors can stay at the same spot on the plant for an entire growing season.
Sap flow sensor
Dynamax Dynagage sap flow sensor.

Continuously measures sap flow through

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Sap flow in g/h is calculated online and

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Daily sap flow and other statistics are

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Diameter variation sensor
Solartron displacement sensor.

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Continuously measures the stem diameter with µm

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Real-time autocorrection algorithm to filter out

disturbances in the signal due to e.g. pruning and
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Daily growth, maximum daily shrinkage and various

other statistics are calculated in real-time.
During the night, the plants are not irrigated and they gradually dry out as they use their internally stored water
reserves to supplement the night-time transpiration (stem diameter decrease).
In the morning, the plants are irrigated. At these times, sap flow increases due to the water uptake. Stem
diameter also increases as the plants refills their internal reserves in the stem.
PhytoClip
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 Sensors
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Weather-based smart irrigation controllers
Weather-based controllers, also referred to as evapotranspiration (ET) controllers, use local
weather data to adjust irrigation schedules. Evapotranspiration is the combination of
evaporation from the soil surface and transpiration by plant materials. These controllers
gather local weather information and make irrigation run-time adjustments so the landscape
receives the appropriate amount of water.
ET weather data uses four weather parameters: temperature, wind, solar radiation and
humidity. It’s the most accurate way to calculate landscape water needs.
There are three basic forms of these weather-based ET controllers:
•Signal-based controllers use meteorological data from a publicly available source and the
ET value is calculated for a grass surface at the site. The ET data is then sent to the controller
by a wireless connection.
•Historic ET controllers use a pre-programmed water use curve, based on historic water use
in different regions. The curve can be adjusted for temperature and solar radiation.
•On-site weather measurement controllers use weather data collected on-site to calculate
continuous ET measurements and water accordingly.
Soil moisture sensors used with smart irrigation controllers
Soil moisture sensor-based smart irrigation controllers use one of several
well-established technologies to measure soil moisture content. When
buried in the root zone of turf, trees or shrubs, the sensors accurately
determine the moisture level in the soil and transmit this reading to the
controller.
There are two different soil moisture sensor-based systems available:
•Suspended cycle irrigation systems, which are set like traditional timer
controllers, with watering schedules, start times and duration. The
difference is that the system will stop the next scheduled irrigation when
there is enough moisture in the soil.
•Water on demand irrigation requires no programming of irrigation
duration (only start times and days of the week to water). It has a user-set
lower and upper threshold, which initiates irrigation when the soil moisture
level fails to meet those levels.
 Automatic Irrigation
• Once it is installed, the irrigation system has not to be
controlled all the time.
• Modern big scale systems operated by one (skilled) labour.
• Very technical components required. There even high-tech
solutions using GIS and satellites to measure water needs.
o Time Based System
o Volume Based System
o Open Loop Systems
o Closed Loop Systems
o Real Time Feedback System
o Computer Based Irrigation Control Systems

38
Automatic Irrigation
Time Based
• Time of operation (irrigation time – hrs per day) is calculated
according to volume of water (water requirement - litres per day)
required and the average flow rate of water (application rate –
litres per hours). A timer starts and stops irrigation.
Volume Based
• The pre-set amount of water can be applied in the field segments
by using automatic volume controlled metering valves.
Open Loop System
• Open loop controllers normally come with a clock that is used to start
irrigation.
• Termination of the irrigation can be based on a pre-set time or
may be based on a specified volume of water passing through a
flow meter.
Automatic Irrigation
Closed Loop Systems
• This type of system, the feedback and
control of the system are done
continuously.
• Closed loop controllers require data
acquisition of environmental
parameters (such as soil moisture,
temperature, radiation, wind-speed,
etc) as well as system parameters Simple version of a closed loop
system: A moisture sensor
(pressure, flow, etc.). interrupts/starts the irrigation
process.
Real Time Feedback System
• Various sensors, tensiometers, relative humidity sensors, rain
sensors, temperature sensors etc. control the irrigation scheduling.
These sensors provide feedback to the controller to control its
operation
Automatic Irrigation
Computer-based Irrigation Control Systems
• This system consists of a combination of hardware and
software that acts as a supervisor with the purpose of
managing irrigation and other related practices.
• Basically two systems: Interactive and fully automatic
systems.

Control board showing timers, soil

moisture sensor-controllers, solenoid
valves wiring, and flowmeters-
datalogger.

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