Irrigation in agricultural ecosystems

in Project HOPE3 days ago
Dear readers, in the agro-agricultural ecosystems, some characteristics such as soil texture, nutrient level, structure, relief, among others that are of importance for agricultural production per hectare, which allows generating economic profits and supplying regional, national and international markets with food, must be taken into account. In this same sense, as is well known, climatic factors have a direct influence on food production, in some geographical areas rainfall is scarce, therefore, an agronomic practice known as irrigation should be implemented, which consists of providing water to plants through different systems that may vary according to the crop and the economic conditions that the producer has.

According to the aforementioned, the agricultural producer knows that water is indispensable for the growth and production of plants, water can come from precipitation that is currently very difficult to predict due to climate changes despite the fact that there are established periods of rains and drought. Establishing an artificial irrigation aims to keep water available for plants throughout the year, therefore, it will also be used depending on the type of crop since, there are short-cycle crops such as Corn, long-cycle crops such as cassava and permanent cycle such as fruit trees among which is the milky guava among others.

On the other hand, when water is supplied to plants according to Ondiz (2008), the roots absorb water and with it nutrients that move vertically through the xylem to the leaves feeding them and the excess is lost to the atmosphere in the form of water vapor through the stomata or pores of the leaves that open and close depending on the needs of the plant.

Among the irrigation systems used in the southern area of Lake Maracaibo Venezuela are the following:

  • Sprinkler irrigation: this system, as its name implies, consists of spreading the water over the cultivated surface in the form of rain, to establish it, pressurized pipes are distributed over the surface that wants to be irrigated, the water is conducted by these pipes and at the outlet they have a sprinkler that when the water arrives is distributed in many drops that fall on the ground and plants.

  • Drip irrigation: as the name implies, this irrigation system consists of the application of water in the form of drops on the ground near each plant, maintaining the soil moisture under each drip where the plant develops a greater amount of roots.

Final considerations
Dear readers, agriculture is an activity that requires water to develop and grow. rainfall is an important factor in crop production, however, due to the advancement of automatic irrigation technologies the water cycle can be solved directly without the need to fetch water. The main reason why an irrigation system is used is because it is necessary to ensure the necessary amount of water for plants, when rainfall in certain geographical areas is very irregular and insufficient to cover the water needs of plants. With an irrigation system there is the possibility of having water availability throughout the year.

Bibliographic references
  • Ondiz, J. (2008). Agricultural irrigation and drainage for engineers. Central University of Venezuela.
  • Urbano, T. (2008). Phytotechnics. Engineering of vegetable production. World Edition-press. Madrid: Spain.

From agrotecnia we reiterate our gratitude to our followers and all the communities that value our agricultural content, this commits us to continue sharing quality information