PhD Oral Defense: Application of variable-rate irrigation technology to conserve water and improve crop productivity
PhD Oral Defense of Aghil Yari, Department of Bioresource Engineering
Variable-rate irrigation (VRI) is an emerging technology to optimize water and energy consumption, increase crop yields, and minimize environmental impacts. VRI technology is capable of applying irrigation water and fertilizer spatially across a field to meet the specific needs of crop and soil on pre-defined management zones. The principal goal of this research project was to identify the potential water and energy savings, and crop productivity benefits of VRI. The study aimed to assess the performance of VRI, and to investigate field spatial and temporal variability for delineating irrigation management zones. The research included a four-year field experiment during the 2013 to 2016 growing seasons at the Alberta Irrigation Technology Centre (AITC) in southern Alberta, Canada.