New guideline to determine pasture water requirements

Abstract

Irrigation It’s a tough gig being a farmer nowadays, with profit margins continually eroded by rising input costs, and water availability declining due to competing demands. Some 60% of water use in South Africa is for agricultural irrigation, and farmers are increasingly aware that it is in their own interest to improve the efficiency of their irrigation practices because this has a direct impact on the amount of money they must spend on electricity and fertilizer. Get it wrong, and they’ve not only paid Eskom more than necessary, but also wasted precious water and expensive fertilizer through runoff and deep percolation, which leaches nutrients out of the crop’s root zone. About 16% of the total area under irrigation is pasture cultivated for livestock production, with ryegrass, kikuyu and lucerne being the most common species.

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