Proper irrigation scheduling is a key component of good irrigation water management. Despite years of research and development, quantitative irrigation scheduling has not been adopted by producers anywhere near its potential level. We have developed a concept for a stand-alone, maintenance-free soil water monitoring system to facilitate implementation of quantitative irrigation scheduling. The uniqueness of the system is the manner in which the current soil water status is continually displayed to the producer from a distance. The soil water monitoring system is designed to reduced the time and effort required to obtain quantitative soil water content information based on desired features expressed by producers. We propose to investigate the performance and usefulness of the soil water monitoring system under field conditions. Several prototype systems will be installed in commercial irrigated potato fields in southern Idaho for producers to use and evaluate. The end result of the research will be determination of the soil water monitoring system's usefulness to the producer to facilitate implementation of quantitative irrigation scheduling practices.
Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research:: We expect the research to result in stand-alone, maintenance-free soil water monitoring system, used in making irrigation management decisions. The commercial applications of this research will be the marketing of an economically attractive soil water monitoring system which will improve irrigation and nutrient management by facilitating adoption of quantitative irrigation scheduling practices.
