“Sustainable irrigation is the rational practice of all activities related with the irrigation of plants, whether in the areas of horticulture, landscape, or ornamentals, so that it helps to satisfy the respective survival and welfare needs of the present without compromising those of future generations”.

Sustainable irrigation considers the impacts of manufacturing and transportation of required equipment and materials, as well as incurred discharges and waste impacts. (1)

For traditional horticulture and commercial agriculture, irrigation is a necessary process for plant growth and, although it can be done manually, automating this process can bring several benefits to growers. In addition, improving irrigation efficiency can contribute greatly to reducing production costs, making the industry more competitive and sustainable. Through proper irrigation, average yields can be maintained (or increased) while minimizing environmental impacts caused by excess applied water and subsequent agrichemical leaching. (2)

Fertigation is the process of delivering plants nutrients and water to produce a quality crop with higher yields through automated irrigation. Fertigation too can be a path towards achieving sustainability. Just one of the benefits of using an automated system is that it saves on labor costs by eliminating the need for employees to constantly monitor and water plants which provides producers with alternatives to a more sustainable use of their resources. In addition to labor costs, hand watering could also affect the quality of the product by introducing variability and error. Using an automated system improves how tightly production can be controlled.

Fertigation is a key concept in cannabis cultivation and there are two common ways to supply fertilizers through an irrigation system for sustainable cannabis production: dilute tank control and in-line injection.

To read the full article submitted by Argus Controls to the Sustainable Cannabis Coalition, please click on the button below to visit the SCC website.

References

(1) What we understand for sustainable irrigation. “Asociacion del Riego Sostenible”. Available at: http://www.riego.org/asociacio... (Accessed: 29 January 2021).

(2) Munoz-Carpena, Dukes (2018) Automatic Irrigation Based on Soil Moisture for Vegetable Crops. University of Florida. Available at: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae35... (Accessed: 21 January 2021).