WATER-EFFICIENT IRRIGATION AND SOIL MOISTURE CONSERVATION

Efficient irrigation and storage of moisture in the soil is a vital and combined system of attaining sustainable agricultural production in an environment of exceeding water scarcity, climate change, and environment degradation. Agriculture is still the greatest user of freshwater resources and ineffective irrigation technologies and poor management of soil water has led to dwindling ground water reserves, low water productivity and poor soil health. The paper is a synthesis of the concepts, principles, practices and implications of water-efficient irrigation and soil moisture conservation with emphasis on their contribution towards the improvement of crop productivity and resource-use efficiency at farm and landscape scales.Water-efficient irrigation focuses on accurate and demand-driven use of water to the crops using the modern irrigation techniques like drip, sprinkler and subsurface irrigation systems. These techniques greatly minimize the amount of conveyance and application loss due to evaporation, runoff, and deep percolation as well as providing the maximum amount of soil moisture in the crop root zone. The further enhancement of the irrigation performance and prevention of the over- and under-irrigation are provided by the efficient scheduling of irrigation according to the need of the crop water, the state of the soil moisture, and the climatic parameters. Combination of fertigation and accuracy irrigation technologies promote nutrient-use effectiveness and all crop reaction, which lead to increased yield per unit of water consumed.The implementation of soil moisture conservation is a complement to efficient irrigation to enhance the ability of soil to hold and make water available to plants over a long time. Conservation tillage, mulching, management of organic matter, correct cropping system, rainwater harvesting, and in situ conservation of moisture are some of the practices that minimize the loss of moisture and increase the storage of soil water. The better soil structure, increased organic carbon and better biological activity caused by these practices, makes cropping systems more resilient to moisture-stressed conditions. Water-efficient irrigation methods used along with soil moisture conservation have a synergetic effect to the maximum use of water productivity and stabilization of crop yields.