WITHDRAWN - Strategic Irrigation Management Using Capacitance Probes - WITHDRAWN

Growing irrigated cotton in West Texas is becoming more challenging with the high cost of energy to pump water from ever increasing depths.  As such, water is the limiting factor in irrigated cotton production in this region and the need to use it wisely is absolutely paramount.  The recent introduction of capacitance soil moisture probes however, has given some irrigators in this region the ability to improve their water use efficiency by remotely measuring soil moisture depletion and the plant response to irrigation or rainfall.  This enables these irrigators to practice strategic irrigation management by applying exactly the right amount of water at exactly the right time.  The remote access to live online data that this technology provides, also allows these irrigators to make decisions and observe the results in real time.  This paper explores several case studies on how these irrigators are using capacitance probes for strategic irrigation management to improve yield and water use efficiency.