Sensor Based Soil Water & Crop Monitoring in Cotton Production

With the current growth in agricultural productions and water demands, water management has become a growing concern.  Agricultural producers are finding it harder to meet their water needs, often resulting in lower yields. Real-time soil moisture measurements are essential for site-specific and automated irrigation systems. Tests were conducted to compare performance of different capacitance moisture probes manufactured and installed by Sentek and AquaSpy Inc. In addition, a further aim of the trial was to test the accuracy of the “Slurry Installation” method used by these companies, side-by-side with Standard (Direct) Installation technique. Volumetric Water Content results from these probes were compared across different treatments and with Neutron probe measurements, to determine the most suitable equipment for automated irrigation scheduling. These probes were used in 2008 to determine the water use efficiency of four cotton cultivars under six irrigation regimes on three soil types.