Mississippi Web-Based Irrigation Scheduling Tool

Increasing use of water in the Mid-South has begun to deplete water levels in aquifers, with few guidelines in place for farmers as to when and how much to irrigate. Irrigation can increase crop yields when water is applied correctly. Irrigation scheduling is a method of managing water to better match the timing and application of irrigation with crop water use. The Mississippi Irrigation Scheduling Tool (MIST) is being developed for Mississippi to assist producers in developing good irrigation scheduling practices. The MIST system allows producers and crop consultants to track crop water use and develop an irrigation schedule for crop production. The irrigation scheduler is based on estimating crop water use from weather conditions and estimating total available soil moisture. A water balance is determined by taking the initial water in the soil, adding water from rainfall or irrigation, and subtracting water used by the crop or evaporated from the soil (ET). This “checkbook” method keeps track of the available water content of the soil and indicates the need for irrigation when the available soil water falls below that which is readily available for the plant. The checkbook method relies on knowledge of crop water use characteristics, soils, and weather during the growing season to make estimates of daily crop water use and show the need for irrigation. The web-based system is designed to automatically import information from national soil and weather databases into a central server, decreasing input requirements for the end user. The irrigation scheduling system will give farmers important tools for improving their crop production system while conserving precious water resources.