Improving irrigation efficiency toward a more sustainable agriculture

The basic purpose is the assessment of the convenience in replacing traditional irrigation (flow, rain) with innovative and more efficient systems, based on surface and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). The advantages of these techniques are: lower water consumptions, higher water use efficiency, simplification of business management, reduction of cultivation costs, and lower energy requirements and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Another purpose is solve the lacking relating to the best mode of water application depending on soils and crops and on the possibility of combining fertilization of crops (doses, types, shifts), as well as on the risks of clogging of drippers.

The project has following expected results:
- solve problems of water supply resulting from the use of lower volumes evenly distributed during the growing season;
- obtain greater efficiency of water and fertilizers use with fractional distributions in times of peak demand by crops;
- improve crop yields and promote better crop health;
- encourage the use of manure and slurry;
- better management and amortization of irrigation facilities and better planning of field operations;
- reduce production costs limiting water volumes used and improve the agricultural sustainability;
- implementation of the technical and advisory services offered by farmers' cooperatives and Land reclamation and drainage authority, directed to farmers for the dissemination of innovative irrigation systems in the territory.