Background
Modern irrigation technologies, mainly embodied in sprinkler irrigation and micro irrigation, play an increasingly important role in intensive farmland irrigation as modern irrigated agriculture develops towards intensive operation and intelligent management. However, the large-scale application needs to scientifically cope with such problems due to the large-scale spatial variances of farmland and the differences of technical modes in ecological zones. This raises new requirements for precision regulation technologies of water and fertilizer represented by sprinkler irrigation and micro irrigation. This study probes into the precision regulation and variable management of sprinkler and low-voltage operation and multi-function control of drip irrigation, with focus put on the key technologies and equipment for variable irrigation and low-pressure drip irrigation. The aim is to build a technical system for precision regulation of water and fertilizer, so as to achieve low-consumption and multi-purpose precision regulation.
Contents
· Researching the technology for precision application and variable control of water and fertilizer in sprinkler irrigation, including studying the impact of uniformity coefficient on soil water and nitrogen dynamics and crop growth, designing high-performance sprinkler irrigation belts capable of low-voltage operation and water-heat regulation, and developing a model of integrated regulation and efficient use of water, fertilizer, gas and heat in sprinkler irrigation in different ecological zones;
· Researching the technology for performance enhancement of drip irrigation system and integrated regulation of water, fertilizer, gas and heat: including examining the dynamic response mechanism of typical crops to uniformity coefficient in different ecological zones, designing high-performance drip irrigation belts capable of low-voltage operation and water-heat regulation, and developing a model of integrated regulation and efficient use of water, fertilizer, gas and heat in drip irrigation in different ecological zones;
· Proposing a method of assessing the regional adaptability of water-saving irrigation technology based on distributed hydrological model and remote sensing data, and evaluating quantitatively the impact of water-saving irrigation on farmland water productivity at the regional scale.
Achievements
· A method of setting the cycle of electromagnetic valve in variable irrigation system and a method of embedding soil moisture sensor based on zonal management have been put forward, and the idea of producing the prescription map for variable irrigation based on differentiated lower limits for irrigation water brought forward to improve the precision of water depth control;
· Nozzle rotation angle controller and nozzle flow controller with memory function have been developed, greatly improving the applicability and operational stability of nozzles;
· Anti-sunburn coating materials and technologies have been invented for drip irrigation under mulch film, and anti-clogging drip irrigation products developed for low-voltage operation, which significantly reduces costs and extends service life; and
· A system performance optimization idea has been established considering water and fertilizer application, field distribution leaching and whole-process crop response uniformity, and the zone-specific standard value of uniformity coefficient of drip irrigation has been set.
Application
Developed by the study, the 9 kinds of fertilization precision regulation products have taken a market share of 34%, and the 6 sets of theories and technologies for precision regulation of water and fertilizer have been applied in more than 86,666 hectares. They have been granted 16 invention patents, 12 utility model patents and 4 software copyrights, as well as the 2016 ICID WatSave Annual Award and the 2017 Netafim Award for Advancement in Micro irrigation (by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers).
Drip irrigation system performance improvement and water, fertilizer, gas and heat regulation technology
Method of assessing the regional adaptability of water-saving irrigation technology based on distributed hydrological model and remote sensing data
Four series of multi-functional sprinkler product
American Society of Agricultural Engineers Microirrigation Award
