Integrated Water and Fertilizer Management: An Efficient Path of Modern Agriculture

In today's agricultural production, how to ensure high crop yields while conserving resources and protecting the environment has become a focus for farmers and agricultural experts. Integrated water and fertilizer management technology has emerged as a key technology in modern agriculture.

What Is Integrated Water and Fertilizer Management?

Integrated water and fertilizer management is a technology that combines irrigation and fertilization. It delivers water and fertilizers evenly and appropriately to the crop roots through the irrigation system, meeting the crops' needs for moisture and nutrients. This technology uses pipelines, sprinkler irrigation systems, or drip irrigation systems to mix water-soluble fertilizers with irrigation water and deliver them directly to the fields, achieving synchronized water and fertilizer management.

Venturi fertilizer injector and filter are installed in the field.

System Structure Composition

The integrated water and fertilizer management system consists of a head hub (fertilization system, filtration equipment, control valves, etc.), water distribution network, irrigators, and other accessories.

Fertilization system: Venturi fertilizer injector, injection pump, and fertilizer tank, etc
Filtration equipment: Centrifugal filter, sand filter, screen filter, and disc filter.
Control valves: Electromagnetic valve, pressure reducing valve, pressure sustaining valve, air release valve, straight-through valve, bypass valve.
Water distribution network: PE Pipes.
Irrigation devices: Drippers, drip pipes, drip tapes, micro sprinklers, medium-range sprinklers.
Other accessories: Drip tape valves, irrigation fittings, irrigation punchers, etc.

A venturi fertilizer injector and its installation and operation diagram

Advantages

Improve fertilizer utilization rate
Traditional fertilization methods often lead to fertilizer waste and soil pollution, whereas integrated water and fertilizer management technology ensures precise control of the amount and timing of fertilizer application, ensuring effective absorption during critical growth periods of crops, significantly improving fertilizer utilization rate. According to research, integrated water and fertilizer management can increase the fertilizer utilization rate to over 80%, which is much higher than traditional fertilization methods.
Water and energy conservation, cost reduction
The integrated water and fertilizer system can precisely control the amount of irrigation water, reducing the waste of water resources. In areas with water scarcity, integrated water and fertilizer technology is particularly important. By optimizing irrigation management, farmers can not only save water resources but also reduce the energy consumption required for irrigation, thereby lowering production costs.
Promote balanced crop growth and increase yield
Through integrated water and fertilizer management technology, crops can continuously and evenly obtain moisture and nutrients, avoiding poor crop growth or yield reduction caused by uneven water and fertilizer supply. This continuous supply method helps crops grow healthily, improving the quality and yield of crops.
Reduce environmental pollution
Traditional fertilization methods easily lead to fertilizer loss, polluting groundwater and the surrounding environment. Integrated water and fertilizer management technology reduces excessive use and loss of fertilizers through precise fertilization, lowering the risk of soil and water pollution, and contributing to environmental protection.
Automated operation, improving management efficiency
Modern integrated water and fertilizer systems are usually equipped with automated control devices, such as sensors, controllers, and remote monitoring systems. Farmers can precisely control irrigation and fertilization through computers or mobile phones, reducing labor input and improving the efficiency and accuracy of agricultural management.

Technical Key Points

Facility configuration. The equipment should meet the needs of local agricultural production and irrigation, fertilization requirements, and ensure the safety and reliability of the irrigation system in its design.
Moisture management. An irrigation schedule should be developed based on the distribution of crop root systems, water requirements, soil moisture conditions, soil properties, facility conditions, and technical measures. The content includes the amount of water, frequency of irrigation, irrigation timing, and the amount of water per irrigation throughout the crop's growth period.
Nutrient management. Develop a fertilization regime based on the target yield of the crop, nutrient requirements, soil nutrient content, and irrigation characteristics, determining the frequency, timing, and amount of each fertilization.
Water fertilizer coupling. According to the principles of fertilization with water, small amounts multiple times, and phased fitting, allocate the total irrigation water and fertilization amounts across different growth stages of the crop. Develop an irrigation and fertilization system, including the ratio of base to topdressing, the frequency, timing, water volume, and fertilization amount for different growth stages, to meet the moisture and nutrient needs of the crop at various growth stages.