Some productive regions of our country have a significant probability of suffering water deficit. This is the case of the central region of the province of Córdoba, which, according to INTA (National Institute of Agricultural Technology), has more than 50% probability of water deficit in every month of the year. This shortage of moisture affects crop yields, conditioning production.
The Institute's specialists have been studying and promoting supplemental irrigation for more than 25 years to improve this situation and optimize yields.
Specifically, at INTA Manfredi, in the province of Córdoba, an irrigation module has been installed since 1996 "for experimental and demonstrative purposes, to provide irrigating producers in the region with tools to maximize productivity", explained the agency.
In this way, supplemental irrigation makes it possible to supply water to crops during periods of water deficit in semi-arid, sub-humid and even humid areas, prone to periodic droughts, to "improve crop yields and reduce inter-annual variability in yields," explained Aquiles Salinas, irrigation specialist and director of INTA Manfredi.
At INTA Manfredi, Córdoba, an irrigation module has been installed since 1996 for experimental and demonstrative purposes, to provide tools to irrigating producers in the region to maximize productivity. Photo: INTA.
According to the Institute, the trial was conducted with two biennial crop sequences: second-season wheat and corn and first-season soybeans, followed by second-season wheat and soybeans and first-season corn.
Irrigation was carried out with central pivot equipment, with a circular area of approximately 28 hectares; the remaining 12 hectares were not irrigated, i.e., they were managed with dry treatment (without extra moisture input).
The irrigation times and irrigation rates for each crop are decided on the basis of a water balance. To this end, Nicolás Boccardo, an irrigation specialist who is part of the team, explained that "since the installation of the system, every year measurements of rainfall, irrigation, water content in the soil at planting and harvest, grain yield, water consumption and water use efficiency have been taken. This information is essential for the efficient management of water dosage applied to crops.
INTA indicated that irrigated yield increases were observed for all crops, averaging 115%, 51% and 28% for wheat, corn and soybeans, respectively. Therefore, in the irrigated condition, the three crops showed a tendency to increase their advantages over time.