Irrigation Soils Methods

Effective irrigation is more than just watering dirt – in fact irrigation, soils, methods of water use and irrigation timing all deserve careful consideration. Your soil is more than just dirt and mulch. Soil holds water in place for plants to use, and moves moisture from place to place. Standard topsoil is about 50 percent mineral and organic matter – the rest is space in between the mineral and organic particles, tiny pockets that fill with air or water.

Methods of providing irrigation to soil have been fine-tuned by agricultural scientists and farmers to the point where they now believe that the best methods of irrigating crops depend on timing more than amount of water. During "pre-planting" irrigation, farmers water the soil in the hopes of storing just the right amount of water for the roots of future plants to take hold of and mature – this method involves estimating the potential rainfall and adjusting accordingly, trying to avoid over watering. If the water exceeds the soil's capacity, the excess water washes away, taking important nutrients with it. This is called "leaching."

Still, pre-watering soil has proven to be an important irrigation method, as plants that germinate in pre-moistened soils grow faster than those planted in dry soil and then watered afterward. So the key to the method is in moderately pre-watering the soil, and then irrigating early in the growth season to continue the flow of moisture to the plants.

There are, however, almost as many methods of soil irrigation as there are crops that need water. Drip irrigation sends water through low-pressure lines directly to the base of plants;  flood irrigation is just what it sounds like, covering the entire surface of the soil with a depth of water; subirrigation uses a buried pipe system to water at root level. There are many other types of irrigation, each with its own handle and methodology.

Irrigation, soils, methods of fertilizing plants, crop rotations, these agricultural issues continue to be refined as agribusiness continues to grow.