The irrigation tab is where you describe the irrigation systems for the farm.
To add an irrigation system click on +ADD IRRIGATION SYSTEM
Descriptions of the seven irrigation systems types on the drop down list are displayed when help is shown.
Each irrigation system may be applied to multiple blocks and individual blocks can have up to 2 systems operating.
A drawing tool allows users to draw the irrigated area, which then allows the software to determine the percentage of a block that is irrigated. If the irrigation system is not drawn the percentage of the block that was irrigated can be entered. Drawn and non-drawn irrigation systems are described in more detail in the sections below.
Advice
- Irrigation must align with the climate used in the analysis, i.e. the irrigation that would be applied based on typical climate (over last 30 years). The model will determine the amount of water applied based on the method used to monitor soil moisture.
- Entering application depth is not recommended as it is unlikely to align with climate information.
- Physical irrigation systems with the same management characteristics can be set up as a single system to make it easier to manage.
- Scheduling methods and timing can be entered on a block by block basis.
- Default nutrients should be used unless it is known to differ as a long-term average.
Drawn irrigation systems
When adding an irrigation system there is the ability to draw the area irrigated on the farm map. Click on "Draw Irrigation System on farm map" button once the irrigation system has been selected. This section will not appear if none of your blocks are drawn.
Select your drawing tool – either circle or polygon. The hand icon allow you to drag the map around or edit your already drawn polygons. You are now able to draw multiple polygons for each irrigation system across different blocks. Note: If you cannot see the drawing tools select F5.
Draw the irrigation area. You can draw halt pivots, by clicking on ‘Convert selected circle to polygon’. You can draw multiple polygons
While you are drawing, the "Blocks irrigated by this system" section below is being populated with the blocks that the drawn system is covering and the percentage of the blocks area that is getting irrigated. When drawing an irrigation system the percentage of the blocks covered cannot be edited.
Irrigated areas cannot overlap other irrigated areas when drawing on the map - be it from the same irrigation system or another system.
Irrigated areas must cover at least 5% of a blocks area.
Non drawn irrigation systems
If you chose not to draw the irrigation system area on the farm map, the way to add blocks that are irrigated by this system is to add irrigation activities. This requires you to select the "Blocks irrigated by this system".
The percentage of the block that is irrigated can be adjusted within the "Blocks irrigated by this system" section. These percentages can only be adjusted at 5% intervals.
Irrigation activities
Once you have either drawn or added your irrigation system to specific blocks you will need to enter irrigation application activities by selecting the +Add irrigation activity. Application activities can be added to any block covered by drawn irrigation system or those chosen for specific systems.
Every block that has been covered by the drawn irrigation system must have at least one irrigation activity applied to it.
Once the application method has been entered (fixed or variable systems) the application activity timing must be selected. This is done by selecting the months the irrigation was applied using this method. At least one month must be selected for each activity. Only the methods applicable to the chosen irrigation system will be available from the drop down menu.
Frost protection activities can only be applied to fruit blocks.
Irrigation systems summary table
Once irrigation systems have been entered for the farm they will be shown in the green summary table at the top of the tab. The summary includes the area covered by the different irrigation systems and icons identify the month that the system was used. The irrigation system can be edited from here by selecting the name of the irrigation system. The irrigation system can be deleted from here also.
For pasture blocks that have fodder crops, the area irrigated has been adjusted to remove the fodder block area.
No more than two irrigation systems can be used on one block. Two systems can cover less than 100% of the block with the remaining area of the block not irrigated.