Concentration Variability of Fertilizers in Pressurized Fertigation System
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to measure the variability in urea-N and potassium concentration with injection time at different operating pressures. It was done with urea and muret of potash (MOP) for different amounts of fertilizers (10, 16 and 21 kg of urea and 5, 7.5 and 10 kg of MOP) at different operating pressures (1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 kg cm-2). Polynomial and exponential forms of empirical equations were developed to determine the concentration of fertilizer in the tank with injection time. In the first half an hour the remaining concentrations of both the fertilizers of different amounts in fertigation tank was less than 40% and in the next one hour the remaining concentration was less than 10%. There was no significant effect of operating pressure on change in fertilizer concentration with injection time. However, higher operating pressure may be used to apply the maximum amount of fertilizer in the beginning of the injection duration. The exponential form of equation is easier in use and also accurate for relating the concentration of fertilizers in fertigation tank with injection time. The constants of exponential equation obtained for different operating conditions can be used by the designers of pressurized irrigation system for economical and accurate use of pressure difference method of injecting fertilizers.
Key wards: Urea variability, MOP variability, operating pressure, regression equation, drip irrigation.
References
Asadi EM, Clemente RS, Gupta AD, Loof R, Hansen GK. 2002. Impact of fertigation via sprinkler irrigation on nitrate leaching and corn yield in an acid sulphate soil in Thailand. Agriculture water management 52: 197-213.
Darwish T, Atallah T, Hajhasan S, Chranek A. 2003. Management of nitrogen by fertigation of potato in Lebanon. Nutrient cycling in Agroecosystem 67 (1): 1-11.
Douglas LA, Bremner JM. 1970. Extraction and colorimetric determination of urea in soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 34: 859-862.
Hasan M, Sirohi, NPS. 2006. Irrigation and fertigation scheduling for peach and citrus crops. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 43(4): 43-46.
Hebbar SS, Ramachandrappa BK, Nanjappa HV, Prabhakar M. 2004. Studies on NPK Drip Fertigation in Field Grown Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). European Journal of Agronomy 21(1): 117-127.
Keller J, Bliesner RD. 1990. Sprinkler and trickle irrigation. Van Nostrand, New York, N. Y.
Li J, Meng Y, Li B. 2007. Field evaluation of fertigation uniformity as affected by injector type and manufacturing variability of emitters. Irrigation Science 25(2): 117-125.
Mehlich A, Monroe RJ. 1952. Report on potassium analysis by means of flame photometer method. J. Assoc. Offic. Agr. Chem. 35: 588.
Nakayama FS, Bucks DA. 1986. Trickle irrigation for crop production, design, operation and management. Elsevier Science Publishers. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Pair CH, Hinz WW, Reid G, Frust KR. 1975. Sprinkler irrigation. Washington, D. C. 2005. Sprinkler Irrigation Association.
Patel N, Rajput TBS. 2005. Effect of fertigation frequency on onion (Allium cepa) yield and soil nitrate nitrogen. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 75(11): 725-730.
Raina JN, Thakur BC, Verma ML. 1999. Effect of drip irrigation and polyethylene mulch on yield, quality and water use efficiency of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 69: 430-433.
Raina JN. 2002. Drip irrigation and fertigation: Prospectsand retrospects in temperate fruit production In Enhancementof Temperate Fruit Production (K.K. Jindal and D.R. Gautam, Eds.), pp 296-301. Directorate of Research, University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, India.
Raina JN, Thakur BC, Suman S, Spehia, RS. 2005. Effect of fertigation through drip system on nitrogen dynamics, growth, yield and quality of apricot cv. New Castle. Acta Horticulture 696: 227-29.
Raina JN, Sharma T, Suman S. 2011. Effect of drip fertigation with different fertilizers on nutrient distribution in soil, leaf nutrient content and yield of apricot (Prunus aremeniaca L.). Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science. 59(3): 268-275.
Rolston DE, Miller RJ, Schulbach H. 1986. Fertigation : Trickle irrigation for crop production, design, operation and management. Amsterdam, Netherlands. Elsevier Science Publishers. pp. 317-344.
Shen M. 1995. The history of fertigation in Israel. Dahlia Greidinger International Symposium on Fertigation; Technion, Israel institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, 26 March-1 April, 121-140.
Singh NP. 2004. Basic concept of vegetable science. International Book distributing Co. pp. 49-50.
Wilson PC, Albano JP. 2011. Impact of Fertigation versus controlled-release fertilizer formulations on nitrate concentrations in nursery drainage water. Hort. Technology. 21(2): 176-180.
Solaimalai A, Baskar M, Sadasakthi A, Subburamu K. 2005. Fertigation in high value crops – a review. Agricultural Reviews. 26(1):1-13.
