Plant Protection, Fertilizing and Irrigation Procedure comparison irrigation technique

Irrigation is an essential means of production to stabilize yields and quality in dry locations. The requirements for economical and efficient water distribution are increasing and the capital outlay for the technology is high. The mobile hose reel irrigation machine with a rain gun is still the most important irrigation method in Germany because of its flexible application possibili-ties and reasonable costs. Center Pivot irrigation is more energy efficient, requires very little labor and distributes the water more evenly. For smaller areas of less than 20 ha, the use of a nozzle boom cart can make sense. The manufacturers are working on technical solutions to make it more user-friendly in terms of handling and road transport. Self-propelled machines are rather heavy and expensive, but can be beneficial on areas that are short in length or ir-regular in shape. Drip irrigation has the best water efficiency, but the costs are very high.