Consideration 2: The climatic conditions of your farm

With the crop type in mind, the next step is to look at your climate and in particular, the water required to grow the crop in your specific climate.

When we talk about climate, we will talk mainly about precipitation and evaporation (since this Knowledge Hub is about irrigation), but here’s a few other climate-related considerations:

  • Temperatures – each crop has a range for photosynthesis efficiency. Further, some temperatures will stunt or even kill crops.

    On the other hand, a number of crops require a period of cold temperature to transition from vegetative to reproductive growth stage (vernalization).

    Furthermore, you must consider frost-free days.

    Temperature is a big consideration of what you can grow, and when.

  • Seasons – to a degree, this could be integrated with the temperature and the “when” of above. But in addition to temperature, you consider the amount of daylight hours, and wet/dry seasons, etc.

 

  • Wind – wind can be necessary or destructive – it depends. Wind is important for pollination for beets, corn, spinach, etc. Too much wind can cause lodging.

 

The above topics could warrant a book unto themselves. However, as there are plenty of resources on these topics, let’s talk about the key matters in relation to irrigation.

 

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