THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ECOFRIENDLY IRRIGAT ION TECHNIQUE

Irrigation of agricultural crops is one of the most effective measures for yield stability. On a world wide scale agriculture is the largest fresh water consumer. Extent and effect of human influences on water resources and circulation differ very much between the regions. Not on ly in foreign countries but also in Germany there are regions with a t ight water balance. It is the concern of production engineering resear ch to analyse, develop and evaluate ways for lowering the water and en ergy consumption of agricultural irrigation. The various irrigation me thods differ very much in their water and energy consumption. The deri ved need for research applies to the suitability of different irrigati on methods for small and large farms, to irrigation management, and to the production engineering task of analysing, evaluation, and assignm ent of irrigation methods for different locations.