I got a nice DM yesterday asking why irrigate chickpeas (they're usually dryland) & how do growers determine when their crops need water, we water for a couple of reasons....

2/ Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make energy to grow, it requires , & carbon dioxide. This year without sufficient rainfall for a good soil moisture profile the fields were watered up prior to planting to ensure good germination, otherwise dry patches

3/ For plants to able to efficiently transfer nutrients through the plant or to absorb nutrients from the soil or air they need to be able to access sufficient water from their root system.

4/ #Transpiration is the process where water moves up the stem of a plant from root to leaf when water is lost due to evaporation occurring at the leaves. This continual flow of water & nutrients keeps the plant’s cells firm, if the cells become short of water the plant will wilt

5/ The used for #chickpeas (or any crop) can be different each season as there is a of determining factors which can change #water use, these includetemp, relative humidity while the crop is growing (especially at peak flowering & podding)wind & soil moisture #moist

6/ All of those factors above determine when a plant needs #Chickpeas really dislike #waterlogging, especially when flowering & pod filling so being on raised beds under irrigation on these heavy cracking clay soils is pretty darn handy at minimising that.

7/ Most #chickpeas are only semi irrigated, (reduces risk of water logging & diseases) short sharp irrigations of approx 8 hours with good removal via tail drains. Scheduling the timing of irrigation is when plant water available capacity from the soil is around 35-40% depletion.

8/ It's really important on these really heavy cracking clay soils that they don't completely dry out as you can really easily damage/snap off the #chickpea roots as the soil crackswhich adds stress to the plant & can risk of diseases.

9/ The daily use from the #chickpeas will vary throughout the season depending on the crop stage & the other factors I mentioned in tweets above, as the plants get bigger their ability to uptake moisture from the soil increases, especially on these large #troppo chickpeas

10/ Soil moisture monitoring is
it tells us how much theis using & how deep into the soil profile the #water is being extracted from via the plant's root system,(reliable forecasting ) & ET (evapotranspiration) rates are useful tools any questions ask away!

11/ in many instances, rainfall does not come at the most optimal times (or at all) during the growing season in many regions. There are some key critical periods when they need to be able access moisture from the soil. ie germination, flowering, fruit setting & fruit fill

12/ being able to have access to at these key times adds value to the plants by increasing both the quality & production of their fruitgrainnutslegumesdrupepomepasture & that timing is as critically important as the timing of harvest to minimise stress.

13/ Flowering plants come in 3 basic types.
1. Annuals (grow & flower once for a single season)
2. Biennials (grow for 2 seasons, flower & die the 2nd year)
3. Perennials (grows for many years & flower repeatedly)
Sometimes we grow perennials as a annual to minimise risk! eg

14/ In irrigation used in ag requires a water licence, is meteredmeasured & paid for, farmers only receive water allocation when it's available in a system. On farm we also monitor & measure soil moisture, plant uptake & crop stage to apply timely & efficient irrigation.

15/ Regardless of the type of irrigated crop, these factors above are extremely important. The value (cost) of the & the crop market value (minus input costs to grow) & expected yields also determine whether its economically viable to utilise irrigation

@threadreaderapp please unwrap