1. What is Fertigation?
In simple terms, fertigation refers to the process of delivering fertilizers through an irrigation system, allowing crops to absorb nutrients simultaneously with water. Specifically, it involves injecting fertilizer solutions into irrigation pipelines under pressure, enabling synchronized water and nutrient supply.
2. The Science Behind Fertigation
Plants absorb nutrients primarily through their roots (“big mouth”) and secondarily through leaves (“small mouth”). For soil-applied fertilizers to reach plant roots, two key processes occur:
Diffusion: Dissolved nutrients move from high-concentration areas in the soil to low-concentration zones near roots.
Mass flow: As plants lose water through transpiration (via leaf stomata), roots continuously absorb water, drawing dissolved nutrients toward them.
Thus, fertilizers must be fully soluble to be effective. Fertigation ensures optimal nutrient uptake by aligning irrigation and fertilization, significantly improving efficiency.
3. Common Fertigation Methods
The core requirement is dissolving fertilizers before application. Methods include:
Foliar spraying, bucket irrigation, drag-hose irrigation, sprinkler systems, micro-sprinklers, drip irrigation (most efficient), and trunk injection.
Among these, drip irrigation stands out for its precision and resource savings
4. Advantages of Drip Fertigation
Labor savings: Reduces manual effort by 90%, enabling large-scale fertilization in 1–2 days.
Precision control: Tailors water and nutrient delivery to crop needs, boosting yield and quality.
Disease and weed suppression: Minimizes soil surface wetness, reducing waterborne diseases and weed growth.
Adaptability: Suitable for cold climates (heated water delivery), clay soils (aeration support), and deep-rooted crops.
Flexibility: Addresses peak nutrient demands even during dense crop growth (e.g., potatoes, sugarcane).
5. Why Does Drip Fertigation Save 30–50% Fertilizer?
By enabling frequent, small-dose applications, it matches crop demand while minimizing losses from volatilization and leaching.
6. Water Supply Efficiency
Despite low flow rates (1–10 L/hour per emitter), prolonged irrigation meets crop needs. For example, two emitters (2.3 L/hour each) running 5 hours supply 23 L per plant—sufficient even in hot climates.
7. Suitable Crops
Drip irrigation suits all crops economically, especially row-planted, potted, or sloped crops like cotton, grapes, citrus, and greenhouse vegetables.
8. Water Quality Requirements
To prevent clogging, water must be filtered to remove particles >120 mesh. Proper filtration (e.g., sand separators, screen filters) is critical for system longevity.
9. Filter Selection
Success hinges on choosing the right filter (e.g., sand media for organic-rich water; centrifugal filters for sandy water). Combinations are tailored to water quality.
