Principles and Practices of Fertigation

Abstract

An approach for efficient utilisation of water and fertilisers is necessary for agriculture in the 21^st century. As the use of conventional irrigation methods not only results in considerable loss of water but is also responsible for development of wide spread salinity, water logging and leaching of nutrients from the rhizosphere. Fertilisers supplied under traditional methods of irrigation are not effectively utilized by the crops. As an alternative, fertigation is gaining popularity all over the world. It was first started in the late 1960's in Israel with the development of drip irrigation and over 75% of the irrigated area is fertilized by fertigation.