Effect of land preparation on border irrigation performance

The impact of climate change on the future availability and quality of freshwater resources requires a paradigm shift towards the use of new climate-adaptive agricultural water management strategies aided with digital technologies, automated operations and best practices to increase the resource-efficiency, adequacy, productivity, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability of irrigation methods [1]. In this context, traditional irrigation methods (such as border irrigation) need to be supported by best practices that can be implemented to improve irrigation management to pursue water conservation while maintaining crop yields and production quality [2]. In particular, accurate land preparation and levelling practices performed just before the beginning of the agricultural season could help improve the efficiency and adequacy of border irrigation, increasing the uniformity of water distribution on the field while reducing water consumption [3]. Objective In this work, we will examine the impact of the soil surface microtopography induced by the land preparation on the performance of border irrigation interventions, with the aim of quantifying the benefits of a correct land preparation on the efficiency and adequacy of the watering events.