University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

April 21, 2006

Irrigate to reduce evaporation

Contrary to the belief that residue will eliminate evaporation, it still takes place from the soil, the residue itself, and from the crop canopy every time they get wet. This loss has been estimated to be around 0.08 to 0.1 inch each time.

This is why light, frequent rains or irrigations are less effective than longer, soaking ones. Many center pivot irrigators have problems with runoff on tilled soils so they apply small amounts frequently, typically only 0.5 inch at a time. One tenth of an inch evaporation out of 0.5 inch applied is a 20% loss, even more if runoff occurs. When adopting continuous no-till under center pivot irrigation, the pivot can apply a greater amount of water before runoff occurs. With more water applied, less often, the evaporation and runoff losses are reduced.

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Copyright 2006 by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. All rights reserved.
Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperating with the counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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