Root Demand Irrigation

Root Demand Irrigation

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
An irrigation specialty company named Valmont, is launching a subsurface irrigation method to help growers improve underperforming acres using less water, energy, and time. Based on the natural processes of plant growth, this new method provides plant-driven irrigation from the ground up. It's called Root Demand Irrigation™.

 

The system was co-developed by Valmont® Irrigation and DuPont after extensive research on the natural process of root exudation, a means in which the plant roots send "signals" to release water from the Root Demand Irrigation tube. Water is delivered at low pressures to plant roots via a tube.

 

At the centerpiece of Root Demand Irrigation is a series of subsurface distribution tubes, porous along their entire length and positioned below the root zone. The tube is fully compatible with fertigation and chemigation. General Manager Darren Siekman states that Root Demand Irrigation is a labor-free irrigation solution that saves time, energy, water, and money.

 

Darren told me that this system offers a new solution to growers who use less efficient and labor-intensive flood irrigation. He claimed that side-by-side comparisons show that RDI delivers the same or slightly higher yields, while using 40 percent less water than adjacent flood-irrigated acres.

 

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