Stages in the adoption of a wetting front detector

✍ Scribed by R. J. Stirzaker; J. B. Stevens; J. G. Annandale; J. M. Steyn

• Book ID: 102285333
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 202 KB
• Volume: 59
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1531-0353
• DOI: 10.1002/ird.472

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The adoption of a new irrigation scheduling tool by irrigators in South Africa was evaluated while it was still in prototype form. A wetting front detector (WFD) is a funnel‐shaped device, buried in the crop root zone, which provides a mechanical or electronic signal to the irrigator when a wetting front moves past it. There was a survey of 54 irrigators or their advisors, who participated voluntarily by evaluating the tool under their own conditions. The survey showed that all participants perceived the device as simple and intuitive, and based on their own experience, 82% believed it conferred a relative advantage over what they were doing. The successful deployment of WFDs was highly dependent on matching the placement depths to the irrigation method and strategy. This required the irrigators to combine their own experiential learning with the response from the WFDs. The WFD showed promise as an irrigation scheduling aid, but requires the meeting of scientific and local knowledge, or a participatory research and extension approach, to reach its full potential. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.