Irrigation management software package for commercial sugarcane plantations

摘要

There is a standing call from large-scale commercial sugarcane plantations for a software package to enhance irrigation network management. A scientific team of the Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique pour le developpement (CIRAD, France) has thus designed a decision-support software program that takes overall operational constraints and environmental conservation factors into consideration. The operational constraints considered include problems associated with worksite organization in sugarcane fields, which can cause delays and upset the irrigation cycle. The program is based on a variable, rather than fixed, irrigation cycle concept. A rainfall management module integrates the rainfall onset time and thus the area already irrigated prior to the rainfall. The extent of soil saturation when the crop begins its growth cycle is also assessed to enable the farmer to draw up a watering strategy. When there is a water supply shortage, another module proposes a sugarcane field irrigation priority plan calculated on the basis of the extent of the water shortage and the water supply actually available at the irrigation terminal. The program has not yet been validated under operational conditions.