When to Irrigate, and How Much?

TARIMKON Proje Ekibi 16 October 2026 · 3 min read · 37 views

Irrigation decisions are often a matter of habit: certain days, certain hours. Drought and rising costs are making that habit expensive, both for water and for farmers. That is why the campaign's second theme asks a simple question: when to irrigate, and how much?

The picture in Türkiye

According to the project's training presentation on agricultural water efficiency, 88.5 percent of irrigation in Türkiye is uncontrolled surface irrigation, and much of the water is lost before it reaches the crop. The same presentation states that pressurised methods such as drip and sprinkler irrigation save 50-60 percent of water compared with flood irrigation. It defines water efficiency as preventing waste and getting more from every unit of water, not as simply using less.

A sensor is a start; a decision is a process

A training presentation on reading, interpreting and applying data in smart irrigation describes smart irrigation as a decision-support process rather than mere automation. Soil sensors show moisture in the root zone, weather data shows short-term water demand, satellite and drone images show how the crop is responding, and flow and pressure records show how much water was actually applied. Its decision cycle has six steps: data collection, quality check, interpretation, decision, application and feedback.

Some principles for the field: sensor depth should match the crop's root development; trends over time matter more than a single reading; a sharp rise in moisture at the deepest sensor may point to over-irrigation or water draining below the roots. The threshold for irrigating depends on the crop, the soil and the growth stage. Automatic irrigation without data quality control is not a reliable way to manage water. The aim is not only to save water but to balance yield, quality, energy and sustainability.

Water quality shapes the decision too

The agenda announced for ISFN's online meeting of 18 September 2024 covered irrigation decisions based on soil moisture, the use of tensiometers and capacitance probes, and the pH and salinity (EC) of irrigation water. The announcement for the meeting of 27 May 2026 described a case from the field: at a farm visited in Kozan, Adana, the pH of the irrigation water had not been shared with the farmer even though the analyses were done by an outside service, and measurement showed a value of around 8. Reading an analysis report is part of every irrigation and fertilisation decision.

Seeing stress before it shows

At Agro-Farm, visited by the project delegation in Athens in June 2026, thermal drone imaging of water stress is combined with automated drip irrigation. According to the visit report, this saves up to 40 percent of water compared with conventional methods, and thermal imaging can detect water stress days before any wilting is visible.

More water does not mean more yield

At the project's meetings in Şanlıurfa, participants stressed that the belief "more water, more fertiliser, more yield" is wrong, and that farmers need to understand how water management, fertilisation and yield are linked. The project's advocacy training material turns the same idea into a message: "Extra water does not raise yields." On the policy side, the Anatolian Farmers' Council's 2025 report found, scanning written parliamentary questions from the third legislative year of the 28th term, 254 questions on "agriculture" and none on "smart irrigation" or "precision farming".

The campaign's day-three messages sum up the theme: "Use water wisely, protect the future." and "Let's improve access to information, measuring tools and expert support for irrigation decisions."

How do you decide when to irrigate? Soil moisture readings, the weather forecast, experience or the irrigation association's schedule? Add your experience and ideas to the discussion in the Digital Advocacy Hub.