The necessity of irrigation management has become increasingly important in many regions due to water scarcity. With agriculture consuming 72% of the world's freshwater, it is crucial to use water efficiently in all areas of life, particularly in agriculture. Pressurized irrigation systems, when combined with automation, have significantly improved irrigation practices. Currently, there is a growing shift from manual systems to automated operations in pressurized systems, as automation and electronics in agriculture are becoming more widespread globally. In the study, an automatic irrigation system powered by solar energy was used to calculate plant water consumption based on solar radiation throughout the entire growing season. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of a solar-powered automatic drip irrigation system compared to manual irrigation, focusing on crop yield outcomes, improving water use efficiency, and reducing labor and energy costs. The developed system utilized solar radiation data to estimate plant water consumption and automatically applied irrigation water equivalent to the crop's evapotranspiration throughout the entire growing season. The system was programmed to activate and deactivate at predetermined times based on calculated water requirements. The study's results showed no statistically significant difference in yield between the manually controlled drip irrigation system (6.72 t/ha) and the automated drip irrigation system (6.80 t/ha); however, the use of solar energy to power the automatic drip irrigation system eliminated irrigation energy costs by 100% during daylight hours, and the integration of automation reduced labor costs. The study indicates a potential 50-60% reduction in labor efforts, as the automated system independently scheduled and executed irrigation without the need for human intervention. Despite an observed over-irrigation in June, the system effectively maintained soil moisture at field capacity throughout the plant's growth stages. This approach prevented excessive water use and nutrient leaching beyond the root zone, thereby making significant contributions to environmental sustainability.
Yıldırım et al. (Tue,) studied this question.