Assessing Irrigation Efficiency: A Study of Water Conservation in Soilless Media and Conventional Farming

This research compared the irrigation performance and water conservation of soilless media with the traditional soilless method through examining water consumption, nutrient usage, crop growth, and yield factors.Conventional-flood, conventional-drip, soilless-drip, and soillessnutrient film technique (NFT) were studied for the parameters: temperature variation, average pressure, and water quality, WUE, and plant performance indicators.Results revealed that soilless systems, especially NFT, had lower average pressures (110kPa) and lower nutrient concentrations (nitrates: 30mg/L; phosphates: 2.5mg/L).Both soilless-drip and NFT allowed for more stable temperature regulation, with the NFT system consistently recording the lowest daily temperatures.Soilless-NFT approach demonstrated the highest water use efficiency (0.0840kg/L) while consuming the least amount of water (50L/plant).It produced comparable yields (4.2kg/plant) and higher-quality fruits in terms of weight, with higher firmness (14.0N) and a larger average fruit size (140g).Among the methods, soilless-drip showed the best results for plant height and leaf area (110cm and 2000cm, respectively).These findings suggest the potential of controlled irrigation systems for optimizing resources, promoting sustainable agriculture, and enhancing crop performance in a regulated environment.