Potential to enhance water productivity for wheat crop in irrigated areas of IBIS, Pakistan, using sensor-based irrigation scheduling

Water stress in irrigated areas of the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS), Pakistan, underscores the need to further enhance water productivity (WP) through effective Irrigation scheduling using recent technological developments in soil moisture sensors (SMS). This study investigates the effectiveness of SMS-based irrigation scheduling under surface (border) irrigation and Central Pivot Irrigation Systems (CPIS) for the wheat crop during 2022–23. The results indicate that sensor-based irrigation scheduling substantially improves WP by 1.6 and 1.3 kg/m3 for surface irrigation and CPIS, respectively, compared with conventional farms. Although CPIS resulted in higher WP (7.3 kg/m3) than surface irrigation (5.4 kg/m3), the larger increase in WP (1.6 kg/m3) under surface irrigation can be attributed to greater water savings (59 mm) by avoiding a single irrigation event. Additionally, remote sensing analysis highlights the potential of high-resolution RS data for the assessment of irrigation practice and crop health at the field scale. The findings of the study provide evidence to further enhance the WP and increase crop yields in water-stressed basins such as IBIS, Pakistan, with the broader adoption of SMS technology. Moreover, findings underscore the need to improve the conventional irrigation scheduling approach used by CPIS operators.