JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND

TECHNOLOGY
WAFULA SYLVESTER WANYONYI
EN251-0482/2015
GROUP C
ECE 2405, IRRIGATION ENGINEERING 1
TASK:Define deficit irrigation and wick irrigation
Deficit irrigation
Is an optimization strategy in which irrigation is applied during drought-sensitive growth stages
of a crop. Outside these periods, irrigation is limited if rainfall provides a minimum supply of
water. Water restriction is limited to drought-tolerant phenological stages, often the vegetative
stages and the late ripening period. Total irrigation application is therefore not proportional to
irrigation requirements throughout the crop cycle.
While this inevitably results in plant drought stress
and consequently in production loss, DI maximizes
irrigation water productivity, which is the main
limiting factor. I.e. DI aims at stabilizing yields and
at obtaining maximum crop water productivity rather
than maximum yields." For certain crops,
experiments confirm that DI can increase water use
efficiency without severe yield reductions. For
example for winter wheat in Turkey, planned DI
increased yields by 65% as compared to winter
wheat under rain fed cultivation, and had double the
water use efficiency as compared to rain fed and
fully irrigated winter wheat. Experiments in Turkey and India indicated that the irrigation water
use for cotton could be reduced to up to 60 percent of the total crop water requirement with
limited yield losses. In this way, high water productivity and a better nutrient-water balance was
obtained. Deficit irrigation is beneficial for the farmers because it reduces the cost of water and
prevents a loss of crop yield (for certain crops) later on in the growing season due to drought.

Wick irrigation system

Is a watering method for potted plants that uses a soft fabric string known as a wick. One end
of the wick is buried in the soil, and the other end hangs into a pot, dish, or bucket of water.
Water will flow up the wick and water the plant until the soil surrounding the plant is damp. Once
the soil dries out, the wick will again soak up water. A wick system works by “sucking” or wicking
up water like a sponge and feeding it up to the plant. This process of “sucking” or wicking up
water is a scientific principle known as capillary action.
Wick systems are considered to be one of the easier
forms of hydroponic watering, and are thought to be a
good tool for gardeners who may be interested in
watering their plants with a hydroponic technique.
Additionally, wicks allow plants to “soak up” water or
nutrients at a slow place. The biggest downside to using a
wick system is that they generally do not work well with
larger plants, and therefore should only be used with
much smaller plants or cuttings. In addition, plants that
use a wick system need to be flushed out with plain, fresh
water once a week to prevent a buildup of mineral salts
that may be present in the growing medium.