Prerequisites for improving crop irrigation regimes on the basis of resource optimization

Abstract The article discusses the prerequisites for improving crop irrigation regimes on the basis of resource optimization. The current approaches to solving the problem of water shortages in irrigation are considered. The results of a machine experiment that reproduces research on the influence of the amount of water resource consumption on the yield of a cultivated crop in relation to the timing of irrigation are given. For the implementation of the machine experiment, a set of optimization, economic, mathematical and forecasting-simulation models was used, including a model of climatic conditions, a model of water regime and water regulation technologies, as well as a model of crop yields on reclaimed land for long-term forecasting. It has been experimentally shown that the impact of water resource shortages is weakened in the second half of the growing season, when crop yield losses are significantly lower than at the beginning of the growing season under similar conditions of water resource consumption. This fact provides prospects for the optimization of crop irrigation regimes as a component of resource optimization. The obtained results and the availability of a set of optimization, economic, mathematical and forecasting-simulation models create prerequisites for improving crop irrigation regimes on the basis of resource optimization.