About this workshop
Understanding your irrigation system is a key component of achieving water use efficiency in any nursery.
This workshop goes beyond the Foundation level unit, ‘Fundamentals of irrigation systems’, to explore the operation and scheduling of nursery irrigation systems. Covering a broad range of topics from operation and auditing to irrigation system design, this workshop is for industry members seeking to minimise water use and maximise fertiliser utilisation within the container.
At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to determine the efficiency of different irrigation systems and make value judgements about how these systems perform in relation to each other.
Participants will also gain an understanding of how plants use water, how water and nutrient management are interlinked, and how irrigation scheduling can be matched to the requirements of their particular nursery.
Workshop outcomes
At the completion of the workshop participants will be able to:
- Determine how plants utilise water in varying nursery environments
- Describe how nutrient and water management are linked
- Describe how water is held in potting media
- Schedule irrigation systems to match water use
- Measure plant water use
- Measure leachate volumes
- Detail their irrigation system’s performance
- Determine what information is required to complete a water audit
- Determine what actions to take after the audit has been completed
Workshop outline
Operation & scheduling irrigation systems
- Why and how plants use water
- Elements impacting water use
- Irrigation scheduling
Auditing an irrigation system
- Assess your nursery’s irrigation system
- Benefits of completing an audit
- Water sources
- Production requirements
- Conducting a full evaluation
- Reviewing the information gathered from the water audit in the nursery
- Preparing the action plan
Irrigation system design
- Requirements
- Planning an irrigation system
- Developing a maintenance plan
Target audience
Industry members engaged in activities relating to irrigation and water management who would like to build upon their existing knowledge. May include technical experts, experienced employees, nursery owners and production managers.
Workshop prerequisites
Participants should have completed the unit ‘Fundamentals of irrigation systems’ or have the equivalent knowledge, including an understanding of Mean Applications Rate ( MAR), Scheduling Coefficient (SC) and Crop Factors.
Session length
3 hours
CNP activity points
For more information
For more information about this workshop contact your state or territory Nursery & Garden Industry Association.
|
