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Agriculture vocabulary · Irrigation and Water

Drip irrigation

Meaning in agriculture, with examples

nounCore term

In agriculture, drip irrigation means: A method that delivers water slowly and directly to the roots of each plant through pipes and small emitters, wasting very little water.

In Turkish: damla sulama, damlama sulama

How it is used

Common in orchards, vineyards, greenhouses and vegetables. People talk about drip lines, drip tape, emitters, filters and flow rates. Drip irrigation is also used to apply dissolved fertilizer, which is called fertigation.

Example sentences

  1. After switching to drip irrigation, we used about 40 percent less water.

  2. Clean the filters regularly, or the drip irrigation emitters will clog.

Common collocations

  • drip irrigation system
  • drip line
  • drip tape
  • install drip irrigation
  • subsurface drip irrigation
  • irrigationThe artificial supply of water to land or crops through channels, pipes, sprinklers or drippers, used when rain alone is not enough.
  • fertigationThe application of dissolved fertilizers through an irrigation system, usually drip, so that nutrients reach the roots with the water.
  • sprinkler irrigationA method of irrigation that sprays water into the air through pipes and rotating heads, so that it falls on the crop like rain.
  • furrow irrigationA surface irrigation method in which water flows by gravity along small channels made between crop rows.
  • irrigation schedulingDeciding when to irrigate and how much water to apply, based on crop needs, weather data and soil moisture.

More terms: Irrigation and Water

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