Drip Irrigation

This book aims to bridge the gap between various professionals involved in drip irrigation, including physicists, agronomists, horticulturists, hydraulic engineers, designers, manufacturers, and users. Progress in this field relies on collaboration across these disciplines. While the area of drip irrigation has not expanded as rapidly in the last decade compared to the previous one, our understanding of water and solute distribution, as well as plant responses, has significantly improved. The tools for optimal drip system design have advanced considerably, particularly in the development and manufacturing of sophisticated equipment, including enhanced emitters, laterals, filtration systems, controllers, and sensors. We emphasize the importance of balancing hydraulic design with effective management and maintenance, as many well-designed systems fail due to poor management. Drip irrigation holds great potential for water use efficiency, but this potential is often undermined. We acknowledge the late Eshel Bresler for his contributions to our understanding of water and solute movement in drip irrigation and its implications for system design. Portions of a previous publication titled "Drip Irrigation Manual" by S. Dasberg and E. have informed this work.