Applying the Precision Irrigation Technology to Address the Deficit of Water Resources in the South of Russia

The development of precision irrigation is caused by the need to account for soil, climate, water, organizational, and economic specifics of the fields and plots. Precision irrigation reduces the consumption of water, energy, and other resources. It increases the effectiveness of tending to crops, raises the productivity of plants, and maintains even soil moisture on all plots. In 2019, we conducted a two-factor field test on the territory of the “Biryuchekut Olericulture Experimental Station”—a branch of the “Federal Research Centre of Vegetable Production.” In the test, we planted spring potatoes. As a result, we established the following technical characteristics: crop yield, total water consumption, irrigation norm, and water balance coefficients. We established the dependency of spring potato yield on the total dose of fertilizers and water consumption in precision irrigation. We analyzed the field experiment results and concluded that precision mineral fertilization and precision irrigation are the most effective methods of growing spring potatoes.