The harvest of water is defined as the collection of the vital liquid derived from the rains to use it for productive purposes.
As water scarcity is a phenomenon that has a negative impact on agriculture, it is important to highlight that the lack of this natural resource for the development of crops leads to the search for multiple solutions, with water harvesting being one of the most effective.
The use of rainwater to cover the needs of agricultural production is a strategy that has been practiced for thousands of years, especially in rural areas. To this it is necessary to add that the techniques of aprovechamiento of the pluvial resource have been perfected throughout the time.
The capture and storage of rainwater that is destined to the crops is carried out by means of varied techniques, being some of these the harvest of the vital liquid in roofs of housing and other impermeable structures, as well as the construction of works that reserve such as dams of concrete, bordos of trough, masonry, cisterns, basin roofs or pots.
Other common methods in water harvesting are microcaptation and macrocaptation. The first consists of capturing the flow of rainwater generated within the farmland itself, with the purpose of infiltrating it so that it can be harvested by the sowings. The second is similar to the previous one but is applied in larger areas and in arid or semi-arid zones.
One of the main commitments of SAGARPA is to combat the problem of the lack of water of the Productive Infrastructure in Support of Soil and Water Conservation (IPASA) component, which in recent years has generated infrastructure to provide water for more than three million inhabitants of rural areas.
Source: sagarpa.gob.mx
* The information in this article is the responsibility of the source, GLOBALMET is exempt from any liability arising from its inaccuracy, omission or lack of updating.
Agricultural Meteorology is the applied science that studies the influence of weather and climate on agricultural productivity, livestock and forestry. This science deals with the mutual actions that are exerted between meteorological and hydrological factors, on the one hand, and agriculture in its broadest sense, on the other; establishes the requirements of crops and livestock to climate conditions through the application of special statistical methods and from these requirements, expressed in the form of mathematical models, develops agrometeorological methods of forecasting of fundamental phases of crop development and of its yields and, in addition, it carries out the agroclimatic zoning of a territory taking into account the spatial - temporal distribution of the climatic factors that limit agricultural production.
General purpose
Its objective is to detect and define these effects, and then apply the knowledge of the atmosphere to the practical aspects of agriculture.
Specific objectives
Extend and use the knowledge of the atmosphere and processes related to it in order to optimize sustainable agricultural production using the maximum of weather resources and with minimal damage to the environment and preserve natural resources.
Agricultural Meteorology includes:
Earth sciences (physical), specifically the physics of the atmosphere (that is, meteorology, but also soil science and hydrology).
Certain biological sciences, specifically botany, physiology and animal pathology and sciences associated with agriculture.
Scope of Agricultural Meteorology
Its field of interest extends from the soil layer, where the deepest roots of plants and trees are found, passing through the layer of air close to the soil where crops, trees and animals live, reaching the highest levels of the atmosphere that interest the aerobiology, being this last layer of great interest for the transport of seeds, spores, pollen and insects.
In addition to the natural climate and its local variations, agricultural meteorology deals with changes in the environment, such as those produced by windbreaks and irrigation, of climatic conditions during storage, both inside and on the ground, of the environmental conditions in the housings of the cattle and in the agricultural buildings and lastly in the interior of the vehicles during the transport of the agricultural products.
Importance of weather and climate for agricultural production
Current agricultural production still depends on weather and climate despite the spectacular advances that agricultural technology has made in recent decades. Knowledge of the available environmental resources and the expected conditions from the layers below the surface of the Soil, passing through the soil - air interface until reaching the lower levels of the atmosphere, allows establishing guidelines for making strategic decisions regarding the long - term planning of agricultural systems.
Typical examples are the planning of irrigation systems, the choice of land use and cultivation programs, as well as the selection of crops and animals, varieties and breeds and, finally, agricultural machinery.
The practical application of this knowledge goes together with the availability and accuracy of weather forecasts according to the time scale in question. These predictions range from the detailed characteristics of the weather conditions that must occur in the very short term, medium term, long term, to seasonal predictions. Even indications of possible climate variability are useful in terms of historical climatic records obtained from data or other background, especially in the case of probability statistics, so that development plans do not lose their significance with reason for a notable change in weather behavior.
Source: fao.com
* The information in this article is the responsibility of the source, GLOBALMET is exempt from any liability arising from its inaccuracy, omission or lack of updating.
The agriculture of each zone depends directly on the climate of said place. They are important to take into account the rains, the type of soil, the water absorbed by the plant, the one that retains the soil, the amount of water that evaporates, the vegetative cycle of the crop. To provide you with these climatological data that will mark the growth and development of crops, automated meteorological stations are being installed in agricultural areas.
Automated weather station concept
An automated weather station is a system or structure that includes sensors that record and store meteorological information in real time and automatically. They test data on variables such as rainfall, wind speed and direction, temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, dew point, atmospheric pressure, evapotranspiration ... Sending this data to a PC or laptop allows a forecast for several hours or allows the software Analyze and compare the meteorological fluctuation by means of graphs and diagrams the forecast of a prolonged time.
The type components of an automatic station are:
tower or tripod sensors Data acquisition system (datalogger) communications (modem, radio)
Weather stations in agriculture
The use of automatic weather stations in agriculture is becoming increasingly popular as the possession of these data gives farmers the opportunity to make decisions to reduce the impact of adverse weather conditions on crops and organize their work schedule , treatments and risks.
There are meteorological networks, which are a set of automated meteorological stations distributed by an area or region. They collect data continuously and send it to a base from which they are processed and interpreted and from where they are made available to users.
Main advantages of the provision of climatological data in agriculture
The knowledge of this information helps farmers with:
