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Key Technical Points for Integrated Water and Fertilizer Management in Mountain Orchards

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Integrated water and fertilizer drip irrigation technology is a new agricultural technique that combines fertilization with drip irrigation. This technology uses a pressure system to dissolve soluble fertilizers into a nutrient solution, based on soil nutrient content and the fertilization characteristics of the crop, and delivers it together with irrigation water through pipes and drippers, evenly, at set times and in set amounts, to the crop root zone...
In the narrow sense, integrated water and fertilizer management means applying fertilizer through the irrigation system, so that crops absorb nutrients while absorbing water. Fertilization carried out together with irrigation is usually achieved by injecting the fertilizer solution into the irrigation pipeline under pressure. The irrigation water with dissolved fertilizer passes through emitters (sprinklers, micro-sprinklers, drippers, etc.), spraying the fertilizer solution onto the crop or dripping it into the root zone. In the broad sense, it means applying fertilizer after dissolving it, including drenching, pouring, spraying, pipeline application, and so on.
When implementing drip irrigation in mountain orchards, to save costs, if the terrain elevation difference within the orchard is within 15 m, installing drip irrigation generally does not require building a reservoir; it is enough to choose a water pump with a suitable head and flow rate. For terrain elevation differences above 25 m, it is best to build a reservoir at the highest point of the orchard and adopt a gravity drip irrigation system, which is more economical.
Drippers are divided into ordinary drippers and pressure-compensating drippers. The flow rate of ordinary drippers is directly proportional to pressure, and they can usually only be used on flat ground. Pressure-compensating drippers, however, can maintain a uniform, constant flow rate within a certain range of pressure variation. Mountain orchards, tea gardens, or forest areas often have varying degrees of elevation difference; using ordinary drippers will lead to uneven water output, typically manifesting as less water at higher points and more water at lower points. Pressure-compensating drippers can solve this problem. To ensure that water output is uniform and consistent throughout the pipeline, pressure-compensating drippers should be used when the terrain undulation elevation difference is greater than 3 m.

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