Hydraulic implications of variable-rate irrigation

Centre-pivot (CP) and lateral-move (LM) irrigation machines can now be retrofitted with variable-rate irrigation (VRI) technology to spatially vary irrigation depths by pulsing and cycling flow into sprinkler heads using electrically actuated solenoid valves to meet specific irrigation requirements in discrete management zones. However, despite the proposition that this technology can offer benefits in terms of water use and energy consumption, the hydraulic impacts of retrofitting the VRI on these machines have not been assessed.