Fertigation is a fertilizer program method, where dissolved fertilizers have been sent to the harvest through the irrigation system. This technology gives the opportunity to implement precise rates of fertilizers and water into the harvest, and therefore, if made correctly, can be an essential precision agriculture technologies.
Normally, concentrated fertigation methods are ready in stock tanks and are finally injected into the irrigation water, applying fertilizer injectors. The irrigation method can be drip irrigation, pivot, sprinkler system, or different configurations of hydroponic systems.
In the absence of a fertigation system, it is hard, or perhaps impossible, to use fertilizers when plants are larger and accessibility to the field is constrained. In these scenarios, fertilizers are often applied too early, finishing in the needs of nutrients due to leaching, volatilization, run-off, etc..
Since fertilizers are diffused in irrigation water, nutrients can be immediately absorbed by the plant, the moment they are applied.
In most kinds of fertigation, this restriction does not exist. Once the fertigation system is established, fertilizers are easily implemented at the right growing phase, according to the necessities of the crop.
To outline, fertigation retains a possibility to be considered a precision agriculture technology. By choosing the system that is quite adequate to the crop and field conditions and from designing it correctly, very large precision irrigation and fertilization can be achieved.
