title: Root zone sensors for irrigation management in intensive agriculture.
abstract: Crop irrigation uses more than 70% of the world's water, and thus, improving irrigation efficiency is decisive to sustain the food demand from a fast-growing world population. This objective may be accomplished by cultivating more water-efficient crop species and/or through the application of efficient irrigation systems, which includes the implementation of a suitable method for precise scheduling. At the farm level, irrigation is generally scheduled based on the grower's experience or on the determination of soil water balance (weather-based method). An alternative approach entails the measurement of soil water status. Expensive and sophisticated root zone sensors (RZS), such as neutron probes, are available for the use of soil and plant scientists, while cheap and practical devices are needed for irrigation management in commercial crops. The paper illustrates the main features of RZS' (for both soil moisture and salinity) marketed for the irrigation industry and discusses how such sensors may be integrated in a wireless network for computer-controlled irrigation and used for innovative irrigation strategies, such as deficit or dual-water irrigation. The paper also consider the main results of recent or current research works conducted by the authors in Tuscany (Italy) on the irrigation management of container-grown ornamental plants, which is an important agricultural sector in Italy.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia delle Piante Agrarie, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 23, 56124-I Pisa, Italy; E-Mails:  incrocci@agr.unipi.it  (L.I.);  g.incrocci@inwind.it  (G.I.);  fmalorgio@agr.unipi.it  (F.M.).
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pardossi
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Incrocci
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Incrocci
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Malorgio
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Battista
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bacci
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rapi
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marzialetti
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hemming
authors.forename: Jos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Balendonck