A 3-year study was conducted to determine the irrigation requirements for field tomato production in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Irrigation requirements were ascertained using both a weather-based crop water model, and data from soil moisture sensors. The equivalent irrigation depth applied based on real-time soil moisture measurements among four soil moisture treatments ranged from 102 to 168 mm, 85 to 190 mm, and 58 to 196 mm for 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively. Using the crop simulation model—AquaCrop, the net irrigation water requirement (NIWR) was estimated as 163–236 mm over the 3-year period. The model overestimated the NIWR compared to the real-time sensor-based measurements. A comparison between these two approaches indicated that a soil moisture depletion of ≤ 45% available water content (AWC) resulted in adequate moisture to meet crop water requirements, and correspondingly produce higher crop yields. From this study, we conclude that real-time soil moisture sensors proved to be very effective for scheduling irrigation of processing tomatoes in Eastern Canada and leads to higher water savings.

进行了为期三年的研究，以确定加拿大安大略省西南部农田番茄生产的灌溉需求。使用基于天气的农作物水模型和土壤湿度传感器的数据来确定灌溉需求。在四个土壤水分处理中，基于实时土壤水分测量值所应用的等效灌溉深度分别为2008年，2009年和2010年为102到168 mm，85到190 mm和58到196 mm。使用农作物模拟模型AquaCrop，三年内的净灌溉水需求（NIWR）估计为163-236 mm。与基于传感器的实时测量相比，该模型高估了NIWR。两种方法的比较表明，土壤水分耗竭≤可用水分含量（AWC）的45％可产生足够的水分以满足农作物的水分需求，并相应地提高农作物的单产。从这项研究中，我们得出结论，实时土壤湿度传感器被证明对于安排加拿大东部的加工番茄灌溉计划非常有效，并且可以节省更多的水。