Besides excess water, summer drought is a recurring phenomenon in Nordic agriculture and causes substantial yield losses. The reuse and improved use of drainage water for fertigation through improved drainage control could be an essential strategy to reduce yield losses during summer drought and nutrient loading to surface water.
University of OULU present a simple, flexible, and ecofriendly approach to reusing drainage water for fertigation through improved drainage control and promoting a circular economy in challenging Nordic conditions.
A hypothetical experiment was conducted to evaluate our proposed smart drainage management approach to reusing drainage water for irrigation through improved drainage control. The result showed that reusing drainage water for irrigation during summer drought can significantly reduce the yield losses during dry seasons and significantly reduce the nutrient loading to surface water from the agricultural field.