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WRM10306 Irrigation and Water Management (Tamacroppi Challenge) | Period 1

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September 5, 2022

In the second-year course Irrigation and Water Management, students learn how to calculate how much water a crop needs and the optimum method and frequency for irrigation. To bring the course - literally - to live, students have to adopt a 'Tamacroppi': a crop that students take home and try to keep alive for as long as possible. Who is going to know what their crop really needs, and win the Tamacroppi challenge?

About the course

The course is an introduction to irrigation and water management and a further elaboration of the theme of agro-irrigation. Special attention is paid to field-specific issues such as the basics of field and farm irrigation with an emphasis on plant-water-soil- atmosphere relationships and field irrigation methods.

Students begin with the evaluation of crop water needs (‘how much water does a crop need?’), then move into irrigation methods (‘how is water distributed to the crop’), and then focus on real-world options and constraints of agro-irrigation for farmers.

To combine fun with practical learning, students participate in a Tamacroppi challenge. Whereas Tamagotchi was a plastic animal you had to keep alive, the Tamacroppi is a crop that students try to keep alive by taking it home, and watering the crop themselves throughout and after the course. This year students could pick soy bean, sugar maize, sorghum, spring wheat or radice.