Today, many environmental activists are shouting about conservation. One of the touted conservation is water conservation. What exactly is water conservation and how is it technical? A brief review below will explain a little about water conservation in agriculture.
In principle, water conservation is the use of water that falls to the ground as efficiently as possible and with the right flow time, so that there is no destructive flood in the rainy season and there is enough water in the dry season. Water conservation can be done by increasing the utilization of two hydrological components, namely surface water and ground water, and increasing the efficiency of irrigation water use.
Water conservation for agriculture has three objectives, namely to increase the availability of rainwater, surface runoff or irrigation water for agriculture, in addition to saving, and for storing water.
Water conservation strategies are aimed at increasing water reserves in the root zone of plants by controlling normally damaging runoff by harvesting runoff, increasing infiltration and reducing evaporation. Agus et al. (2002) argued that there are two approaches that can be taken to make water use more efficient, namely through the selection of plants that are suitable for climatic conditions and through water conservation techniques such as the use of mulch, mounds and soilless techniques. . An important aspect that needs to be considered is as far as possible the rain that seeps into the ground to be maintained as much as possible in the basin or valley area, so that it can be used as a source of water for irrigation in the dry season or in a short time if plants are needed in the rainy season.
According to Troeh , water conservation strategies include management methods to reduce surface runoff, reduce evaporation, reduce deep percolation and prevent unnecessary water loss from storage areas. Thus water conservation measures can be directed at reducing the amount of surface runoff through increasing infiltration, increasing the content of organic matter, or by increasing surface and in-soil storage, for example through increased surface roughness (by tillage), infiltration channels, rorak construction, infiltration wells, kedung, situ, dam, etc. Another strategy is to slow down runoff through vegetative means, reduce land slope and shorten slopes. Maintenance of water sources (conservation of water resources) and rain harvesting are the next strategies.
Now you understand the principles of water conservation, especially in agriculture, right? How, interested in putting it into practice?
