Basics of Vegetable Crop Irrigation

Vegetables are 80 to 95 percent water. Think of them as sacks of water with a small amount of flavoring and some vitamins. Because vegetables contain so much water, their yield and quality suffer rapidly when subjected to a drought. Thus, for good yields and high quality, irrigation is essential to the production of most vegetables. If water shortages occur early in the crop’s development, maturity may be delayed and yields reduced. If a moisture shortage occurs late in the growing season, quality is often reduced even though total yields may not be affected.