ABSTRACT
There is antidotal evidence that many farmers in Puerto Rico and the developing countries do not employ scientific methods for scheduling irrigation for their crops. Instead, the pump is turned on for an arbitrary amount of time without knowing whether the amount of water applied is too much or too little. Over application of water can lead to the waste of water, energy, chemicals and money, and also may lead to the contamination of ground and surface waters. Under application of irrigation can lead to reduced crop yields and a loss of revenue to the grower.
