ABSTRACT

Data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (2002) indicates that irrigation has increased over the last several years in Arkansas. Arkansas now ranks 4^th among states in irrigated acreage at approximately 4.5 million acres. During this time of increase in irrigated acreage there has been much work done by the University of Arkansas in the area of irrigation scheduling. This work has led to the development of the Arkansas Irrigation Scheduling Computer Program (Cahoon, J. etal, 1990). The program is designed to be practical and require minimum data. It is used extensively in research and extension demonstrations and there have been approximately 350 different requests for the program in the last 3 years. The program is also being used in Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky. Users of the program indicate that it is a helpful decision aid on determining when to irrigate. University of Arkansas researchers and extension personnel continue to evaluate the program and make revisions to improve its usefulness and effectiveness.