Greenhouse drip irrigation China’s water resources are relatively scarce, with per capita water availability only one-quarter of the global average. Agricultural water use accounts for 73% of the nation’s total annual water consumption. At the same time, the efficiency of agricultural irrigation in China is low, with the national effective utilization index falling below 40%.

China’s agricultural water use faces the dual challenges of resource scarcity and severe waste, with the low efficiency of irrigation water utilization primarily attributable to outdated irrigation practices. Taking vegetable production as an example, field sprinkler or furrow irrigation is commonly employed, with application rates ranging from 0.9 to 1.2 m³ per hectare per hour, resulting in a water-use efficiency of only about 40%. This not only leads to substantial water wastage but also increases relative humidity within greenhouses, thereby promoting the incidence of various diseases. Consequently, the selection of appropriate irrigation methods is of great importance for protected vegetable cultivation.

Winter-warm greenhouses are a new winter vegetable-growing technique that has emerged in northern China in recent years. Water-saving irrigation techniques are essential for greenhouses. Greenhouse drip irrigation Technology: Drip irrigation technology is one of the methods used to improve and simplify drip irrigation systems. Greenhouse drip irrigation systems not only offer advantages such as water and energy conservation, uniform irrigation, increased yields, and reduced labor and time requirements, but also enable control of soil temperature, maintenance of greenhouse temperatures, and shortening of vegetable growth cycles.

Advantages of greenhouse drip irrigation systems:

(1) Water conservation, fertilizer reduction, and labor savings

Drip irrigation falls under the broader categories of pipeline water delivery and localized micro-irrigation, designed to minimize water loss through leakage and evaporation. At the same time, because water is delivered precisely when and where crop roots need it, there is no peripheral water loss, leading to a substantial increase in water-use efficiency. Irrigation can be conveniently integrated with fertilization by dissolving chemical fertilizers and injecting them into the irrigation and fertigation system. Since the fertilizers are applied in liquid form along with the irrigation water, nutrients are delivered directly and uniformly to the root zone, achieving simultaneous water and fertilizer application and greatly enhancing fertilizer use efficiency. Moreover, due to its small-scale, localized control and minimal leakage, micro-irrigation helps reduce fertilizer consumption and mitigate environmental pollution. The application of fertigation technology also makes it easy to promptly supply crops with costly micronutrients, thereby avoiding waste. In greenhouse and plastic-mulch cultivation, drip-irrigation systems—controlled manually or automatically via valves and combined with fertigation—can significantly reduce labor requirements and lower production costs.

(2) Control temperature and humidity

Traditional furrow irrigation in greenhouses involves large volumes of water applied at one time, keeping the soil surface moist for extended periods. This not only causes rapid declines and slow rises in both air and soil temperatures but also increases evaporation, leading to excessively high indoor humidity that can readily promote the occurrence of vegetable and flower diseases and pests. In contrast, drip irrigation is a form of localized micro-irrigation that keeps most of the soil surface dry while delivering water uniformly and slowly directly to the root zone through drip emitters. As a result, it effectively maintains and restores soil moisture, reduces water evaporation, and lowers indoor humidity. Subsurface drip irrigation, in which drip lines or tapes are laid beneath plastic mulch, yields even better results. Moreover, greenhouse drip irrigation is easy to operate, features small emitter outlets with low flow rates, requires longer irrigation durations per session, and results in relatively small fluctuations in soil moisture, thereby enabling frequent irrigations. Consequently, it allows precise control of soil moisture in the root zone, keeping it consistently close to the optimal level for vegetable and flower growth. By effectively managing both indoor air humidity and soil moisture, this approach significantly reduces the incidence of diseases and pests, thus decreasing the need for chemical pesticides.

Hebei Runtian Water-Saving Equipment Co., Ltd. is a manufacturer of drip irrigation tape, drip irrigation tubing, and PE drip irrigation pipe. Its main products include ground-insert micro-sprinklers, automated drip irrigation systems, suspended micro-sprinklers, field drip irrigation, field sprinkler irrigation, fruit-tree drip irrigation, greenhouse drip irrigation, irrigation PE pipe, subsurface drip irrigation, intelligent fertilizer applicators, integrated water-fertilizer machines, and sprinkler irrigation tape. The company is a comprehensive enterprise that integrates research, production, sales, and engineering installation of plastic irrigation products. Adhering to a people-oriented approach and a commitment to innovation, the company has established a new business philosophy centered on promoting water-saving irrigation equipment and technologies tailored to China’s national conditions. It strives to expand both domestic and international markets, enhance its service system, and continuously strengthen and grow its marketing network. We welcome you to visit for consultation and negotiation.