In our Master's thesis, we used a water balance model to assess the drip irrigation needs of the apple variety 'Gala' from an intensive orchard in Žadovinek. Between 2018 and 2019, using the Cropwat 8.0 software, we modelled irrigation using six different strategies: 1) »Unirrigated« (only source of water is precipitation); 2) »(N1) Up to FC« (maintaining soil water near field capacity through irrigation); 3) »Deficit 80 %« (reducing the irrigation volume by 20 %, compared to the »(N1) Up to FC« strategy); 4) »(N2) DUKTV« (keeping soil water slightly above the critical drought stress point of the plants through irrigation); 5) »Scheduled irrigation« (where irrigation covers three days' water needs, based on the daily evapotranspiration requirements of the plants); and 6) »Covering ET0« (or »Full ETc irrigation«) (irrigation follows the daily needs of plants based on their evapotranspiration). The »(N2) DUKTV« strategy emerged as the most efficient in terms of maximum precipitation utilisation and minimal water use, while the other irrigation strategies required more water and had lower precipitation efficiency. Utilising the »(N2) DUKTV« strategy in practice, in the selected apple orchard covering 170,400 m2, would save 39,628.04 m3 of water compared to the »Covering ET0« (or »Full ETc irrigation«) strategy and 19,915.44 m3 compared to the »(N1) Up to FC« strategy, approximately 11.69 % less. The »(N2) DUKTV« strategy demonstrated the lowest average water consumption among the studied strategies, at 155.5 mm, which is 25.95 % less than the »Deficit 80 %« strategy and 59.90 % less than the »Covering ET0« (or »Full ETc irrigation«) strategy. As the »(N2) DUKTV« strategy proved to be the most efficient in terms of water consumption, further research is essential to better understand its long-term effects on soil quality and water resources.
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