Optimal irrigation scheduling is based on the crop water requirements, weather data and soil water content in the root zone. Soil water content fluctuates rapidly particularly in sandy soils which have low water holding capacity. As irrigation costs continue to increase more efforts should be exerted to minimize these costs. Improved irrigation scheduling enables growers I) to minimize the effects of water stress on crop growth and production, and ii) avoid excess use of water which could increase the production cost and also could result in increased leaching losses of nutrients and soil applied agrichemicals below the rootzone. The main emphasis of this paper was to discuss the importance of soil moisture measurement for irrigation scheduling. We reviewed the progress in irrigation management over the years with emphasis on the more commonly used irrigation methods and soil moisture measurement techniques. A special attention was given to the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods. As water resources are becoming more and more precious, low volume irrigation systems (micro-irrigation systems) are becoming increasingly popular in citrus irrigation. In addition to their low water usage, low energy requirements and lower costs, these micro-irrigation systems are used to deliver fertilizers (fertigation) more efficiently into the rootzone for plant uptake. Real time monitoring of soil moisture levels using tensiometers, capacitance probes and neutron scattering have been used to aid irrigation scheduling for several crops including citrus. Tensiometers are relatively inexpensive, easy to use and maintain. However, in extreme sandy soils the working interval of tensiometers can be practically reduced, therefore, its use may not be quite effective to detect soil moisture changes. Such limitation could have major impact on the crop production particularly during the growth stages which are sensitive to moisture stress, such as flowering, fruit set and early fruit enlargement stages. Capacitance probes which operate on the principle of apparent dielectric constant of the soil-water-air mixture and the soil water content are extremely sensitive to small changes in water content changes within a short time interval i.e. minutes. These probs have sensors that can be placed at various depths within and below the effective rooting depth for a real time monitoring of the water content. Based on this continuous monitoring of the soil water content, irrigation can be scheduled to replenish the water deficit within the rooting depth while minimizing leaching water below the rootzone. These are important crop management practices aimed to increase nutrient uptake efficiency, irrigation efficiency, optimal crop production and for protection of ground water resources from agricultural nonpoint source pollutants.