Techniques for almond irrigation boost efficiency
rigate because water is not uniformly dis- tributed across the orchard; it may be the onlyway toget enoughwater to the endof a rowof trees. He sa i d the Almond I r r i ga t i on Continuum provides a comprehen- sive manual of irr igat ion manage- ment and schedul ing pract ices to help growers advance. The 150-page publication focuses on five irrigation practices and tracks three levels for im- provement. It is available in PDF for- mat at www.almonds.com/irrigation; print versions are available by emailing fieldoutreach@almondboard.com. “Water status has huge growth and yield consequences.” — Luke Milliron UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor LukeMilliron, aUniversityof California Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Butte, Tehama and Glenn counties, dis- cussed how to use a pressure chamber to assess water stress, and said steps to using a pressure chamber are outlined at sacvalleyorchards.com/manuals. “Water status has huge growth and yield consequences,” Milliron said, add- ing that over time, water stress can result in significant yield reduction.
The pressure chamber also indicates when a farmer may be overirrigating, he said, which can result in hull rot and low- er-limb dieback. Milliron said sustaining near base- line or minimal tree stress throughout the season can eventually increase tree loss and shorten the economic life of an orchard. “Wet trees are really common,” he said. “Eighty percent of my calls are related to overwatered trees or problems fromawet spring likewe had last year.” The wet conditions lead to root and crown rots, higher hull rot and Alternaria and lower limb shading and dieback. Sebastian Saa, senior manager of the Almond Board of California, talked of the factors that define almond yield each season. They include the number of flowers, the percentage of fruit set and kernel weight. Saa said irrigationmanagement can re- sult in a 20% reduction in kernel size and formation of flower buds. As to flower quality, boron plays a key role for the adequate growth of the pol- linic tube, he said, and zinc accumulates in the pollen and plays a key role in early cell division. Fruit drop can be aggravated by poor fertigation and water applied in excess, Saa said. ( D e n n i s P o l l o c k i s a r e p o r t - er in Fresno. He may be contacted at agcompollock@yahoo.com.)
ByDennis Pollock During an Almond Board of California webinar focused on almond irrigation,
irrigation modules can help formulate nitrogen irrigation plans and in applying for funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Tom Devol, senior manager for the board’s field outreach and education, talked of the importance of distribution uniformitywhen irrigating. Devol said it’s important to look at an irrigation system’s efficiency, to look at water use andwhat needs to be replaced due to evapotranspiration. Also import- ant is understanding howmuch water is being applied. Devol said an auger used to evaluate soil moisture is one of a farmer’s most valuable tools. It canbeusedas a first step, he said, and it can be used at other stages to substantiate readings frommanually operated soil moisture sensors and auto- mated sensors. Causes for poor efficiency in distri- bution uniformity include plugging and leaks inan irrigationsystem.Devol citeda gasket leak that resulted ina loss of 10,000 gallons of water in a single season. Another key is flushing the system, in- cluding drip tubing. Devol said growers sometimes overir-
experts discussed techniques and technologies to enhance yields and efficiency. Eric Harris, se- niordirectorofsci- ence and sustain-
ability with SureHarvest, talked about the CaliforniaAlmondSustainabilityProgram. HesaidSureHarvest seeks toassurecon- fidentiality forparticipationintheprogram that addresses variousmodules: irrigation management, nutrientmanagement, pest management,airquality,energyefficiency, ecosystemmanagement, financial man- agement, workplace and communities, andbee health andpollination. Harris said he believes the material accrued by using the modules can help in “telling the good story of the almond industry.” He said statistics showing higher use of microirrigation in al- mond orchards as compared to farms generally “is a powerful message to be used to counter the quote-unquote ‘drought-shaming’ message.” In addition, he said, information from
REQUESTAFREE R2000WFKIT SPRINKLER // HAT // LITERATURE INFO@NELSONIRRIGATION.COM
UNMATCHED UNIFORMITY
MADE POSSIBLEWITH THE R2000WF ROTATOR® SPRINKLER ANDMINI DRAIN CHECK. Add TWIG® Wireless Controls for system automation. You can now remotely control andmonitor your irrigation system from anywhere with the newTWIGmobile app.
NEXT GENERATION
Create watering schedules; edit by drag and drop; start, stop or pause a schedule; map irrigation blocks to verify field operation; and monitor pressure and flow with our new TWIG® Wireless Controls mobile app.
October 7, 2020 Ag Alert 11
NEW WORDMARK // GRAY
Powered by FlippingBook