Microsprinklers wet larger soil volume; boost almond yield, tree growth
In the Arbuckle area of the Sacramento Valley, a 22-acre orchard was planted in 1990 with four almond varieties (‘Nonpareil’, ‘Butte’, ‘Carmel’ and ‘Monterey’). The orchard was irrigated with three types of microirrigation — surface drip, subsurface drip and microsprinkler...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
1999-03-01
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| Series: | California Agriculture |
| Online Access: | http://calag.ucanr.edu/archive/?article=ca.v053n02p39 |
| Summary: | In the Arbuckle area of the Sacramento Valley, a 22-acre orchard was planted in 1990
with four almond varieties (‘Nonpareil’, ‘Butte’, ‘Carmel’ and ‘Monterey’). The orchard
was irrigated with three types of microirrigation — surface drip, subsurface drip
and microsprinklers. The orchard soils are 3 to 4 feet of gravelly, loamy sand overlaying
a restricting clay layer. The coarse-textured soil with its low water-holding capacity
allows little lateral movement of water from the microirrigation emission device.
Under these soil conditions, microsprinkler-irrigated trees produced larger almond
yields and showed greater tree growth. In addition, irrigation system evaluations
show that all three microirrigation systems provide excellent irrigation uniformity
levels after 8 years of operation with only routine maintenance. |
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| ISSN: | 0008-0845 2160-8091 |