Durum response to soil water depletion levels at Stanfield, 2002

• Main Authors: Ottman, Michael J., Husman, Stephen H.
• Language: en_US
• Published: College of Agriculture, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) 2002
• Subjects: Agriculture > Arizona; Grain > Arizona; Forage plants > Arizona; Barley > Arizona; Wheat > Arizona; Barley > Irrigation; Wheat > Irrigation
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/203860

This research was conducted to test the effect of soil water depletion levels on durum productivity. An experiment was conducted at a commercial farm in Stanfield where irrigations were applied at 35, 50, or 65% depletion of plant available soil water. These soil water depletion levels were estimated from soil texture and weather data. The grain yields obtained with 35, 50, and 65% depletion were 6718, 6324, and 4752 lbs/acre, respectively. Grain protein decreased and HVAC increased by irrigating more frequently at lower depletion levels. Irrigating at 50% depletion was the most economical in this study considering irrigation costs and grain quality discounts.