Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/60127
GOOD TO KNOW A research report from Dr. Todd Einhorn, Oregon State University Irrigating cherry orchards efficiently Cherry size and yields were not affected by reduced irrigation, but postharvest irrigation is still critical. significant portion of sweet cherry acreage throughout California and the Pacific Northwest faces water challenges. Sustainable irrigation practices need to be developed to effi- ciently manage limited water supplies. The most readily available information for scheduling irrigations is refer- ence evapotranspiration (ETº). High temperatures, low humidity, and/or wind drive plant water use, and, hence, are the essential components of evapotranspiration. An alternative, but often complementary approach to ET-based irrigation scheduling, is soil moisture monitoring. Irrigating based on soil water content requires knowledge of soil texture and depth to determine the amount of available water in a soil. The available water is then managed at a specific threshold. The utility of reference evapo- transpiration and/or soil moisture is limited though, because they do not directly assess plant-water status. Subsequently, these indicators need to be related to plant-based measurements to develop effective irrigation protocols. We have recently characterized cherry yields, fruit quality, and vegetative growth in response to deficit irrigation using soil and plant-based measurements. A three-year study was conducted in an 8-year-old Lapins/Mazzard orchard (161 trees per acre) at Omeg Orchards, The Dalles, Oregon. Microsprinklers supplied irrigation to replace predefined percentages of reference evapotranspiration: Twin-Walled Plastic Harvesting Totes • Cherries • Peaches • Nectarines • Plums • Apricots and all Tree Fruit Lapins fruit quality was excellent in all three years of the deficit irrigation study. Table 1 Yield of Lapins/Mazzard cherry trees Yields were not reduced significantly by any of the treatments. • Reduce fruit handling damage • Pick, transport, hydro-cool, display all in the same container • Extremely durable and lightweight • End annual replacement costs • Cut labor costs Farm Wholesale Products Salem, OR 1-800-825-1925 ext 608 32 APRIL 1, 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER Treatment Yield (pounds per tree) irrigation 2009 2010 2011 2009-2011 Treatment 1 181 141 100 422 Treatment 2 178 114 106 397 Treatment 3 186 123 91 399 Treatment 4 173 118 91 381 Water use and potential savings. Treatment irrigation Treatment 1 (2011) www.farmwholesaleag.com Treatment 1 (2009-2010) Treatment 2 Treatment 3 Treatment 4 *If no reductions in ETº irrigations were applied to the orchard, water use would total 1,032,000 gallons per acre over the three years. SOURCE:Todd Einhorn, Oregon State University Projected yield (tons per acre) 2009 2010 2011 14.6 11.4 8.1 14.3 9.2 8.5 15.0 9.9 7.3 13.9 9.5 7.3 Water use 991,000 671,000 568,000 464,000 516,000 gallons per acre Water savings 41,000 361,000 464,000 568,000 516,000 Treatment 1, fully irrigated 65 percent ETº Treatment 2, 55 percent ETº Treatment 3, 45 percent ETº Treatment 4, regulated deficit irrigation www.goodfruit.com " E n d r e p e a t e d d u m p i n g a n d h a n d l i n g " Call for a F R C u s t o m T o t e s A v a i l a b l e ! E E s a m p l e ! cold storage, or farmer's market in the same container fruit to the packing house, T ransport your picked Other Products: Fumigation Totes Grow Tubes Tree Guards Greenhouse Glazing courtesy of todd einhorn, osu