Craig Andrus is no stranger to sprinklers, but has been using drip on his 400 acres of romaine lettuce, Southeast of Salinas for over four years, now. He used to have a linear, but when it came time to replace it, he noticed the trend towards drip and made the change.
“My yields are higher, the crop is more uniform, and the quality is better because of perfect growing conditions.”
According to Craig Andrus, these are some of the benefits of drip irrigation on lettuce:
- Increased crop yields
- Increased crop uniformity
- Excellent wetting patterns with closely spaced emitters
- Improved crop quality (soft, pliable leaves vs. hard, rubbery leaves)
- Reduced runoff and deep percolation of water and fertilizers
- Reduced weed germination and control costs
- Reduced cultivation costs
- Reduced pumping costs
- Reduced mildew and spray costs
- Ability to irrigate immediately within one day of harvest
- Improved benefits from fertigation vs. sprinkler sidedress application
Click here to read more about Craig Andrus Farms and their experience with drip irrigation on lettuce. For Spanish, click here.
