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Category: Drip Irrigation News

The Impact Of Drought On Vegetable Production

drought_plantWater is a precious commodity. Just ask California growers trying to navigate through a drought that is said to be one of the worst since the 1500s.

In March, the California Farm Water Coalition upgraded its estimate of acres growers will leave idle this year to 800,000, up from 500,000, because of a lack of water. According to USDA’s Drought Monitor, the drought in 95% of the state is being called “Severe” to “Exceptional.”

What can California and growers in the West do? Unfortunately, options are limited. Conservation is an obvious solution — and most growers in the West are already well down that road. During the last couple of decades, many have turned their attention to drip irrigation, which is considered to be the most efficient way to water crops.

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How to Adopt Subsurface Drip Irrigation & Optimize Mint Production

Toro has announced two easy-to-use “how-to” guides on subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) and mint production. The SDI guide helps producers adopt systems for field crops such as corn, cotton, soybeans, sugarcane, alfalfa and mint. The mint guide profiles Idaho mint producer and President of the Mint Association, Bob McKellip, and reveals the success he achieved by using SDI through two harvests*. Both brochures are available in English and Spanish in our drip irrigation literature archive.

Click here to download the SDI guide (for Spanish, click here).

Click here to download the Mint guide (for Spanish, click here).

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Drip Irrigation on Peppermint – 2013 Crop Update

Drip Irrigation on MintAnother season has passed, and Bob McKellip is happy to report that his second year of utilizing drip irrigation on mint was even better than the first. “This Spring, I started up the drip system and everything worked perfectly,” explains McKellip. “I have found that the system is very simple and easy to operate once it’s set-up, and that its just like any other piece of modern farm equipment. With drip, I easily spoon fed my crop with the water and fertilizer it needed on a weekly basis, and harvested unheard of yields on second-year mint – 188 pounds of mint oil per acre!”

McKellip noted that this was achieved in spite of record heat, minimal rainfall, and variable soils with differing water holding capacities. “With drip, I was able to fine tune the irrigation schedule to accommodate different soil types and get more water where it was needed.”

As a result, not only were yields boosted, but water and fertilizer use was down as well.

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Drip Watering System: 5-Step Plan to Feed the World

By 2050 we’ll need to feed two billion more people. How can we do that without overwhelming the planet?

In honor of Earth Day, the following article by National Geographic takes a look at the issues we will face as the world’s population increases. This 5-step plan offers some solutions, including precision farming and more efficient irrigation systems, like subsurface drip irrigation.

Click here to read “A Five-Step Plan to Feed the World.”

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Learn More About Water, Science & Technology at the 2014 Water Technology Conference

The 2014 Water Technology Conference will be held on Thursday, May 8 at the Veteran’s Memorial Building in Clovis, California. This event, presented by the International Center for Water Technology (ICWT), features an impressive line-up of technical speakers, exhibitors, poster sessions and networking opportunities.

To register or for more information, go to www.californiawater.org, www.icwt.net, or call 559.278.2066.

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California Farmer Seeks Greater Efficiency with Drip Irrigation

According to second generation farmer, Pete Aiello, “there has been a lot of finger pointing as California endures a drought, and most of it seems to be directed toward agriculture.”

“California farmers do their best to make every drop of water count,” Pete says. “My family’s farm started installing drip irrigation systems in 1985. Local experts estimate that 80 percent of Santa Clara County’s irrigation is done through low-volume irrigation such as drip tape and micro sprinklers.”

Learn more about Pete Aiello’s take on agriculture, the California drought, and drip irrigation by clicking the title or the following link:

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Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) Brings Improved Crop Health, Efficiency & Reduced Labor Costs to Kansas Farm

Roger Johnson and his family have farmed an 80-acre plot just outside the western city limits of Hoxie, Kan., for years under flood irrigation. Even while using all of the 800 gallons per minute available, it was necessary to split the 80-acre piece in two and farm different crops to manage the water.

“We always had problems getting water through the field,” Johnson explains, “and many times the crop we produced would be very good on one end of the field and nonexistent at the other. I remember before we installed subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) on the field, one year we made 165 bushels of corn there.”

In 2012, a very dry year even in country that expects only 15 to 18 inches of rainfall annually, Johnson and his brother, Bob, and son, Heath, binned 220 bushels per acre on the 80-acre field by applying water at a 600-gallonper- minute rate—75% of the well’s capacity—with subsurface drip irrigation. This past year, that same field produced a 79-bushel soybean crop.

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New Pressure-Compensating Micro Sprinkler Increases Watering Diameters

Micro-SprinklerAt Toro, we recently launched our new pressure-compensating sprinkler, Micro Sprinkler PC. Specifically designed for orchards, vineyards, and nursery applications where undulating terrain and long lateral lengths are challenging, Micro Sprinkler PC’s unique pressure-compensating design provides uniform flows and diameters over a wide range of operating pressures. Plus, the Micro Sprinkler PC has a wider diameter of throw than our previous models. Other capabilities of the new Micro Sprinkler PC include:

  • Wide diameter of throw from 16 feet to 31 feet, depending on sprinkler model
  • Pressure-compensating sprinkler provides uniform flow over a wide range of operating pressures from 20 psi to 60 psi
  • Low angle of throw to maximize irrigation under foliage
  • Easy identification in eight color-coded flow rates ranging from 9 GPH – 40 GPH
  • Snap-fit bearing provides easy field inspection and maintenance
  • Improved distribution characteristics with larger droplet sizes that are less susceptible to wind
  • Anti-insect/dust proof spinner retracts to protect nozzle when not in operation
  • Optional break-off deflector tab allows the sprinkler to be placed near a newly planted tree to concentrate water where the roots are developing
  • Fully assembled models available with pre-installed tube and stake
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California Farmers Say Irrigation Technology & Efficiency is the Future for Agriculture

Irrigation supply stores throughout California report brisk sales, and irrigation experts say extreme drought has prompted a closer look at emerging technology to help stretch dwindling water supplies.

California farmers invested more than $3 billion in improved irrigation technology between 2003 and 2013, according to Danny Merkley, California Farm Bureau Federation water resources director.

“Already, farmers have upgraded irrigation systems on more than 2.6 million acres statewide,” Merkley said. Many farmers and ranchers see technology as a way to accelerate water supply management capability and better integrate a variety of operations, while noting that a combination of efficiency improvements and investment in new water storage and recycling will be needed to assure future supplies.

“I’ve worked in two-dozen countries consulting on various aspects of applied irrigation technology, and find California farmers are doing an outstanding job of adopting technology for better water management,” said Charles Burt, chairman of the Irrigation Training and Research Center at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

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