Strawberry Establishment Period: More drip, less sprinkler Oleg Daugovish, Ben Faber, Mike Cahn, Husein Ajwa, Steve Koike and Surendra Dara (UC ANR)
Lack of water but plenty of soil pathogens Macrophomina phaseolina Fusarium oxysporum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2tnxagk_tm Placing 4 tapes: depths and locations sprinkler irrigation wet furrows hold plastic during Santa Ana winds View plants established on 4 drip lines vs sprinkler irrigated, followed by 3 drips.
Drip Fumigation Camarillo (200 lbs /A InLine): native Fusarium oxysporum in soil: no symptoms in plants observed in Radiance Watsonville (300 lbs /A Piclor 60): buried inoculum no survivorship in 2 or 4 lines per bed at 2 depths for both M. phaseolina and F. oxysporum Oxnard: did not fumigate with 4 lines (2) but irrigated with 4 or 3 in season
7-Apr 8-Apr 9-Apr 10-Apr 11-Apr 12-Apr 13-Apr 14-Apr 15-Apr 16-Apr 17-Apr 18-Apr 19-Apr 20-Apr 21-Apr 22-Apr 23-Apr 24-Apr 25-Apr 26-Apr 27-Apr 28-Apr 29-Apr 30-Apr 1-May # dead /1200 plants Oxnard: irrigation affecting plant mortality due to F. oxysporum 400 350 300 250 200 Surface 4 drips-only Buried 4 drips- only Sprinkler, then 3 drips 150 100 50 0
Oxnard, CA, Oct 28, 2014 What was % of plant establishment? 98.45 surface drip, 98.6 buried drip and 98.3% in sprinkler irrigation
4 drip vs sprinkler EC in root zone, bulk soil 1.40 bulk ms/cm 1.20 bulk ms/cm sprinkler, then 3 lines 1.00 bulk ms/cm 0.80 bulk ms/cm 0.60 bulk ms/cm 0.40 bulk ms/cm 0.20 bulk ms/cm 4 lines, surface or buried 0.00 bulk ms/cm
4 drip vs sprinkler Volumetric moisture in root zone 0.350 m³/m³ 0.300 m³/m³ 0.250 m³/m³ 0.200 m³/m³ 0.150 m³/m³ 0.100 m³/m³ 0.050 m³/m³ avg buried drip avg surface drip avg overhead 0.000 m³/m³ 21-Oct 28-Oct 4-Nov 11-Nov 18-Nov 25-Nov 2-Dec 9-Dec 16-Dec 23-Dec 30-Dec 6-Jan 13-Jan 20-Jan 27-Jan 3-Feb
4 or 2 drip lines with overhead irrigation: EC bulk soil at a different ranch 1.40 bulk ms/cm EC in root zone 1.20 bulk ms/cm 1.00 bulk ms/cm 0.80 bulk ms/cm 0.60 bulk ms/cm 0.40 bulk ms/cm sprinkler and 4 drip sprinkler and 2 drip 0.20 bulk ms/cm 0.00 bulk ms/cm
Soil Analyses 0-6 Nov 19 4 drip surface 4 drip buried Sprinkler, then 3 drip chloride 0.64 meq/l 0.79 meq/l 2.74 meq/l sodium 5.89 meq/l 7.09 meq/l 9.97 meq/l EC sat 3.66 ds/m 4.21 ds/m 3.99 ds/m paste sulfate 39.2 meq/l 36.3 meq/l 45.2 meq/l No differences in Ca, Mg, K or B, slightly heavier soil in sprinkler block Plant Tissue Analyses, Feb 18 4 drip surface 4 drip buried Sprinkler, then 3 drip Nitrate -N 931 ppm 668 ppm 905 ppm Phosphate -P 2030 ppm 2040 ppm 2450 ppm Zinc 21.9 ppm 24.1ppm 27.7 ppm Manganese 76 ppm 109 ppm 174 ppm No differences in Ca, Mg, K, or Fe, - slightly heavier soil in sprinkler block
g/plant g/plant g/plant Plant dry biomass, Dec 12 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0.8 Dry biomass of new leaves Surface 4 drips Buried 4 drips Sprinkler Dry biomass of new roots 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 Surface 4 drips Buried 4 drips Sprinkler Dry biomass of old crowns 15 10 5 0 Surface 4 drips Buried 4 drips Sprinkler
Nov 26, 2014 canopy size Surface 4 lines (22% smaller) Buried 4 lines = Sprinkler
g/20 plamts 3000 2500 Marketable fruit yield- Oxnard Surface 4 drips-only total by Apr 1 9,622 Buried 4 drips- only 10,548 2000 Sprinkler, then 3 drips 8,696 1500 1000 500 0 16-Jan 23-Jan 30-Jan 6-Feb 13-Feb 20-Feb 27-Feb 6-Mar 13-Mar 20-Mar 27-Mar
Water use/acre by Nov 12 (before removal of sprinklers): 4-DRIP block: 11, 200 gal (by drip) + 4, 060 gal (2 sprinkler runs during Santa Ana conditions, 1 st week of Nov) = 15,260 gal SPRINKLER block: 47, 250 gal (collected by cans)
Temperature, º C Plant temperature during Santa Ana 30 winds 25 20 15 Air Leaf 10 5 0 End of sprinkler irrigation 0 2 4 6 Minutes after end of overhead irrigation
Overhead irrigation water Dryer zone with higher EC
Santa Maria: 2 or 4 drip lines with reduced or regular sprinkler irrigation Plant size or biomass: Similar, except smaller plants in 4 lines+regular sprinkler Bulk soil EC and moisture in root zone: Similar 0-12 Apr 9th loam loam sandy loam-loam sandy loam 4 lines reduced 4 lines regular 2 lines regular 2 lines reduced EC sat paste ds/m 4.16 3.83 4.82 3.72 Chloride, meq/l 2.82 3.23 4.12 2.89 Sodium, meq/l 9.1 9 10 8 Sulfate, meq/l 41 35 38 28 Potassium, meq/l 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.9
10 April 14 4 lines reduced 4 lines regular 2 lines reduced 2 lines regular
g/20 plants Santa Maria: fruit yields 600 500 3321 4 red 400 300 4515 3608 2482 2 reg 2 red 4 reg 200 100 0 3/8 3/14 3/20 3/26 4/1 4/7 4/13
Watsonville: 2 drip-only vs sprinkler + drip Water savings: 21% Plant biomass: similar, but more roots in drip-only Electrical conductivity: 0.4 0.3 0.2 EC, ds/m Drip Sprinkler 0.1 0 11/22 12/12 1/1 1/21 2/10 3/2 Soil Moisture: similar
Watsonville: % Canopy Cover 10 8 6 4 Drip Sprinkler 2 0 12/13/2013 1/13/2014 1/22/2014 2/13/2014
Lbs/acre Watsonville: cumulative fruit yield 18000 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 Sprinkler Drip 4000 2000 0 18-Apr 25-Apr 2-May 9-May 16-May
Summary Additional drip lines hydrate root zones and leach salts effectively (may leach N) Conserve water and prevent runoff with no negative effect on yield Sprinklers needed but amount of overhead water can be minimized Need to document fumigation improvement with additional drip lines
Acknowledgements: Dole (Watsonville), Manzanita Berry Farms (Santa Maria), and Ito Bros. (Oxnard), Solimar Farms (Camarillo) California Strawberry Commission