Discusses the advantages of drip irrigation and how it can help growers use water efficiently. Covers basic concepts related to components and design as well as management considerations such as placement of the tape, timing and rates, maintenance, and adjustments to fertilizer rates.
When water is plentiful, growers usually schedule irrigation practices around other farming activities. For example, most growers change furrow irrigation sets at 12- or 24-hour intervals because this timing is convenient and uses labor efficiently. When water is in short supply, you need to rethink some practices to obtain maximum...
Drip irrigation is the slow, even application of low-pressure water to soil and plants using plastic tubing placed near the plants’ root zone. It is an
alternative to sprinkler or furrow methods of irrigating crops. Drip irrigation can be used for crops with high or low water demands.
Native shrublands and their associated grasses and forbs have been disappearing from the Great Basin as a result of grazing practices, exotic weed invasions, altered fire regimes, climate change and other human impacts. Native forb seed is needed to restore these areas. The irrigation requirements for maximum seed production of...
Provides suggestions for ways to conserve irrigation water. Explains how to use the AgriMet crop water use charts. Provides general guidelines for irrigation methods, timing, and soil management.
Surface irrigation systems that reuse water may deliver bacteria to produce destined for fresh consumption. Four irrigation systems delivered (1) well water free of Escherichia coli via subsurface drip irrigation, (2) canal water with moderate levels of E. coli via subsurface drip irrigation, (3) canal water with moderate levels of...
Straw mulch was evaluated on a furrow-irrigated sugar beet field to determine potential benefits In Increased yield, better soil moisture status, and reduced soil erosion.
Each year, topsoil is gradually washed away by irrigation runoff. Over time, massive quantities of soil can be stripped from fields and carried away in runoff water. Tests by the Oregon State University Malheur Experiment Station and others on the effects of applying polyacrylamide, commonly known as PAM, have concluded...