Articles
Evaluating deficit irrigation methods as tools for monitoring vine decline risk in processing tomatoes
Article number
1351_9
Pages
53 – 58
Language
English
Abstract
California growers produce approximately 99 and 30% of the United States and world supply of processing tomatoes, respectively.
One-third of US production occurs in Fresno County, where ongoing drought has led to dramatic decreases in water supply.
To adapt, many growers use a technique known as deficit irrigation (DI), which consists of reducing water inputs to 60-80% of evapotranspirative (ET) needs around the fruit ripening stage.
Previous greenhouse and field experiments suggest that DI practices can exacerbate disease caused by soil borne pathogens.
However, it has not been evaluated whether the methods deployed for irrigation scheduling (based on volumetric water content (VWC) versus ET) can be used to reduce irrigation inputs while also minimizing disease risk.
In a field study with two processing tomato cultivars (HM58841 and HM3887), we demonstrate increased disease risk of Fusarium falciforme vine decline and improved fruit quality under DI. We also show similar effects of both irrigation scheduling methods (VWC and ET) on disease risk, yield, and fruit quality.
To the authors knowledge, this study is the first to examine the effects of irrigation method on plant disease development.
One-third of US production occurs in Fresno County, where ongoing drought has led to dramatic decreases in water supply.
To adapt, many growers use a technique known as deficit irrigation (DI), which consists of reducing water inputs to 60-80% of evapotranspirative (ET) needs around the fruit ripening stage.
Previous greenhouse and field experiments suggest that DI practices can exacerbate disease caused by soil borne pathogens.
However, it has not been evaluated whether the methods deployed for irrigation scheduling (based on volumetric water content (VWC) versus ET) can be used to reduce irrigation inputs while also minimizing disease risk.
In a field study with two processing tomato cultivars (HM58841 and HM3887), we demonstrate increased disease risk of Fusarium falciforme vine decline and improved fruit quality under DI. We also show similar effects of both irrigation scheduling methods (VWC and ET) on disease risk, yield, and fruit quality.
To the authors knowledge, this study is the first to examine the effects of irrigation method on plant disease development.
Publication
Authors
J. Beaulieu, C.L. Swett
Keywords
Fusarium falciforme, drought, evapotranspiration, volumetric water content
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