Articles
Initial field evaluation of ET-based irrigation scheduling for blueberry in Florida, USA
Article number
1468_56
Pages
437 – 442
Language
English
Abstract
Production of blueberry in Florida (USA) provides an economically important fresh-market crop during late winter and spring.
Irrigation management is critical to achieve high yields and fruit quality on sandy (>90% sand) soils commonly amended with pine bark, which further reduces water-holding capacity.
This paper reports results from the first field season (2019-2020) of an ongoing study evaluating four irrigation strategies: an irrigation scheduling regulated by a smartphone application (App), and fixed target irrigation regimes replacing 0.33, 0.67, and 1.0 fractions of reference evapotranspiration (ETo). Irrigation totals were also compared to a regional water allocation model (AGMOD). All other cultural practices were held constant across treatments.
In the 2019-2020 season, total irrigation depths were 1,078 mm for 1.0 ETo, 881 mm for 0.67 ETo, 546 mm for 0.33 ETo, and 881 mm for the App treatment.
The 1.0 ETo treatment closely matched the estimated AGMOD allocation (~1112 mm). Total yield did not differ statistically among treatments, averaging 783-1100 g.
These results indicate that reducing irrigation to approximately 20-50% of full ETo or using an App-based approach can sustain comparable yield during the first production year.
Irrigation management is critical to achieve high yields and fruit quality on sandy (>90% sand) soils commonly amended with pine bark, which further reduces water-holding capacity.
This paper reports results from the first field season (2019-2020) of an ongoing study evaluating four irrigation strategies: an irrigation scheduling regulated by a smartphone application (App), and fixed target irrigation regimes replacing 0.33, 0.67, and 1.0 fractions of reference evapotranspiration (ETo). Irrigation totals were also compared to a regional water allocation model (AGMOD). All other cultural practices were held constant across treatments.
In the 2019-2020 season, total irrigation depths were 1,078 mm for 1.0 ETo, 881 mm for 0.67 ETo, 546 mm for 0.33 ETo, and 881 mm for the App treatment.
The 1.0 ETo treatment closely matched the estimated AGMOD allocation (~1112 mm). Total yield did not differ statistically among treatments, averaging 783-1100 g.
These results indicate that reducing irrigation to approximately 20-50% of full ETo or using an App-based approach can sustain comparable yield during the first production year.
Authors
M.D. Dukes, B. Cardenas, M. Zamora Re, J. Williamson
Keywords
evapotranspiration, smartphone app, crop coefficient, water allocation, agricultural water use model (AGMOD)
Groups involved
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