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Similarly, large volumes of water may be used during the freeze events. For example, a single freeze event can require the use of approximately 2-3 acre-inches of water. The magnitude of water use for freeze protection of strawberries when multiple events occur in a season can have adverse environmental effects. In 2009-10 and 2010-11, for example, water use for approximately 13 freezing and near freezing events occurred per season, resulting in 750 dried wells and 140 sinkholes (Aurit et al., 2013).
trial results
One way of conserving water during strawberry plant establishment and freeze protection is the use of micro/low-volume sprinklers. So, in a Southwest Florida Water Management District-funded study designed at the Plant Science Research and Education Unit in Citra, Florida, we have evaluated the efficacy of commercially available micro/
low-volume sprinklers for decreasing water application during bare-root transplant establishment and freeze protection without adversely affecting plant survival, growth and yield.
We compared four commercially available micro/low-volume sprinklers with a standard impact sprinkler. The sprinklers were selected based on the wetting diameter, operating pressure and cost to retrofit the existing conventional impact sprinkler system. The layouts of the sprinklers were consistent with the manufacturers’ guidelines for sprinkler spacing and operating pressure.
The two-year study revealed that all four micro/low-volume sprinklers significantly reduce water use. Two of the systems reduced the cumulative water use by 65% and 27% in plant establishment phase and 62% and 23% in freeze/frost protection phase, respectively. The lower water application for frost/freeze protection with the low-volume
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sprinkler systems did not result in more flower and fruit injury than the impact sprinkler system. Additionally, no significant difference in yields was observed in terms of strawberry transplant survival, plant growth and yield.
To further validate the water savings, an on-farm trial was established in a grower’s field in Plant City, Florida, during the 2022-23 growing season, where the best performing micro/low-volume sprinkler (based on the PSREU trial) was compared with the grower’s sprinkler. On-farm results revealed water savings of 57% during the transplant establishment phase and 63% over the freeze/frost phase without any adverse effect on growth and yield with the micro/low- volume sprinkler when compared with plots managed with the grower’s sprinkler.
All equipment shown or referenced is used solely as an example and not as an endorsement by UF or authors.
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irrigationtoday.org Winter 2024 | Irrigation TODAY 31
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