A sustainability assessment conducted by the Almond Board of California in December 2011 found that 38 percent of growers use the plant-based pressure chamber technique to manage irrigation, and 43 percent of the growers use real-time evapotranspiration [ET]. Other excellent soil water-based and plant water status sensors are also being adopted for crop management under microirrigation because of the information they provide.
Research and extension efforts with subsurface drip irrigation [SDI] have extended the benefits of micro- irrigation to many commodity crops, with SDI increasing by 89 percent during the last 10 years according to the USDA. Land area for SDI increased from 20,000 to 350,000 acres during the period 1997 to 2011 in the water-short Texas High Plains, and similar, if not greater, increases have occurred in California for processing tomatoes. Microirrigation is also being adopted by smallholder farmers and low-input producers because greater assistance and information about design and management have been made available to this often underserved clientele.
Dr. Freddie Lamm showing an example of SDI near Colby, Kansas
“More importantly, all of this effort and technology transfer has closed the loop on the group’s entire purpose, which is to make a difference.”
The need for microirrigation system maintenance is now better understood by growers; a website developed by W3128 participants (
http://micromaintain.ucanr.edu) offers additional guidance on a topic closely associated with system longevity and economics.
Water quality protection of surface and groundwater resources has been improved by adoption of microirrigation technologies, which allow precise agrochemical applications that reduce or eliminate water runoff into streams and lakes and reduce deep percolation and leaching into groundwater. Nonpotable water resources are being used in microirrigation systems, not only reducing human exposure but also saving fresh water for higher-value uses.
A major project accomplishment during the early years was publication in 1986 of the reference book Trickle Irrigation for Crop Production. The author group of that book’s 2007 successor, Microirrigation for Crop Production, involved 18 past or present W3128 project members. The microirrigation project has offered project-related technical sessions at six education conferences during the annual Irrigation Show. The project won the Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Director’s Award of Excellence in July 2014 and received the National Excellence in Multistate Research Award for USDA-NIFA multistate research projects in November 2014. W3128 is just one of many productive USDA-NIFA multistate research projects, with this project focusing specifically on microirrigation.
About the authors Steven J. Loring, PhD, is the
associate director of the New
Mexico State University Agricultural Experiment Station. He is the
administrative advisor of the USDA- NIFA W3128 group and has over 22 years of experience administering agriculturally related research.
Freddie Lamm, PhD, is a professor/ research irrigation engineer with Kansas State University and has dedicated his over 38-year career
to irrigation-related issues. He is an IA technical lifetime member and was the IA's Person of the Year in
2012. Lamm is a long-time member of this project and considered the “heart and soul” of the group.
Claude J. Phene, PhD, is a soil and irrigation consultant with SDI+. Before joining SDI+, Phene spent
over 26 years in water management research for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural
Research Service. He was the IA’s Person of the Year in 2005 and is a technical lifetime member.
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Photo credit: Toro Micro-Irrigation
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