|
|
Submitter's Name |
Isaya Kisekka |
Session Name |
Poster Session: Optimal Use of Integrated Water Supplies 1 |
Category |
Optimal use of integrated water supplies |
Poster Number |
413 |
|
Author(s) |
Isaya Kisekka, University of Florida, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department |
|
Kati Migliaccio,
University of Florida, IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center |
|
Michael Duke, University of Florida, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department |
|
Bruce Schaffer, University of Florida, IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center |
|
Jonathan Crane, University of Florida, IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center |
|
|
|
Evaluation of Evapotranspiration-Based Irrigation Scheduling Technologies in a Tropical Fruit Orchard in South Florida |
|
|
|
Evapotranspiration (ET)-based irrigation scheduling technologies were investigated in a carambola orchard irrigated with micro-jets. The objectives of this study were to: 1) evaluate water savings with ET-based irrigation technologies using real-time and historical weather data to schedule irrigation, and 2) evaluate the effect of ET-based irrigation scheduling on net CO2 assimilation (A), transpiration (E), stomatal conductance (gs), stem water potential ( ) and fruit yield, Four treatments namely: 1) real-time ET-based irrigation scheduling operated through a Toro-Intelli-Sense-612 controller (T1), 2) historical ET-based irrigation scheduling operated through a Rain-bird ESP-12-LX-plus timer (T2), 3) typical irrigation schedule for carambola in south Florida (76 mm/ week) (T3), and treatment 4 (T4) a non irrigated treatment were replicated three times and evaluated for differences in water applications and physiological plant responses. Results indicate T1 and T2 applied 68% and 70% less water compared to T3 respectively. Treatment 1 maintained the highest average weekly soil water content (?) of 29% while T4 maintained the lowest ? of 24%. There were no significant differences in among treatments, all treatments averaged -0.8 MPa. There were also no significant differences in carambola fruit yield among treatments. However, there were some significant differences in E and gs among treatments with T2 registering the highest E and gs while T4 registering the lowest. Across treatments, there were no significant differences in A, all treatments averaged 4.7 µmol m-2 s-1. Results suggest that adopting ET-based irrigation scheduling technologies could provide tropical fruit growers with several benefits including: reduced water volumes applied and consequently reduced energy inputs without negatively affecting the physiology of the plants. |
|