Micro-sprinklers realize 32% water savings in open field strawberry crops
crop development to establish transplants and to leach out salts from the root zone deliver significant volumes of water. A research study shows that Micro sprinklers, which are typically used in orchard crops, can serve as an alternative to conventional aluminum sprinklers to conserve water without any negative impact on yields in commercial strawberry field.
In addition to the water consumption, data were collected from multiple plots within each treatment to determine the impact on plant growth, disease incidence, and seasonal yield. Micro-sprinklers used 32% less water than aluminum sprinklers during a three-week period without affecting fruit yield. They also appeared to lessen the severity of powdery mildew and botrytis fruit rot.
This is the first study reporting the use of micro-sprinkler system, which can be a good alternative to the aluminum sprinklers to conserve irrigation water.
Click here for the complete research paper "Improving Strawberry Irrigation with Micro-Sprinklers and Their Impact on Pest Management, by Dara, S.K., Sandoval-Solis, S. and Peck, D. (2016) Ag-ricultural Sciences, 7, 859-868."