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Irrigation

Project: 38  Developing New Crop Coefficients and Water Management Strategies for High Value Cash Vegetable Crops Grown on the West Side San Joaquin Valley 
Project Leader: James E. Ayars
Objective:  In an effort to increase irrigation efficiency, limit crop water use, and maximize yield of vegetables grown on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, the main objectives of the proposed research are to:

Ø Develop new crop coefficients for vegetable crops grown in the Valley.
Ø Evaluate various irrigation systems, including drip and subsurface drip systems, for growing vegetable crops and identify management strategies that optimize timing and placement of water and nutrients, increase productivity, and limit irrigation drainage and losses of soil resources.
Ø Use information gathered in objectives 1-2 to update CIMIS.
Ø Report results to growers, consultants, and farm advisors.

Project:   54   Deficit Irrigation and Shorter-Season Management for Pima and Upland Cotton

Project Leader: Robert B. Hutmacher

Objective: Objectives of this experiment are to evaluate growth, yield and lint quality responses of several Pima and Acala cotton varieties to crop management systems which differ in: (1) intensity of early-season pest management ; and (2) which range from early-season deficit irrigation designed to produce smaller plants and limit crop water use, intermediate irrigations which allow significant water deficits in mid-to late bloom, and compare them with full irrigation treatments based upon current Acala leaf water potential guidelines (adjusted also for Pima leaf water potential differences). Goals of the project will be to evaluate a range of crop management strategies that incorporate reductions and delays in irrigation, evaluate utility in use of systemic insecticides at planting and/or closer plant monitoring to avoid early fruit loss, and determine the degree to which these management approaches can achieve shorter-season production, water savings while limiting yield losses.

Project: 55  Crop Coefficients of Vegetable Crops 
Project Leader: Blaine Hanson
Objective: Develop relationships between yield and applied water under surface drip irrigation, subsurface drip irrigation and furrow irrigation for lettuce, pepper, broccoli, onion, garlic and processing tomatoes. Develop reliable crop co-efficients for these corps as related to canopy coverage.

Project: 56  Irrigation Management of Processing Tomatoes
Project Leader: Blaine Hanson
Objective:  To determine the effect of late season water management under drip irrigation on about 18 varieties of processing tomatoes.   To investigate the effect of drip line placement on crop yield and solids content.  To investigate the effect of air injection into 900 to 1200 ft buried drip lines. 

Project: 87  Response of Cellulosic Perennial Biofuel Candidates to Irrigation Under Saline Conditions
Project Leader:  Dan Putnam
Objective:  Evaluate a range of potential crops for cellulosic biofuel production based on their adaptability to saline water or soils; measuring water requirements.  Determine the effect of crop management (irrigation) practices on feedstock quality.  Develop data that would be useful to economic, biogeochemical and life-cycle emission models to determine the most sustainable crops and management practices.  Provide growers with basic agronomic production practices for these new crops.