Alternative flood irrigation strategies that improve water conservation in citrus

Abstract

Citrus production in Texas is concentrated in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). This area is well known for its high quality horticultural crops due to the close proximity to the Rio Grande River and climate. The majori-ty of citrus groves are irrigated in this region using traditional flood (TFd) irrigation practices. The purpose of this study was to compare an alternative form of flood irrigation practice called border flood (BFd) that channels water faster down the tree row. In this research study, water was metered to evaluate total water applied in a replicated field study comparing TFd water use to that of BFd. The water savings results observed in this research study were very similar to on-farm demonstration investigations of water use comparing TFd and BFd irrigators. It was found that using BFd irrigation method saved about 36% of water compared to TFd irrigation practices. This amount of water savings is nearly equivalent to the amount of water saved by current growers using more expen-sive drip and microjet sprinkers systems. The results of this study suggest that citrus growers can implement mod-est changes to their cultural practices by raising berms between rows and, in turn, save water