Water deficit takes high toll on potato yields
Water deficit takes high toll on potato yields
POTATO growers are losing 0.24t/ha (0.1t/acre) for every 1mm of water they fail to deliver to correct a soil moisture deficit.
That was the startling message water management specialist Peter White had for growers at a Trickle-2000 irrigation conference organised by Ashford, Kent-based Field Fumigation.
"Poor irrigation over a long period can significantly restrict crop performance. Ninety-nine % of growers are not irrigating efficiently," he said.
His firm monitors water use on over 10,000ha (25,000 acres) of UK crops each year. In his opinion one of the most effective solutions is properly targeted trickle irrigation governed by accurate monitoring of moisture throughout the soil profile.
"A lot of potato crops we investigated last year had 60mm water deficits very early in the season. Growers worried about scab found it difficult to correct this using traditional rain-gun irrigation.
"In many situations they were carrying forward a 30mm water deficit right through the year, finding it almost impossible to rewet dry soil at the right depth, particularly where they had a large number of crops to get round."
One answer is trickle irrigation, which wets the soil early and then regularly drip feeds water to prevent crop moisture stress, he said.
But investing in an irrigation system without proper monitoring is a bit like buying a tractor without a steering wheel, Mr White suggested. "You do not know which direction to go in let alone how to get there." *