Overhead and Drip Irrigation System Effects on Tomato Growth and Yield in California's Central Valley

摘要

Despite the worldwide importance of overhead, mechanized irrigation for crop production, the potential of this technology has been poorly studied in California. Field studies were conducted at Five Points, CA, in 2010 and 2012 to compare the effects of overhead irrigation (OH) and drip irrigation (DR) on transplanted tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) crop growth and yield. Similar amounts of water were applied to both systems in each year to match crop evapotranspiration demands. Crop growth measured by percent canopy coverage and aboveground biomass accumulation were similar between the OH and DR systems early in the growing season in both years but were lower in the OH system during the second half of each season. Tomato yield was 38% greater in 2012 than in 2010 and averaged over the 2 years, 48% higher in the DR than in the OH systems, respectively, due presumably to the higher soil water evaporation losses of the OH system relative to the DR system and also, we propose, to the ability of the drip system to very precisely apply in-season fertigations directly to the crop root zone while OH fertigations were applied at the soil surface and over a greater area. Soluble solids concentration of fruit in 2010 was 5.99% for the DR system and 6.65% for the OH system providing further evidence of water stress in the OH tomatoes. Production costs associated with transitioning from a subsurface drip tomato crop to a sprinkler or surface drip-irrigated crop such as onion (Allium cepa) or garlic (Allium sativum) could be $130 to $420 per acre lower with the OH system compared with the drip system, if yields were maintained. Because operation and labor costs of OH systems are typically lower than those of DR systems, further research on OH irrigation of tomato is warranted to address the shortcomings of OH management that this study has identified.