FROM THE ARID IRRIGATED WEST tO the largely rain-fed fields in the East, agricultural innovators are discovering significant benefits in adopting a potato production system designed around the use of drip irrigation. Yield increases, quality improvements, ease of field accessibility and a reduction in water, fuel, labor and fungicide use are all cited as reasons to use drip irrigation to grow potatoes. It's a mainstream technology in dozens of other crop production systems throughout the world because it allows producers to evenly spoon-feed precious water and nutrients directly to every plant's root zone despite variable soil conditions, undulating terrain, odd field dimensions or long lengths of run. But potato producers have been slower to adoptdrip since there are significant changes in bed configuration, agronomic decisions, planting and harvesting equipment that go along with this technology.
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