Irrigation water quality is a growing challenge: Growers depend on high quality water, and certain contaminants can create enormous crop problems

摘要

Don't roll your eves, at least not yet. I am not going to tell you about regulations intended for the common good. Neither do I intend to lecture you on the impact that we farmers have on our water resources. Believe me, I don't like bureaucracy any more than you do. I merely want to share some facts about water, which I think are in the interest of every greenhouse grower - or facts of which every greenhouse grower should be aware. Our industry might have a very good public relations argument, if wewould take a slightly different look at water as a resource. Compared to open field farming, greenhouses have the ability to use far less irrigation water to produce the same crop yields. Where the availability of irrigation water is the limiting factor for agriculture, greenhouses allow for more water-efficient production of a variety of produce. Sometimes local governments even subsidize greenhouse development in drought-sensitive regions.