New Irrigation Method Improves Soil Moisture
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
Irrigation Experts from University of Idaho Are Testing a Novel Method of Watering Crops
UI Extension irrigation specialist Howard Neibling explained he and his WSU counterpart, Troy Peters, have tweaked an irrigation method long used to supplement natural rainfall in West Texas to better fit growers in the Northwest.
In Texas, pivots fitted for Low Energy Precision Application have hoses that reach the ground, dragging bubbler nozzles that leave moisture bands. Water is deposited beneath the crop canopy, where it's protected from evaporation and drift, improving application efficiency by 5-10 percent.
Neibling said irrigators in Idaho experimented with Texas-style LEPA about two decades ago but experienced excessive runoff, given that their pivots put out more than twice the water as is needed in Texas. Furthermore, moisture bands were inadequate to germinate their seeds.
With funding from Bonneville Power, Neibling and Peters are finishing the second year of a three-year trial to prove their method's effectiveness.
They doubled irrigation hoses per pivot span for improved field coverage and raised the hoses to a foot off the ground, fitting them with spray rather than bubbler nozzles for more even distribution. They've avoided runoff problems in flat fields with good soil infiltration, having tested LEPA in wheat, alfalfa, oats, mint, silage corn, grass seed and beans. To draw a good comparison, they've converted just a few spans of each pivot to LEPA.
Bonneville Power mechanical engineer Dick Stroh said Nevada grower Kirk Dahl was so impressed by the new method of LEPA, he intends to convert all of his pivots, and his neighbors are also interested in trying it. Stroh estimates the cost of converting an entire pivot to LEPA at $10,000, and a Bonneville Power program would pick up roughly $3,000 of the cost. He said a typical canal irrigator can expect to save 30 percent in power through LEPA.
The researchers are also testing humidity levels in LEPA fields, hopeful that it may reduce crop diseases.
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