Regulated Deficit Irrigation and Partial Rootzone Drying
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NUMBER 4 REGULATED DEFICIT IRRIGATION AND PARTIAL ROOTZONE DRYING An information package on two new irrigation methods for high-input horticulture REGULATED DEFICIT IRRIGATION AND PARTIAL ROOTZONE DRYING An overview of principles and applications by Paul E. Kriedemann Adjunct Professor, National Wine and Grape Industry Centre Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga NSW and Visiting Fellow, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra ACT and Ian Goodwin Senior Irrigation Scientist Department of Primary Industries Tatura, Victoria PUBLISHED BY Land & Water Australia GPO Box 2182 Canberra ACT 2601 Phone: 02 6257 3379 Fax: 02 6257 3420 REGULATED DEFICIT REGULATED ROOTZONE AND IRRIGATION DRYING PARTIAL Email: <[email protected]> © Land & Water Australia DISCLAIMER The information contained in this publication has been published by Land & Water Australia to assist public knowledge and discussion and help improve the sustainable management of land, water and vegetation. Where technical information has been provided by or contributed by authors external to the corporation, readers should contact the author(s) to make their own enquiries before making use of that information. PUBLICATION DATA Irrigation Insights No. 3 REGULATED DEFICIT IRRIGATION AND PARTIAL ROOTZONE DRYING II Product No. PR 020 382 ISBN 0642 76089 6 Edited by Anne Currey Designed and desktop published by Graphiti Design, Lismore Production assistance Joe McKay PREFACE PREFACE This information package was commissioned by the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation, a program of Land & Water Australia, the Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture and the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation to provide an overview of the background, current developments and future prospects for implementing regulated deficit irrigation and partial rootzone drying. In preparing this Irrigation Insights both authors consulted with researchers and growers, visited a number of sites where the systems were being used and participated in seminars on water use and management of horticultural crops. Meetings took place in Mildura and Adelaide, and were sponsored by the Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture, the Australian Society for Viticulture and Oenology, the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation and CSIRO Plant Industry (Horticulture Unit). Many people provided relevant published literature and shared their personal insights as well as unpublished observations. The contribution of these people is acknowledged, in particular: Peter Dry, CRC for Viticulture and University of Adelaide (Waite Campus), SA John Kennedy, (Orlando/Wyndham) Langhorne Creek, SA Neil Lantzke, Agriculture WA, South Perth, WA Brian Loveys, CRC for Viticulture and CSIRO Plant Industry (Horticulture Unit), Adelaide, SA Michael McCarthy, CRC for Viticulture and SARDI, Nuriootpa, SA Shannon Pudney, CRC for Viticulture and SARDI, Waite Campus, SA Graeme Sanderson, Agricultural Research and Advisory Station, Dareton, NSW Craig Thornton, Wingara Wine Group, Karadoc, Victoria Grateful acknowledgment is also made to: Ken Bevington, Agricultural Research and Advisory Station, Dareton, NSW DEFICIT REGULATED ROOTZONE AND IRRIGATION DRYING PARTIAL Jeremy Giddings, Agricultural Research and Advisory Station, Dareton, NSW Ron Hutton, NWGIC and Agriculture NSW, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW Mark O’Connell, Department of Primary Industries, Tatura, Victoria Peter Scholefield, Scholefield-Robinson, Horticultural Services P/L, Parkside, SA Rob Stevens, SARDI, Loxton, SA Rob Walker, CRC for Viticulture and CSIRO Plant Industry Horticulture Unit, Merbein, Victoria Richard Wells, Grapegrower and NPIRD Steering Committee member, Merbein, Victoria III CONTENTS CONTENTS Chapter 1. Perspectives ..............................................................................................1 Profitability and competition for water ....................................................................................1 A snapshot of regulated deficit irrigation and partial rootzone drying ....................................2 Towards a definition of regulated deficit irrigation and partial rootzone drying ....................3 Deficit irrigation in viticulture ..................................................................................................4 Chapter 2. Regulated deficit irrigation ......................................................................6 Regulated deficit irrigation for pome and stonefruits ..............................................................6 Case study. Peaches in the Goulburn Valley ....................................................................11 Regulated deficit irrigation for wine grapes ............................................................................12 Developing a regulated deficit irrigation strategy for grapevines ........................................13 Vineyard irrigation systems for regulated deficit irrigation ................................................17 Soil type..........................................................................................................................18 Scions and rootstock........................................................................................................19 Case studies..............................................................................................................................19 Regulated deficit irrigation viticulture in Western Australia ..............................................19 Hanwood, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, NSW ............................................................22 Regulated deficit irrigation for Okitsu Satsuma mandarin ....................................................24 Chapter 3. Partial rootzone drying............................................................................27 Beginnings................................................................................................................................27 Applications ............................................................................................................................28 Vineyard applications ......................................................................................................28 Case studies....................................................................................................................33 Sunraysia, northwest Victoria..........................................................................................34 Margaret River, southwest Western Australia ..................................................................37 Langhorne Creek, southeast South Australia ..................................................................38 Barossa Valley, South Australia ......................................................................................41 Hanwood, Murumbidgee Irrigation Area, NSW..............................................................43 Goulburn Valley, Victoria – pears....................................................................................45 REGULATED DEFICIT REGULATED ROOTZONE AND IRRIGATION DRYING PARTIAL Chapter 4. Site and system requirements ................................................................48 Implementing Regulated Deficit Irrigation and Partial Rootzone Drying..............................48 Features of regulated deficit irrigation and partial rootzone drying ....................................48 Implementing regulated deficit irrigation ..........................................................................49 Irrigation scheduling for regulated deficit irrigation - practical examples ............................53 Implementing partial rootzone drying ..............................................................................56 Appendix 1. Principles underlying plant water use for growth and cropping ........69 Leaf gas exchange ..........................................................................................................69 Evapotranspiration..........................................................................................................71 Root extraction of soil water ..........................................................................................78 A case for deficit irrigation ..............................................................................................80 Annual versus perennial crops ........................................................................................81 Drought stress ................................................................................................................82 Drought acclimation........................................................................................................83 IV Appendix 2. Practical issues in plant water use for growth and cropping ..............85 Pan evaporation and ETcrop............................................................................................85 From ETcrop in millimetres to litres per plant ..................................................................88 Soil water sensing............................................................................................................90 Irrigation scheduling criteria ............................................................................................92 References ................................................................................................................95 Glossary ....................................................................................................................99