Page 2-A
5 Adequate Irrigation Systems Can Cut Losses, Improve Yields In Vegetable Crops
By Murray Goodwin
Agricultural Ext. Agent
Many times during the last
two months I have thought
* about irrigating vegetable
crops. I suspect that many
farmers have had similar
thoughts as they watched their
sweet corn, beans, cantaloupes
and watermelons suffer
because of a lack of water.
Recently an article appeared
' in Veg-l-News on the general
subject of irrigating vegetables.
This article was written by
£ Ronald Sneed, Engineering
>;• Specialist at N.C. State
University. The following is
most of the article written by
Sneed.
Vegetables are 80 to 95 per
cent water. Due to their high
•j; volume of water and the fact
that most are rather shallow
rooted, short periods of
•:* drought can reduce yeilds and
*:• affect quality. For good yields
•t) and high quality, irrigation is
**: essential to the production of
*:• most vegetables. If water
shortages occur early in the
:*■ plant’s development, maturity
>:• may be delayed and yields are
>;< often reduced. If moisture
jj: stress occurs later in the
>»: growing season, yields may not
be reduced, but quality is often
it*, reduced.
In the past several decades, a
number of vegetables irrigation
£*; experiments have been con
•:»: ducted in the eastern United
:*I; States. As expected, results are
quite variable depending upon
•:*: the crop, soil type and when the
t*t- moisture stress occurs. Some
:£ vegetable crops are more
responsive to irrigation than
others. Crops being produced
*;;• for the fresh market will
generally support a higher level
*;t: of irrigation than those being
produced for the process
*»*: market.
•' Irrigation systems that can be
used include:
1. Portable aluminum pipe
■ systems with medium pressure,
: low gallonage sprinklers.
2. Portable aluminum pipe
systems with gun sprinklers.
3. Cable-tow self-propelled
gun travelers.
4. Hose-drag self-propelled
gun travelers.
5. Center-pivot.
6. Linear move.
7. Drip or trickle.
8. Solid-set aluminum pipe
; with medium pressure, low
j gallonage sprinklers.
9. Permanent system with
: . medium pressure, low
• - gallonage sprinklers.
10. Permanent system with
; gun sprinklers.
11. Permanent system with
portable gun sprinklers.
: The last four systems are
relatively expensive and
probably would not be practical
except on the high cash value
vegetable crops. The solid-set
and permanent-systems with
medium pressure, low
gallonage sprinklers have the
advantage that they can be used
If Recreation
f§ Scoreboard
Three Albemarle Teams
•:*. Advance to State
The 13 year old Albemarle
All Stars, consisting of boys
from both Chowan and
Perquimans Counties won
ft;* the district championship
*:> and will advance to New
Bern on July 18 in state
competition. The 14-15 year
:£:* olds lost to Manteo in
i:-:* Currituck. The 16 year olds
•l*:* won easily over Windsor and
will advance to Goldsboro.
The 17-18 year olds won the
district championship and
will advance to the state
playoffs in Greenville.
The recreation depart
;*•*; ment wishes to congratulate
all coaches, players and
I:-*: parents for their support
and effort to the Albemarle
£*% teams in the district
playoffs.
Kids Dog Show
There will be a dog show
§:•: for ages 4-14, Saturday,
August 9 at 10 A.M. There
Kj: will be five different
categories in which to par
:£;t:;ticipate. Anyonne in
terested should contact the
:§:• recreation department by
rYi Thursday, August 7.
P Festival Slated
fj:: The Bertie County Rescue
I*::: Squad presents the Second
Annual Fun Festival in
P;>: Windsor August 1-3.
Friday’s activities feature
r:- the first half of a craft show,
and Live music outdoors
•Sjthat night.
Activities on Saturday
a second day of
crafts, a bike riding event
j ..for youngsters, games,
\ square dancing exhibition,
Y |:'and a country-rock dance
r :• that night.
ri; Sunday features the BEST
£"in Gospel Music from all
■ : -*over the state Live at the
ft ' Rescue Building all all day.
for supplying soil moisture and
aleo for frost and freeze
protection and crop cooling. The
two self-propelled gun travelers
have fairly high pressure
requirements. The two hand
move systems require con
siderable labor input. The drip
or trickle system is a low
pressure system.
In selecting an irrigation
system, the grower must
consider several factors:
I Tjifpy There's A Touch Os Madness I
| In Ouf Terrific law Prices! |
I One Group MeiTsSummer
I * Year oun(l S ,aclls
I HHPIIAuUjjRJiU
Shop Monday Through Thursday 9:30 A.M. Until 5:3; P.M., Friday 9:30 A M. Until 9:00 P.M., Saturday 9:30 A.M. Until 6 P.M. Phone 482-3221 or 482-4533
a. water supply
b. field size and shape
c. elevation
d. labor available
e. financial resources
f. soil type
g. crop
h. rainfall distribution
All of these factors are im
portant and will affect to some
extent the type of system
selected and the profitability of
irrigation. A key is an adequate
THE CHOWAN HERALD
water supply. It requires ap
proximately 35,000 gallons of
water to aoply one inch to one
acre of land. Many growers
have inadequate water supplies
and this reduces system
capacity and capability.
Another key is selection of a
system that requires a
minimum amount of labor. A
labor intensive system will not
be properly used. A third key is
to utilize the system on the
maximum number of acres.
With vegetable crops, it may be
possible to use an irrigation
system on several crops that
have critical moisture periods
at different times. This will
reduce the per acre initial
investment.
Lastly, a system should be
selected that is tailored to the
needs of a particular grower.
There are numerous good
irrigation manufacturers and
sellers of irrigation equipment.
Select a ystem that fits your
individual needs. Select a dealer
that will properly design the
system and will offer service,
plan ahead. Do not wait until the
system is needed to purchase.
The dealer cannot do the best
job and you will not get the best
price. For example with the
center pivot and linear systems,
six to nine months of lead time
is needed to design and get the
system installed. If un
derground pipe is to be in
stalled, it needs to be installed
before crops are planted. Once
the system is purchased, use it.
An irrigation system is a
production tool that can in
crease gross income. If the
return from irrigation does not
exceed the cost of owning and
operating a system, it should
not be purchased. No one can
tell you exactly what increase in
Thursday, July 17, 1980
yield to expect. The crop and
the rainfall distribution will be
keys. Look at your past
production over a period of
several years. The difference in
the production in a good year
and that in a moisture deficit I
year will give an indication of
the return you should expect.
However, irrigation is only one
of many production tools that
must be integrated into a
successsful production scheme.