Precision Irrigation for Orchards

Introduction

Importance of Water for Tree and Fruit Development

Fruit trees require sufficient water for the production of wood structure, potential fruitfulness, sizing of the fruit, and cooling of the canopy by evapotranspiration during the warm days of summer (Childers et al. 1995). Water is critical from the onset of bud development to fruit development. Dry soils during the growing season may significantly reduce canopy development due to limits to nutrient flow to trees and delay achieving full cropping. Irrigation can be very critical during some growth stages. For example, peach fruit gains up to 70% of its final volume during the last 30 days on the tree (Frecon 2002). Inadequate irrigation during this growth stage, specifically during the dry spell, results in smaller fruits and irreversible size as well as marketing losses. Irrigating closer to harvest will not increase fruit size. Even when water requirement at the onset of bud development could be low, the availability of...