Typical Drip Irrigation System Layout

If you've ever wondered how a drip irrigation system works, Toro makes it easy to visualize. A new illustration shows typical drip irrigation layouts with key components for five different types of drip irrigation systems: field crop Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI), short-term vegetable crop, longer-term vegetable crop, vineyard, and orchard. Got to http://www.dripirrigation.org/typical_layout.html to download a copy.

Picture the possibilities.

http://www.dripirrigation.org/

New Online Irrigation Calculator at www.DripIrrigation.org - Estimates Application Rates and Run Times

What It Does
This online tool quickly calculates application rates in inches per hour - along with the number of hours required to apply 0.1 inches and 1.0 inches of water - for all Aqua-Traxx and Aqua-Traxx PC models in specific field conditions. The flow rate at the selected pressure is also shown in both gph/emitter and gpm/100'.

How It Works
Choose the Aqua-Traxx model from the pull-down menu, and then enter the tape inlet pressure, the tape lateral spacing and the drip system emission uniformity to calculate your results.

For example, based on EAXxx0834 with an inlet pressure of 10 psi, a tape lateral spacing of 3.5 feet and an emission uniformity of 90%, the calculator estimates a system application rate of 0.9 inches per hour, as well as 1.1 hours to apply 0.1 inches of water or 11.1 hours to apply 1.0 inches of water.

You can enter different data and recalculate the results as often as you like. As you change the input, results instantly change as well. (Note: The application opens with default values in the entry screens, which can easily be changed to reflect your information.)

Reap the Benefits
The new Irrigation Calculator instantly shows application rates for an Aqua-Traxx tape system under varying conditions with various SKUs. That's information you can use during the tape selection process. It's also a great management tool for scheduling irrigations and matching up run times with crop water use.

Try it and see how easy it is to use from the field with your smartphone, or test it out online at http://www.dripirrigation.org/. Either way, you have a quick new way to estimate this valuable information.

http://www.dripirrigation.org/

Closer Emitters Can Yield Better Results

Closely spaced drip tape emitters can enhance salt management for seed germination, leach salts in permanent crops, dilute soil salinity for salt-sensitive crops and manipulate the wetting pattern - all with less cost and more efficiency than widely spaced emitters. But with so many variables in farming applications, how do you know this is the best option? Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's Drip and Micro Irrigation Design and Management Manual, published by the Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) in 2007, offers the following guidance:

Seed Germination

In more arid areas, widely spaced emitters (such as one tape for every two rows, or emitter spacing greater than 16") can cause salt buildup between the holes, which will prevent seeds from emerging in these areas. To help push salts away from seeds and enhance germination:

• Use drip tape on the soil's surface or just a few centimeters below with closely spaced emitters to leach salts downward.


• Shape drip-irrigated beds with an indentation at the high points so that salts accumulate away from the seed line which is planted below the indentation.

Orchards and Vineyards

Drip laterals typically wet less than 40% of the total soil surface, and over time, salts carried to this wetted strip through the irrigation water will safely leach away from the soil close to the emitter. However, salts will concentrate in the soil as distance from the emitter increases. Periodic "reclamation" leaching is needed to remove the salt from these outer zones of the soil.

Using broadcast flood or sprinkler irrigation to leach these concentrated salts below the root zone can be wasteful, since only 20% to 40% of the surface area of the orchard or vineyard needs to be leached. If 100% of the soil area is wet, to treat this 20% to 40% of the area, 2.5 to 5.0 times the necessary leaching water will be applied. Instead, ITRC researchers suggest using a portable drip tape system to "target leach" the orchard or vineyard dripline zone.

Improved Yield

Crop yields typically decrease once the soil salinity reaches a threshold value, and as the soil dries between traditional irrigations, salinity concentration becomes worse. Irrigating frequently with closely spaced emitters can help. In fact, if soil salinity remains dilute, yields can be higher than they would be with the same water quality using sprinklers or furrow irrigation.

Wetting Pattern

Wide spacing of drip emitters in Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) applications requires higher pressure during germination, as well as heavy-wall drip tape to handle the high pressure without damage. Water is also applied to the soil until the surface becomes very wet, often resulting in standing water in furrows. Initial buying costs and post-purchase operation costs will be higher, and soil surface wetting may damage crop quality and/or encourage unwanted weed growth. For optimal performance, closely spaced emitters are often the best choice to achieve the right wetting pattern, increase crop quality and reduce costs compared to wider-spaced emitters.

For more information about the advantages of properly managed drip systems with closely spaced emitters, visit http://www.itrc.org/.

http://www.dripirrigation.org/

Payback Wizard on www.DripIrrigation.org

Find out what upgrading to drip irrigation could mean to your bottom line with Toro's new Drip Irrigation Payback Wizard, developed in partnershipwith the Irrigation Association's (IA) Drip/Micro Common Interest Group. Just answer five questions about the crop, and this online tool will analyze average production and investment costs, as well as projected revenue increases, to estimate the payback period and additional acres that could be farmed with the water saved. Go to www.dripirrigation.org/design_tools to get started.

http://www.dripirrigation.org/

Drip Technology Increases Yield for Idaho Farm

The benefits of drip irrigation are easy to see at Weilmunster Farms in Parma, Idaho. After adopting drip technology, the farm increased its hops yields by 400 pounds per acre, which translated into increased revenues of $800 to $1,600 per acre.

Using Fewer Resources

Beyond the increased production, Weilmunster Farms cut water use in half, reduced fertilizer use substantially, and had fewer weeds because the3 water was targeted to the root zone. They also eliminated sidedressing and corrugating for rill irrigation, and discovered they could irrigate prior to harvest without concern for a dry down period. They've even reduced theft by eliminating siphon tubes.

Why Drip?

Jon Weilmuinster began looking at drip irrigation after friends in Washington asked, "How do you grow hops without drip?" Weilmunster uses Toro's BlueLine premium dripline which contains a factory pre-installed 0.5 gallons per hour (gph) emitter every 24 inches. His 1,250-foot runs are planted with hops 42 inches apart on 14-foot centers.

BlueLine delivers excellent wetting patterns," Weilmunster observed. "Everything worked great the first time I turned the system on." According to Weilmunster, the support he received from Toro's local representative and the local Toro dealer were also critical to his success.

http://www.dripirrigation.org/

Learn About Drip Irrigation Online

Want to learn more about the benefits of drip irrigation? Visit www.dripirrigation.org, a new educational Web site from Toro. Aimed at the agricultural, landscape, and greenhouse industries, this site offers articles, illustrations, software, videos, and other links to answer questions about drip irrigation technologies.

Topics range from basic to advanced, including:

• Drip irrigation basics
• Design and installation
• Operation and maintenance
• Research and related articles
• Monthly questions
• Tips and trends
• Testimonials and case studies

Whether you want a quick overview of drip irrigation, or an up-close look at how actual growers are using it with crops like hops, corn, lettuce, celery, onions, etc., you'll find it on this site. You can also post your questions and register as a Local Expert to share your experiences and solutions with others.

http://www.dripirrigation.org/

Why Drip Irrigation is Gaining Popularity

• Improved crop yield and quality. Water and nutrients are spoon-fed to the crop uniformly and on the desired schedule.
• Water conservation. Drip irrigation helps stretch limited water supplies by reducing water runoff, deep percolation and/or over-irrigation due to poor application uniformity.
• Reduced costs. Water, fertilizer, energy, labor, chemicals, weeding, insurance, and field operations tend to cost less compared to alternative irrigation technologies.
• Improved logistics. Because crop wheel rows remain dry with drip irrigation, drip fields are typically more accessible regardless of the irrigation schedule.
• Reduced disease. Since water is not applied within the plant canopy, humidity and associated disease problems are reduced. Reduced puddling can also decrease the opportunity for E. coli to grow.

http://www.dripirrigation.org/