Citrus rootstock production in Brazil commonly uses manual overhead irrigation systems to water plants. Manual irrigation systems present low efficiency, apply more water than needed, and result in release of nutrients and pesticides into the soil with a potential to contaminate groundwater. Closed irrigation systems that avoid the disposal of nutrient solutions like subirrigation can be used to increase production efficiency and reduce the environmental contamination. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of subirrigation applied by a prototype tray on plant growth and morphological and physiological responses of Rangpur lime (Citrus limonia Osbeck ‘Limeira’) seedlings subjected to different water levels in conic containers filled with pine bark substrate. We tested three treatments: T1) subirrigation with water reaching two-thirds of the container height (8 cm); T2) subirrigation with water reaching one-third of the container height (4 cm); and T3) control with manual overhead irrigation. Subirrigation resulted in higher plant growth of Rangpur lime seedlings. At 90 days after sowing (DAS), we observed significant effects of T1 over the other treatments on plant growth, as indicated by higher total dry mass (P = 0.0057), shoot/root ratio (P = 0.0089), shoot height (P = 0.0004), leaf area (P = 0.0005), and root length (P = 0.0333). The number of bifurcations was 400% higher in T3 than at the subirrigated treatments, which can lead to an increase in the labor costs for pruning. Seedlings grown under T1 presented leaf water potential 13% higher compared with T3 at predawn, which was the time of highest stomatal efficiency, presenting the lowest water loss, maximum stomatal closure, and higher transpiration at lower stomatal resistance. T2 plants displayed intermediate water status with a water potential 5% higher than T3. T3 plants showed a higher transpiration rate under maximum stomatal closure, reducing leaf water potential. The subirrigated treatment with water level of two-thirds of container height (8 cm) induced higher plant growth and shortened the crop cycle, anticipating the transplanting to the next phase (grafting) with the possibility of reducing production costs in the nursery.
Effective nutrient and irrigation management practices are critical for optimum growth and yield in open-field fresh-market tomato production. Although nutrient and irrigation management practices have been well-studied for tomato production in Florida, more studies of the current highly efficient production systems would be considered essential. Therefore, a two-season (Fall 2016 and Spring 2017) study was conducted in Immokalee, FL, to evaluate the effects of the nitrogen (N) rates under different irrigation regimes and to determine the optimum N requirement for open-field fresh-market tomato production. To evaluate productivity, the study investigated the effects of N rates and irrigation regimes on plant and root growth, yield, and production efficiency of fresh-market tomato. The study demonstrated that deficit irrigation (DI) targeting 66% daily evapotranspiration (ET) replacement significantly increased tomato root growth compared with full irrigation (FI) at 100% ET. Similarly, DI application increased tomato growth early in the season compared with FI. Therefore, irrigation applications may be adjusted downward from FI, especially early during a wet season, thereby potentially improving irrigation water use efficiency (iWUE) and reducing leaching potential of Florida sandy soils. However, total marketable yield significantly increased under FI compared with DI. This suggests that although DI may increase early plant growth, the application of DI throughout the season may result in yield reduction. Although N application rates had no significant effects on biomass production, tomato marketable yield with an application rate of 134 kg·ha−1 N was significantly lower compared with other N application rates (179, 224, and 269 kg·ha−1). It was also observed that there were no significant yield benefits with N application rates higher than 179 kg·ha−1. During the fall, iWUE was higher under DI (33.57 kg·m−3) than under FI (25.57 kg·m−3); however, iWUE was similar for both irrigation treatments during spring (FI = 14.04 kg·m−3; DI = 15.29 kg·m−3). The N recovery (REC-N) rate was highest with 134 kg·ha−1 N; however, REC-N was similar with 179, 224, and 269 kg·ha−1 N rates during both fall and spring. Therefore, these study results could suggest that DI could be beneficial to tomato production only when applied during early growth stages, but not throughout the growing season. Both yield and efficiency results indicated that the optimum N requirement for open-field fresh-market tomato production in Florida may not exceed 179 kg·ha−1 N.
The United States pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch] industry is based on about 10,107,170 trees (about 15% nonbearing) comprising about 492,137 acres (199,168 ha) of orchards (34% in Texas, 27% Georgia, and 17% Oklahoma) dispersed among about 19,900 farm operations (36% in Texas, 16% Georgia, and 7% Oklahoma) in 24 states. Fifty-six percent of this acreage is on farms with ≥100 acres (40.5 ha) of trees (i.e., 5% of total farms). An evaluation of production related changes over the last decade indicate fundamental changes occurring in the nature of the U. S. industry. These include a) movement toward agricultural industrialization as reflected by fewer small-farms and more large-farms; b) reduced percentage of young (i.e., nonbearing) trees in most major producing states; c) substantial decline in number of farms and acres in the southeastern regionhistorically the primary production area-yet substantial growth in the northern region of production; d) a national 3% increase in the number of pecan farms and 14% increase in acreage; and e) substantial demographic changes, such as the enhanced importance of the southwestern region including New Mexico with diminished importance of many southeastern states. States also drastically differ in degree of biennial bearing, as measured by the biennial bearing index (i.e., K = 0.04 - 0.73; where 0 = no production variation and 1 = maximum variation), average production efficiency of both orchards [Epa = 192 - 1,224 lb/acre (215 - 1,374 kg·ha-1)] and trees [Ept = 19 - 60 lb/tree (8.6 kg/tree)], variation in grower prices (cv = 18 - 36%), and relationship between price and national supply of pecan (r 2 = 0.94 - 0.03). For the pecan industry as a whole, average price received for nut-meats is as closely associated with national supply of pecan nut-meats as that of almond and pistachio and is far better than that of walnut-pecan's primary competitor. The supply of pecan meats on-hand at the beginning of the season, plus supply from the current season's crop, plus the price of walnut meats accounts for 80% of price variation in average United States pecan meat price.
production practices such as irrigation during the early season. Total and storage number and storage root production efficiency Total and storage root number. Adventitious roots are typically produced at the nodal positions and at the cut end of the slips
PA is an agricultural production system to optimize production efficiency through the application of crop information, technology, and management practices. To achieve this, PA must begin at the planning stages of crops through to the harvest and
harvest by three measures during a whole solar day ( Reginato et al., 2007 ). The standardized production efficiency can be expressed as kilograms of fruit per square centimeter of trunk branch cross-sectional area ( Robinson et al., 1991 ). This index
identify BMPs that provide useful benefits in cost reduction and production efficiency. The ES also covered water management–related issues that growers reported to investigators. Principal survey. An IRB-approved survey [IRB no. 15-720 ( Mack, 2016 )] on
Lean flow management for production efficiency Combined Proc. Intl. Plant Prop. Soc. 59 573 576 Galle, F.C. 1997 Hollies: The genus Ilex . Timber Press, Portland, OR Gilman, E.F. 1999 Ilex crenata ‘Helleri’. Univ. Florida Coop. Ext. Serv. Fact Sheet
developing genetically superior cultivars. Production researchers and plant breeders have been interested in increasing yield because they would like to maximize crop production efficiency and because of higher demand for food by the expanding population of
increasing importance of production from southwestern states. These shifts were partially linked to price variations, production efficiency, and degree of biennial bearing. Eighty percent of year-to-year variation in national average wholesale price was