Irrigation and drainage management strategies to enhance cranberry production and optimize water use in North America

Abstract

Recent research funding, as well as technological and management changes, has led to important scientific discoveries on irrigation and drainage of cranberry that could significantly impact on plant yield and water use. This paper integrates all this information into new proposed guidelines for irrigation and drainage management of cranberry. It explains the interaction of the different concepts, with the most recent ones published in this special issue. Cranberry yield is very sensitive to wet anaerobic conditions (soil matric potential >−4 kPa) or dry bed conditions (<−7 kPa) limiting capillary rise. It also appears that important water savings can be achieving by irrigating by a combination of overhead and subirrigation maintaining the top 15 cm of the bed within those soil matric potential limits and to meet an evapotranspiration demand up to 7.5 mm d −1 , provide frost and heat protection, and avoid salt accumulation, as this crop also appears sensitive to salinity stress. Finally, following plantings, soil properties appear to evolve dynamically and should be followed through profile observations, and combination of soil water potential and ground penetrating radar data, to identify potential yield limitations.Key words: cranberry, irrigation, drainage, aeration, frost protection, heat stress.Résumé : Le financement récent de recherches ainsi que des changements sur les plans de la technologie et de la conduite culturale ont donné lieu à d'importantes découvertes scientifiques sur l'irrigation et le drainage de la canneberge. Ces découvertes pourraient avoir un impact notable sur le rendement de la culture et l'utilisation de l'eau. L'article que voici regroupe ces informations pour proposer de nouvelles lignes directrices sur l'irrigation et le drainage des cultures de canneberge. On y explique l'interaction des différents concepts, dont les plus récents apparaissent dans ce numéro spécial. Le rendement de la canneberge est très sensible à l'humidité dans des conditions anaérobiques (>−4 kPa) et quand le lit de culture s'assèche (<−7 kPa), ce qui restreint l'ascension capillaire. Apparemment, on peut aussi réaliser d'importantes économies d'eau en irrigant la culture à la fois par aspersion et par apport souterrain, afin que les premiers 15 cm du lit de culture demeurent dans cette plage potentiel matriciel, de compenser une évapotranspiration de jusqu'à 7,5 mm par jour et de protéger la culture contre le gel, la chaleur et le sel, car elle paraît sensible à la salinité. Enfin, après la plantation, les propriétés du sol semblent connaître une évolution dynamique qu'on devrait suivre par observation du profil ainsi qu'au moyen des données sur le potentiel hydrique du sol et des relevés de géoradar, de manière à identifier les limites éventuelles du rendement. [Traduit par la Rédaction]

Soil Bacterial Community Associated With High Potato Production and Minimal Water Use

“…The adsorbed soil water content can be characterized by the total potential (i.e., energy per unit volume [Pa]), or Ψ T (Groenevelt et al, 2004) which corresponds to the sum of four potentials: matric potential (Ψ m ); osmotic, or solute potential (Ψ S ); the gravitational potential (Ψ Z ); and pressure potential (Ψ A ), where only the matric and solute potentials affect plant absorbance (Kirkham, 2005). Thus, the optimal irrigation level for different crops is mostly assumed and based on the water matric potential (Caron et al, 2017).…”

Amounts, forms, and management of nitrogen and phosphorus export from agricultural peatlands

“…Fertilizers are applied aerially (i.e., via helicopter) as urea, ammonium sulfate, and phosphorus pentoxide 1 to 3 times per year between May and July, with doses of 34.1 kg of N ha −1 year −1 for N and 5.6 kg of P ha −1 year −1 for P (3‐year mean; Table ). Water management includes open ditches for drainage, sprinkler irrigation for soil moisture and frost protection, and periodic flooding for harvest and winter vine protection (Caron et al, ; Caron et al, ; Jeranyama, DeMoranville, & Kennedy, ; Kennedy et al ; Figure ).…”

“…Although cranberries are native North American plants, commercial cranberry production requires careful management of water (Kennedy et al, ), nutrients (Hart, Strik, DeMoranville, Davenport, & Royer, ), pests and disease (Polashock, Caruso, Averill, & Schilder, ). Cranberry farms are generally located in proximity to lakes or streams that are used for irrigation and flooding (Pelletier, Pepin, Gallichand, & Caron, ; Caron et al, ; Olszewski, Jeranyama, Kennedy, & DeMoranville, ; DeMoranville, ), but which also makes them potential sources of impaired water quality (Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection [MA DEP], ; Howes et al, ).…”

Breeding Trait Priorities of the Cranberry Industry in the United States and Canada

“…Of all the cranberry production areas in North America, conditions in New Jersey expose the cranberry plants to the highest heat stress (Roper, 2006). Indeed, to mitigate heat stress in this region, the use of irrigation systems is recommended for cooling (Caron et al, 2017). In contrast, the period of freezing temperatures and overall lower temperatures that cranberry plants are exposed to in Wisconsin and British Columbia explain why frost protection is a concern for producers in these regions.…”