Peter and Jenny Nuich of Sunny Valley Vineyard grow several varieties of seedless table grapes including Dawn, Crimson, Flame and Midnight Beauty. The vines are irrigated using micro sprinklers. 1 irrigation block has just undergone a major irrigation upgrade with new submain, laterals and sprinklers. To view the irrigation plan designed by a Certified Irrigation Designer (CID) click here. A 30% increase in distribution uniformity has been recorded with the new irrigation system. Please click here to view the old sprinkler application rate graph and click here to view the new sprinkler application rate graph. Soil moisture monitoring equipment has been installed and has been used to guide irrigations and to minimise leaching and over irrigation.
With two consecutive dry winters and summers, irrigation water use at the site has increased to approx 6000 kL/ha in the crimson seedless variety which is above the 5000 kL/ha allocated for table grape production.
Given effective average rainfall and good soil moisture levels in September, October and November, irrigation usage should be approximately 5000 kL/ha.
A graph of the on site irrigation results for 2008-2009 can be viewed here.
To view a snapshot of a soil moisture graph used on site, click here.
2009-2010 Irrigation Scheduling update
2010-2011 Irrigation Scheduling update
Click here for Crimson Seedless Water Budget. Click here for Crimson Seedless Irrigation Schedule.
The demo site is located on a mixed orchard with stone (peach, nectarine, plum) and pome fruit (Pink Lady apple). Initial trials with 68L/hr rotator type sprinklers on a 4m x 4m triangular spacing show a 30% increase in distribution uniformity. This equals a more even application of water across the apple block. Data from Gypsum blocks and Capacitance probes is used to fine tune irrigations throughout the summer months.
A reduced irrigation schedule was used in the Nectarines during the pit hardening stage in late 2010 and early 2011. Soil moisture was reduced to below 'full ' levels during pit hardening. Fruit quality results will be evaluated in the near future.
Click here for Summer Bright Nectarine Irrigation Schedule and here for Water Budget.
Click here for Pink Lady Apple Irrigation Schedule and here for Water Budget.
The winery produces several varieties of premium grapes including Verdelho, Chardonnay, Shiraz and new plantings of Tempranillo and Petite Verdot. 4 hectares of the property is under production with a drip irrigation system supplying water to the vines.
A detailed study of the Verdelho block has been undertaken with results outlined in a new Water Use Study which can be found in the downloads section.
Water Use Results:
|
|
Station runtime (mins) |
Output L/dripper |
L/vine (1.5 drippers/vine) |
kL/hectare (2222 vines/ha) |
|
2009 Vintage |
1480 |
95 |
142 |
315 |
|
2010 Vintage |
1410 |
90 |
135 |
300 |
Sittella have incorporated compost into some soils that are 'hard setting' and crack during summer. Results of this compost incorporation may include increased vine vigour, increased water holding capacity and soil structure improvement (with time).
Some improvements to the irrigation system were made during 2010. With the old system, the time taken to fill the water tank was 12 hours. After the improvements to the system, only 6 hours is needed to fill the tank. A new irrigation controller was purchased for the site which enables two pumps to operate simultaniously to irrigate the winery gardens and vineyard at the same time. With the reduced time taken to fill the tank, irrigations are now scheduled at night and can be altered if there is heat wave conditions.
Click here to view the irrigation plan for Sittella, designed by a Certified Irrigation Designer (CID).
MG Monte & Son is a large scale vegetable producer which grows lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, celery, cauliflower for the local market. Staffs are currently using best practice irrigation scheduling techniques, using soil moisture monitoring equipment and matching irrigation to crop water demand to minimise leaching. A new digital irrigation controller has been installed on the site due to the old controller being very inaccurate with station run times.
New Nelson spinner type sprinklers have been installed at the Carabooda to alleviate issues with the existing butterfly sprinklers. Similar application rates of 13mm/hour have been recorded with a Distribution Uniformity of 75%. These sprinklers can operate at a relatively low pressure of 150kPa.
The existing irrigation system has been mapped by a Certified Irrigation Designer (CID). Click here to view the irrigation plan for Bullsbrook.
Strawberry Fields has made some large improvements in groundwater use over the past few years with water use dropping from 11,193kL/ha to 6,907kL/ha due to removal of low covers during winter, good irrigation scheduling and soil moisture monitoring. The total production area of Strawberries has reduced over time and now sections of the property have been leased to small vegetable growers.
Complete Turf Supplies produces Wintergreen Couch, Soft Leaf Buffalo, Kikuyu and Greenlees Park turf grass for the local market. 6.6 hectares of the property is under production and the turf is harvested all year round. The irrigation infrastructure consists of impact sprinklers with 4mm x 2.5mm nozzle configuration on a 12m x 12m offset spacing. The Mean Application Rate is 8mm/hr with a Distribution Uniformity of 79%. CTS irrigate the turf grass at a 0.7 crop factor (70% of daily evaporation) which produces good quality turf and minimal leaching through to groundwater.
The irrigation system has been mapped by a Certifited Irrigation Designer (CID). Click here to view the irrigation plan.
Avowest Avocados covers approx. 15.2 ha and produces Hass avocados for the local market. Historically, Avowest utilised a full coverage irrigation system and sprinklers were showing signs of wear and flow was highly variable. In a few irrigation blocks, new 90L/hr micro sprinklers were installed and spaced every 3.5m along the tree rows but now the wetting patterns did not overlap between the rows. Having lower output sprinklers enabled Avowest to link two irrigation stations and run them at the same time, halving power consumption and pump run time. Avowest have invested significant amounts of capital in upgrading old irrigation infrastructure to the new micro sprinkler system.
Avowest is now conducting a small trial with drip irrigation to assess feasibility on the sandy soils in the area. Irrigation application results are very promising from 1 year in the orchard.
Based on: 408 trees/ha, 35L/hour/tree dripper output, 10.5m2 canopy area (3m x 3.5m) the approximate irrigation application was 14,994kL/ha. Avocados have a licensed groundwater allocation of 18,000kL/ha.
2008 Waterwise Field Day Presentation
2010 Waterwise Field Day Presentation
Leaching of Irrigation and Rainfall Graph
Avowest Irrigation Plan (produced by a certified irrigation designer)
EMS is a medium size wholesale nursery which produces local and native plants for revegetation and landscaping projects. EMS also specialise in propagating wetland rushes and sedge species. The irrigation system at EMS consists of brass butterfly sprinklers across the nursery. Lateral and sprinkler spacing in the hardening off areas is 4.5m x 5m but this changes to 3.2m x 3.4m in the elevated bench areas. EMS have already invested significant capital by upgrading components of the irrigation system. The butterfly sprinklers have been replaced with 300l/hr micro sprinklers and initial tests have proved to be good but some areas like the elevated benches, swivels will need to be changed to a short range model from the long range swivel fitted at present. The application rate for the new micro sprinklers is 18mm/hr.
Some monitoring of in-field irrigation is underway focusing on Dianella caerula 'little jess' in 140mm pots. Results:
The Dianella plants were potted on the 13th May 2010 and removed for delivery in mid November 2010. During that time, 359mm of rainfall was collected along with 650mm of irrigation. The Dianella plants recieved a total of 1009mm of water while in the grow out area. 1009mm of water is equal to 1009kL/ha. (1mm = 1L spread over 1 square metre).
The irrigation system has been mapped by a Certified Irrigation Designer (CID). Click here to view the irrigation plan for EMS.
