Water Wheel July/August 2020: Water Use In Orchards

Abstract

New app can predict apple orchard water use up to a week in advance Over the years, the WRC, in collaboration with fruit industry partners, has funded several research projects aimed at establishing the water requirements of orchards across South Africa. Many of the studies focused on apple orchards in the prime production regions in the Western Cape (e.g. Volschenk et al., 2003; Dzikiti et al., 2018; Gushet al., 2019). In addition, there are currently ongoing related projects in these areas (e.g. Midgley et al., 2019). So, the volume of good quality data of actual orchard water use measurements is growing. With this in mind, a study aimed at consolidating and adding value to these data was initiated by Dr Mark Gush, now with the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK. The priority of the study was to develop a simple but scientifically credible tool that operates on platforms that are easily accessible to farmers to assist them with irrigation planning in real-time.

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