Seepage vs. Center Pivot for Potato Production in SW Florida · Seepage vs. Center Pivot for Potato Production in SW Florida Yuqi Cui, Guodong Liu, Lincoln Zotarelli, Crystal A. Snodgrass,

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

seepage center pivot




Farm 1 Farm 2 Farm 3 Farm 4

Ove

rall

wat

er u

sage

(mm

)

Seepage Pivot Rainfall

Seepage vs. Center Pivot for Potato Production in SW Florida Yuqi Cui, Guodong Liu, Lincoln Zotarelli, Crystal A. Snodgrass, and Alan Jones

UF-IFAS, Gainesville, FL 32611, Manatee County Extension, IFAS, Palmetto, FL 34221, and Jones Potato Farm, Parrish, FL 34219

INTRODUCTION RESULTS Potato Yields

MATERIALS & METHODS Water Usage

Seepage is the predominant irrigation for potato production in

Florida, but poses problems such as 1) water conservation

and 2) water quality.

Overhead irrigation is significantly greater in water-use

efficiency as compared to seepage irrigation.

Objective: to quantify the water savings of converting seepage

to center pivot for potato production in SW Florida.

Farm Irrigation Variety Acreage (ha)

Planting Date

Harvest Date

Farm 1 Seepage Red LaSoda 4 10/12/14 1/23/15

Central Pivot Red LaSoda 69 10/12/14 1/23/15





Farm 4 Seepage Accumulator 49 12/18/14 3/23/15

Central Pivot Accumulator 121 12/18/14 3/23/15

2014-2015 Growing Season

NO3-N Level in Soil at Harvest

Leaf greenness

Field Measurements

33%

18%

49% 27%

18% 55%

18%

25% 57%

1%

66% 33%

Moisture

This research was financially supported by Southwest Florida Water Management District (13C00000017). We thank Mr. David Fleming and Mr. Jesse Cavillo for helping with the research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Center pivot irrigation system can save more than 50% of irrigation water as compared with seepage irrigation. A more suitable fertilization program may be required. (e.g., fertigation)

CONCLUSIONS Leaf water potential

Rain gauge

Center pivot

Leaf greenness Soil moisture

Flow meter

0

10

20

30

40

50






Leaf

gre

enne

s (S

PAD

read

ings

) a b

a a b b

P<0.01 P<0.01 P<0.05 P>0.47

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90






Soil

NO

3-N

(mg/

kg)

a

b

P<0.01

P>0.48

P>0.71 P>0.73

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800






Yiel

d (k

g/ha

)

a

b

P<0.01 P>0.39 P>0.10 P>0.83

0 5

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

1/28 2/7 2/17 2/27 3/9 3/19

Volu

met

ric w

ater

con

tent

(%)

Date

Farm 4 - Seepage

4'' Depth 8'' Depth 12'' Depth 20'' Depth 28'' Depth

0 5

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

1/28 2/7 2/17 2/27 3/9 3/19

Volu

met

ric w

ater

con

tent

(%)

Date

Farm 4 - Center pivot

Seepage

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140






Irrig

atio

n w

ater

-use

effi

cien

cy

(L/k

g tu

bers

)

P<0.01

b

a

a

b a

b b

a

P<0.01

P<0.01

P<0.01

Documents

Seepage vs. Center Pivot for Potato Production in SW Florida · Seepage vs. Center Pivot for Potato Production in SW Florida Yuqi Cui, Guodong Liu, Lincoln Zotarelli, Crystal A. Snodgrass,