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High-tech irrigation control study for avocado groves funded; growers are a little leery

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 15, 2008 at 1:37 pm

From The Business Press:

The Rancho California Water District was awarded a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s water conservation field services program for a demonstration study using a weather-based irrigation controller to improve irrigation efficiency at avocado groves, but local growers are skeptical.

The district partnered with the California Avocado Commission and Petaluma-based HydroPoint Data Systems Inc. HydroPoint invented the WeatherTRAK irrigation controller.

Growers are leery of the technology. “One of the biggest problems we’re going to have is putting all the hardware into the valves,” said Ben Drake, a local avocado grower. “It’s not like a small landscape; it’s a nightmare.”

The WeatherTRAK system has yet to be installed in an avocado grove. The grant was based on data provided by the water district and HydroPoint. The WeatherTRAK system allows for real-time, online irrigation control by way of a secure Web site. With smart controllers, irrigation needs - frequency of irrigation, start time and duration of water –are precisely scheduled, thus promoting irrigation efficiency.

Drake has experience with controllers but has not used the WeatherTRAK system on any of his crops. But if properly implemented, the system could yield water savings, he said. “I see a saving, probably not during the middle of the summer because we’re trying to put as much water on as we can in the hot months,” he said. “But in the early spring and in the fall when we start getting cooler temperatures.”

Read more from The Business Press by clicking here.

May 15, 2008 · Filed Under Agriculture

Comments

One Response to “High-tech irrigation control study for avocado groves funded; growers are a little leery”

Joe Enciso on June 10th, 2008 1:39 pm

My Name is Joe Enciso and I am the VP of sales for Advanced sensor technology. We have developed a wireless soil monitoring system and own the rights to market it. This product should be exactly what you are looking for to save water. We can sense moisture, temperature and salinity in the soil and wirelessly communicate the data to a secure server that can be accessed with a username and password. I would like to talk further with anyone who reads this.

thanks for your time,

Joe Enciso
614-282-3444

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