Water Table Control for Increasing Yield and Saving Water in Cranberry Production

Vincent Pelletier, Jacques Gallichand, Silvio Gumiere, Steeve Pepin and Jean Caron
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Vincent Pelletier: Department of Soil and Agri-Food Engineering, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l'Agriculture, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Jacques Gallichand: Department of Soil and Agri-Food Engineering, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l'Agriculture, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Silvio Gumiere: Department of Soil and Agri-Food Engineering, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l'Agriculture, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Steeve Pepin: Department of Soil and Agri-Food Engineering, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l'Agriculture, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Jean Caron: Department of Soil and Agri-Food Engineering, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l'Agriculture, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: Water table control has been successfully tested to improve the sustainability of water management in cranberry production. In the province of Québec (Canada), three sites were investigated to determine the optimum water table depth below soil surface (WTD) using three criteria: (1) increasing yield without decreasing fruit quality; (2) minimizing the amount of water needed by the sprinkler system; and (3) avoiding hypoxic stresses in the rhizosphere. Our results show that the final yield, the berry sugar content, the total number of berries, the number of berries per upright, and the fruit set were maximized when the WTD was 60 cm. Sprinkler water savings of 77% were obtained where the WTD was shallower than 66 cm. In order to avoid hypoxic conditions due to poor drainage, the water level in the canals surrounding the beds should be lowered to 80 cm when a rainfall or a frost protection irrigation is anticipated. All sides of a block of beds must be surrounded by canals to ensure a uniform WTD and to avoid lateral hydraulic gradients that could cause peripheral seepage losses.

Keywords: cranberries; water table; subirrigation; drainage; irrigation; yield components; yield quality; sugar content (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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