MINUTES OF THE 1998 ANNUAL TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING

WESTERN REGIONAL PROJECT W-128

Microirrigation: Management Practices to Sustain Water Quality and Sustain Agricultural Productivity

October 29-31, 1998

Bristol Court Hotel

San Diego, California

I. Business Meeting (Oct. 29, 1998)

The annual Western Regional Project W-128 meeting was called to order at 1:05 pm on October 29, 1998 by Vice-Chair Dr. Howard Neibling. It was moved by Ken Shakel and seconded by Norris Powell to approve the 1997 minutes as sent by the secretary. The motion passed unanimously and the 1997 minute was approved with no corrections or omissions.

I-Pai Wu and Muluneh Yitayew were appointed by the Vice-Chair to serve as the nominating committee for the incoming secretary.

Howard Neibling initiated a discussion about the 1999 meeting location. Possible places mentioned were Idaho or Orlando, Florida with the Irrigation Association. Bruce Lesikar suggested to have the meeting either before or after the agronomy meeting. The final selection of the meeting location was postponed to a later date.

The business meeting was then adjourned to be reconvened after the state reports.

II. Comments from the Administrative Advisor, Michael Burke

Dr Burke's comment was mainly towards the new proposal. He emphasi8sed the fact that every member should work with Freddie to get it ready on time. He gave two deadlines for the proposal. The first one is in January 15, for the Colorado meeting of the reviewing committee which will give the review result about March 1999. The second date is May which will have the review back by July or August. He suggested the January deadline because he will not be able to authorize the 1999 meeting early enough if the review results are not available for him from the reviewing committee.

He pointed out the need to submit names of four outside reviewers knowledgeable about the research project. Forms need to be filled out by each principal scientist as to his or her contribution towards each objective stated in the proposal and must be processed through his or her experiment station with all the necessary signatures. Integration of research, extension and instruction in the proposal was stressed by Dr. Burke. All Western Research Projects are going to emphasize the integrated approach and this project should do so if it is going to be approved. He suggested that the committee submit the proposal in electronic form with only one hard copy.

III. New Proposal

Freddie started by distributing summary of suggested research emphasis that were sent to him by the members. He presented four groups as follows:

1. Management, methods and strtegies
2. Modeling, design, and uniformity
3. Economics and
4. Technology transfer

In each category there were several topics for research. It was clear that there was a need for a title to reflect the diverse interest of the group and yet general enough to accommodate the needs of every member. After discussion of the research directions and possible cooperation between the members it was decided what Freddie presented had enough for everybody to work on and the emphasis should be in developing the objectives and the title. The discussion was postponed for the next day until after the state reports.

IV. State Reports

State reports were presented on October 29, 1998 from :

On October 30, 1998 the following state reports were presented.

Iowa by Hank Taber

V. New Proposal Continued (Oct. 30,1998)

After the completion of the state reports the discussion on the new proposal restarted on October 30, 1998.

The first item of discussion was the title of the new project. Several titles were considered and discussed. Ken Shackel moved a motion to adopt one of the titles " Microirrigation technologies for protection of natural resources and for optimum production" that was seconded by Gary Clark. The motion passed unanimously. After accepting the title the next discussion concentrated on the objectives of the project. Several possible objectives were considered. Four objectives were finally accepted for the new project. These objectives were:

1. To evaluate and refine microirrigation management strategies to promote natural resource protection and optimal crop production.
2. To improve, modify, and evaluate microirrigation sytem design and components for natural resource protection and optimal production.
3. To assess and develop decision criteria for adoption of microirrigatiion technologies.
4. To promote appropriate microirrigation technologies through formal and informal educational activities.

VI. Business Meeting Reconvened

There were some who indicated that they will be leaving either on October 30 evening or early morning the next day. For this reason the business meeting was held on October 30, 1998 afternoon after the objectives were defined.

The nominating committee recommended Dr. Bruce Lesikar of Texas for secretary for the 1999 meeting. There were no nominations from the floor. I-Pai moved a motion that Dr. Lesikar be accepted as secretary for the 1999 meeting. Hank seconded and the vote was unanimous for Dr. Lesikar. Boise, Idaho was selected to be the location for the 1999 meeting. Tentative dates for the meeting are October 28 and 29, 1999. Howard Neibling will be the host and will let the members know the time and exact location of the meeting.

VII. New Proposal Continued

After the business meeting was closed the committee restarted discussion of the new proposal and continued until 5:20 pm. The committee was divided into subgroups based on the research interest of each state as follows:

Objective 1. To evaluate and refine microirrigation management strategies to promote natural resource protection and optimal crop production.

Chemigation management (fumigation, fertigation) (Bob Evans, subgroup chair) Kansas, Arizona, Washington, Virginia, USDA-WMRL-Fresno

Water management, scheduling, deficit irrigation, sensors, nutrient management. (Ken Shackel) All States

Wastewater and bioremediation (Bruce Lesikar) Texas, Kansas, Virginia

Turf, landscape and recreation (Freddie Lamm will try to find  someone,(i.e. Ted Sammis) who expressed that interest) New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Texas

Precision agriculture (Ken Shackel) University of California- Davis

Objective 2. To improve, modify, and evaluate microirrigation system design and components for natural resource protection and optimal crop production.

Modeling (Bruce Lesikar) Texas, Ask Wyoming and Arizona, and Minnesota

Sensors and Controls (Howard Neibling, Henry Taber) Idaho, California, Virginia, Kansas, Washington, Guam

Drip Products (Gary Clark) Kansas, Texas, Idaho, Ask USDA

Uniformity and Design (Gary Clark, I-Pai) Hawii, Arizona, Kansas, Texas, Washington


Objective 3. To assess and develop decision criteria for adoption of microirrigation technologies.

Economics, environmental impact, risk assessment, longevity, maximum attainable yield, ergonomic consideration for field workers, sociologist. (Freddie Lamm) All members will submit info to Freddie as to how their research will assess economics OR benefit/disadvantages.

Objective 4. To promote appropriate microirrigation technologies through formal and informal educational activities

Web Site, graduate students, undergraduate student instruction, post-doctorial students, field days, workshops, fact sheets, Regional and National meetings, Regional Project publications Check list (ranges of expectations) (Freddie will ask if Ted Sammis is interested in leading this charge) All Groups will submit info.

On October 31, 1998, the committee reconvened and continued discussion on the proposal. Freddie emphasized the need to follow the format by each sub-group on how to proceed to achieve the objectives, get the literature review, and expected outcome. It was decided that each state will provide the necessary material to the sub-group leader by November 9, 1998. The group leaders will submit their portion of the proposal material to Freddie by November 13, 1998. Freddie's E-mail address was given as Flamm@oz.oz-net.ksu.edu. Freddie agreed to send the title and the objectives to the members of W-128 electronically. Recognizing the fact the proposal discussion will be a continuing process.

The meeting officially adjourned at 11: 15 am October 31, 1998.

Respectfully submitted,

Muluneh Yitayew

Secretary, W-128

Tuesday December 1, 1998

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