Minutes of the 2001 Annual Technical Meeting Western
Regional Project W-128 (Pending Approval) Microirrigation
Technologies for Protection of Natural Resources and Optimum Production November
7-8, 2001 San Antonio, TX
W-128 Meeting was convened on Tuesday, November 6, 2001 in San Antonio,
TX. The meeting was called to order by W-128 President, Bruce Lesikar at
1:10 PM.
Members attending introduced themselves.
Attendees included:
Mahbub Alam, Kansas State University
Mike Burke, Oregon State University
Carl Camp, ARS, North Carolina
Gary Clark, Kansas State University
Steve Evett, ARS, Texas
Freddie Lamm, Kansas State University
Bruce Lesikar, Texas A&M University
Daniela O'Keefe, University of Virgin Islands
Mick O'Neill, New Mexico State University
Larry Parsons, University of Florida
Dana Porter, Texas A&M University
Danny Rogers, Kansas State University
Larry Schwankl, University of California, Davis
Ken Shackel, University of California, Davis
Clinton Shock, Oregon State University
Prem Singh, University of Guam
Tom Spofford, NRCS
Hank Taber, Iowa State University
Todd Trooien, South Dakota State University
The Minutes of the 2000 Meeting were discussed and it was moved
(Shackel moved, Taber seconded) that the minutes be accepted. Discussion
on nomination of an incoming Secretary was opened. Clint Shock
volunteered to serve as Secretary in 2002. It was moved (Clark moved,
Shackel seconded) that Clint be the 2002 W-128 Secretary. The motion
was unanimously accepted.
Discussion was opened on the location of the 2002 meeting. It was
suggested that the W-128 meeting be held in conjunction with the 2002 IA
meeting in New Orleans (Oct 24-26, 2002). Jackie Robbins, an irrigation
equipment dealer in the New Orleans area, had volunteered to arrange a
tour for W-128 members. After some discussion, a decision was tabled
until further discussion which was to be held the next morning (Wed,
11/7/01).
Freddie Lamm discussed the results of the W-128 technical session at
the 2001 IA conference. Approximately 45-50 attended the session. It was
felt that the IA technical session was effective in getting W-128
activities recognized and it was an effective means of extending the
results of W-128 sponsored research.
Freddie Lamm also discussed the current status of the rewrite of the
microirrigation book “Trickle Irrigation for Crop Production”. Numerous
W-128 members are contributing authors. Drafts of all the chapters have
been submitted and revisions are proceeding.
Maintenance and hosting of the W-128 web site was discussed. New Mexico
was not interested in continuing to host the web site. Clint Shock,
Oregon, will take over hosting and maintaining the web site. He will
work with Mike Burke to make sure that the W-128 membership list is up
to date and posted to the web site.
Tuesday mornings business meeting concluded and State reports
commenced.
California
Ken Shackel reported on activities involving use of tree water status
(prunes emphasized), measured using the pressure chamber, in Regulated
Deficit Irrigation (RDI) strategies.
Larry Schwankl reported on work with chemigation safety educational
efforts. A leaflet “Chemigation Systems for Trees and Vines” prepared
was passed out to W-128 members. In addition, a CD with a Powerpoint
presentation on Chemigation Safety andpdf drawings of chemigation safety
equipment layouts were also passed out.
Iowa
Henry Taber reported on work using irrigation scheduling, via
tensiometers, of bell peppers.
Kansas
Freddie Lamm reported on work utilizing SDI techniques on field corn.
Considerable discussion was held regarding use of SDI placed at various
depths.
Gary Clark reported on work with land application of wastewater. This
work included establishment of drainage lysimeter to facilitate the
work.
The meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm.
Wednesday’s (11/7/01) meeting began at 8:25 AM.
Kansas reports continued with Mahbub Alam reporting on work with use of
SDI on alfalfa.
South Dakota
Todd Trooien reported on initiated work with application of manure
wastewater through SDI systems.
South Carolina
Carl Camp reported on work with SDI of cotton. Soil compaction issues
associated with the cotton/SDI systems were discussed.
Guam
Prem Singh reported on work related to use of tensiometers to schedule
irrigation of cabbage. Tensiometer placement (depth and distance from
plant row) had been investigated and was discussed.
A break was taken at 10:30 AM.
At 10:50 AM, the business meeting was re-convened to discuss the
location of the 2002 meeting. It was decided that the W-128 meeting
would be held beginning Oct 22, 2002 and ending at noon on Oct 24, 2002
in New Orleans. The IA meeting begins on the afternoon of Oct 24 and
continuing through Oct 26, 2002.
Freddie Lamm will investigate again having a W-128 technical session at
the IA conference.
Mike Burke gave an update on the status of the W-128 project. Discussed
was the current membership of the project. He also discussed that a
publication list, a list of students (undergrad and grad) who have been
involved with W-128 related activities, and oral presentations by W-128
members extending the results of W-128 activities will need to be
submitted.
It was also decided that Mike Burke would work with Clint Shock to get
an updated W-128 membership list on the web site.
The Wed AM business meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.
State reports resumed at 1:00 PM.
Florida
Larry Parsons discussed a project in which municipal wastewater from
the Orlando areas was being applied to 4,000 acres of citrus in the
area. The high quality wastewater, even applied at high rates, had no
detrimental impact on the citrus trees.
Texas
Dana Porter reported on work done with SDI on cotton including the
issue of pre-season irrigation losses. She will be investigating using
SDI on a cotton/cotton/peanut rotation.
Bruce Lesikar discussed use of SDI for the municipal wastewater
treatment/disposal. His work is addressing the physical, chemical and
biological concerns.
Steve Evitt reported on his work looking at comparisons between neutron
probe, capacitance, and TDR soil moisture sensors.
NRCS
Tom Spofford introduced himself and discussed where he felt NRCS and
W-128 could interact.
New Mexico
Mick O’Neil gave an overview of microirrigation on-going in New Mexico.
He also reported on his work with the Navajo Ag Products Industry in
adopting SDI technologies.
Virgin Islands
Daniella O’Keefe reported on the use of microirrigation and improved
water management in the production of West Indian hot peppers. She also
discussed the use of mulch and varying soil moisture levels on the
production of eggplant.
Oregon
Clint Shock reported on his work looking at water management using soil
moisture sensors/feedback systems in SDI.
He is
looking at these water management in onion, potato, alfalfa seed and
other crop production systems.
The W-128 Wednesday meeting adjourned at 6:00 PM.
The Thursday (11/8/01) meeting of W-128 was a Technical Tour. The
tour began at 7:40 AM and included five stops.
The first stop was a Turfgrass Demonstration Site. We were met by Joe
Taylor of the Bexar County Texas Cooperative Extension who explained the
demonstration and its out-reach activities.
The second stop was a site in which water interception by Juniper trees
was being investigated. The W-128 tour was met by Keith Owens of the
Uvalde Research and Extension Center who discussed the on-going research
work.
The third stop of the tour was the Honey Creek State Natural Area. We
were met by NRCS and Texas CE personnel who discussed activities in the
area. Among other topics, a USGS monitoring weather site was visited.
The fourth stop was an application site of effluent through subsurface
drip dispersal systems. Paul Reynolds of Wastewater Technologies met the
tour at a school site where such a system was in place.
The final stop was a site where subsurface drip systems were being used
for pepper production. Jerry Parsons of Bexar Co. Texas CE met the tour
and explained the on-going trial.
The days’ tour ended at approximately 4:00 PM.
W-128 home page
If you note any broken links or errors in this web site or have information
to contribute or difficulty obtaining information about the W-128 working
group, please contact
Dr. Clinton C. Shock
Malheur Agricultural Experiment
Station, Oregon State University
595 Onion Avenue
Ontario, OR 97914
(541) 889-2174
FAX (541) 889-7831
Clinton.Shock@oregonstate.edu
Last updated
Tuesday July 1, 2003.