Farmers adopt new irrigation and fertilizer techniques: Changes could help growers maintain yields, protect water quality

During January and February 1997, farmers in 42 California counties were surveyed about irrigation and nutrient management techniques for individual crops during the 1986 and 1996 growing years. More than 800 responses were analyzed to identify trends in these management areas and relate the rates of change. The responses indicate that the acreage irrigated with gravity systems decreased 11% over the 10-year period while the use of microirrigation systems increased 12%. Our assessment of the rate of change agrees with an analysis of previous irrigation surveys. The percentage of growers utilizing nitrogen management techniques such as fertigation, foliar applications, soil analysis and plant-tissue testing has increased in the last decade throughout much of the state and on most crop types. Farms that changed their irrigation systems adopted new nutrient management techniques at a more rapid rate than farms that did not change their irrigation system, showing that these two management spheres are intertwined. Despite the adoption of “more-efficient” nitrogen management techniques, in most cases (57%) farmers are applying the same amount of nitrogen fertilizer to their fields or even more nitrogen fertilizer (24%) than a decade ago.