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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Riverside, California » National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Citrus » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #408702
Research Project: Conservation, Management and Distribution of Citrus and Date Genetic Resources and Associated Information

Location: National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Citrus

Title: Recent advances in date palm water management

Author
item MONTAZAR, ALIASGHAR - University Of California - Cooperative Extension Service
item Krueger, Robert

Submitted to: Progressive Crop Consultant
Publication Type: Trade Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/16/2023
Publication Date: 11/30/2023
Citation: Montazar, A., Krueger, R. 2023. Recent advances in date palm water management. Progressive Crop Consultant. 8:8-12.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Date production requires high temperatures and abundant water for commercial production. Commercial date production in the United States is confined to the low desert areas of California and Arizona. Estimations of water requirements for date production were made decades ago under flood irrigated conditions. Recent studies of micro-irrigated and flood irrigated dates produced in updated crop coefficients and irrigation guidelines. Actual crop consumptive water use varies with soil conditions, especially salinity, and canopy cover and tree height. Irrigation requirements are greater in soils with saline or sodic characteristics. A hybrid micro-irrigation/flood irrigation regime is suggested, as micro-irrigation systems may not be capable of supplying sufficient water during high water demand months. Monitoring of soil water potential of the upper 1 - 2 feet of the soil profile is a useful tool in assessing soil water availability in date production.