MANASOTA & PEACE RIVER BBDs Meeting Notebook 10-21-09.docx

B226
Determine Total Water Budget & Irrig. Req.for Mature Southern
Highbush Blueberries
Project Type Basin Initiatives
AOR(s)
Water Supply, Water Quality
Basin(s) Alafia River, Hillsborough River, Withlacoochee River, Peace River
Cooperator(s)
University of Florida
Project Manager COHEN, RON
Task Manager(s)
Status Ongoing
Description
Blueberry production is a high valued cash crop. The estimated 2003 value of blueberry production in Florida was
about $18.6 million dollars. As the value of other crops decrease more growers have been converting their fields to
blueberries. A 1998 report estimated a 400% increase in blueberry acres by the year 2008. This four-budget year
research project will quantify how much water a typical blueberry plant needs and will develop irrigation guidelines to
help conserve water, reduce potential runoff and water quality impacts.
Benefits
There are about 735Mgals permitted for annual blueberry irrigation. The amount of water saved will be a function of
the number of acres planted and their water use, which will change annually based on market and climatic conditions.
If we assume a 5% savings from this project it would conserve about 37 Mgals per year.
Costs
This project cost $153,000 and will be budgeted in four fiscal years. The Alafia, Hillsborough River, Peace River and
the Withlacoochee River Basin Boards will each budget $9,563 annually for this project.
Additional Information
Southern highbush blueberry acreage and production has steadily increased in Florida during the last decade
(Williamson and Lyrene, 2005). A recent survey of the industry identified Highlands, Polk, Hillsborough and Lake
counties as areas of rapid growth (Williamson and Lyrene, 2000). In fact, Highlands, Polk and Hillsborough counties
ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively, in blueberry acreage in the state. This is in addition to current blueberry
production in Marion, Hernando, Pasco and Levy Counties. The following table of blueberry acres and water use
comes from the District's regulatory database. * Most individual blueberry operations are below the District's water use
permitting thresholds. The individual acres are not large, but the water use is intensive. Recent observations have
seen growers converting their existing citrus and strawberry acres to blueberries. Most of the acreage planted during
the last decade is grown under a production system known as "pine bark culture" (Williamson and Lyrene, 2000;
Williamson and Lyrene, 2005). Beds of pine bark ranging from 3 (single row beds) to 8 (double row beds) feet wide
and 6 to 8 inches deep are laid out in rows and plants are set directly in the bark rather than in the soil. Blueberry
plants grow rapidly in pine bark but their root systems are restricted to the pine bark layer with some penetration into
the underlying soil. An informal grower survey revealed that Florida blueberry growers irrigated once every 2 to 3 days
during the growing season and apply ½ to ¾ inch of water at each irrigation event. Frequent irrigation is needed
because pine bark beds dry out rapidly due their low water holding capacities and because roots are confined to the
pine bark layer. There is a general thought that the amounts of water applied during each irrigation event are in excess
of what is needed to irrigate the effective root zone. The project is investigating this hypothesis. In these experiments,
IFAS will compare plant growth and yield under "standard" and "reduced" irrigation rates, and determine the total water
budget and crop coefficient of mature, bearing, southern highbush blueberry plants in Florida. Information from this
project will be provided to the growers to help them reduce water use and to the District for use in planning,
conservation and water use permitting. In addition, results from this project will help reduce fertilizer leaching, thus
helping to improve water quality. The project will also allow for more soil storage thus reduce potential off site flooding
issues.
020 - Peace River Basin 102