2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Developing alternative water resources for irrigation of specialty crops is a critical need. Many growers have current access to adequate water supplies for irrigation, but in the future as urban populations grow, specialty crop producers may need to use lower quality water sources to remain in business. The Clean WateR³ Research and Extension Team has developed and are working to develop technologies and tools growers can use to reduce water and agrichemical inputs on-farm, to remediate agrichemical and plant pathogen contaminants from production runoff with the ultimate goal of increasing adoption of water recycling practices at specialty crop facilities. Our team interviewed producers to determine perceived barriers to change in practice, to understand current use patterns, and to develop effective outreach technologies by which research-based information is delivered to best affect propensity for adoption. The tools developed are grounded in both economic and biological efficacy data. Our research has helped to visualize how water moves through soilless substrates, which in turn influences both how water runs off production areas and the mass of agrichemicals and phytopathogens carried in that water that need to be treated prior to water reuse. We have also developed and refined production site risk assessment evaluation tool to help growers determine the critical control points for minimizing phytopathogen impact on crop production. Gaining an understanding of the system as a whole helps to better manage individual system components and select specific components for modification that will have the greatest influence on enhancing system wide water- and resource-use efficiency.