Evaluation of Salinity Effects on Strawberry Production
Andre Biscaro,Irrigation and Water Resources Advisor
University of California Cooperative Extension, Ventura County
Michael Cahn, Tim Hartz, Steve GrattanUniversity of California Cooperative Extension and UC Davis
Water Management in Ventura County
▪ Crops of low tolerance to water stress and salts
▪ Water availability, quality and price
http://fcgma.org
2017-2018 Irrigation Water EC (dS/m)
<1 1.0-1.5 1.5-2.0 2.5-3.0 3.0-3.5 3.5-4.0 >4.0
Seawater Intrusion: Monterey County
Monterey County Water Resources Agency
Current guidelines were written decades ago
ECe ECw ECe ECw ECe ECw ECe ECw ECe ECw
Strawberry (Fragaria sp.) 1 0.7 1.3 0.9 1.8 1.2 2.5 1.7 4 2.7
0%
“maximum”3FIELD CROPS100% 90% 75% 50%
FAO 29 – Water Quality for Agriculturehttp://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0234e/T0234E03.htm#ch2.4.3Maas and Hoffman (1977) and Maas (1984)
*In gypsiferous soils, plants will tolerate about 2 dS/m higher soil salinity (ECe) than indicated but the water salinity (ECw) will remain the same as shown in this table
Material and Methods
✓ Oxnard, CA
✓ Oct 2017 – June 2018
✓ Cultivars: Fronteras and Monterey
✓ Loam soil, limited infiltration rate
✓ ET-based irrigation, with soil moisture sensors
✓ 60 drip irrigation events (2.0 AF)
✓ Two high flow tapes (0.67 gpm/100ft), 64” beds
✓ Split-plot design with RCB
✓ 54 harvesting events/days
✓ Soil and leaf blade samples (3 sampling dates)
✓ Marketable unmarketable yield, and berry weight
Treatments
dS/m ------------------------meq/L --------------------
Trt # Description EC SAR Ca Mg Na Cl SO4
1 Elev SAR 1.7 4.6 5.6 2.9 9.6 1.2 16.4
2 Elev SAR 2.1 6.6 5.5 2.8 13.6 3.1 18.5
3 Elev Cl 1.6 2.4 7.2 3.6 5.5 4.2 11.7
4 Elev Cl 1.9 2.4 8.7 4.8 6.3 7.7 11.7
5 Elev Cl 2.3 2.4 10.3 6.2 6.9 11.7 11.8
6 Medium SO4 1.8 2.7 5.5 7.9 7.0 2.1 18.3
7 High SO4 2.3 3.1 5.4 12.9 9.3 2.3 26.0
8 Control/United Water 1.3 2.5 5.5 2.8 5.1 1.2 11.9
dS/m --- meq/L ---
Trt # Description EC SAR Cl SO41 Elev SAR 1.7 4.6 1.2 16.42 Elev SAR 2.1 6.6 3.1 18.53 Elev Cl 1.6 2.4 4.2 11.74 Elev Cl 1.9 2.4 7.7 11.75 Elev Cl 2.3 2.4 11.7 11.86 Medium SO4 1.8 2.7 2.1 18.37 High SO4 2.3 3.1 2.3 26.08 Control/United Water 1.3 2.5 1.2 11.9
Treatments
Ventura County Avg 1.4 2.0 1.8 10.3Monterey County Avg 1.1 2.5 4.2 1.9
2 1 7 4 5 2 1 7 4 4 2 8 1 5 4 2 8 1
1 5 9 13
(plo
t num
bers
)
17
21
25
29
33
37
41
45
(plo
t num
bers
)
49
53
57
61
5 6 3 8 5 6 3 8 5 7 6 3 5 7 6 3
2 6 10
14
18
22
26
30
34
38
42
46
50
54
58
62
6 3 7 5 5 6 3 7 5 2 3 8 6 5 2 3 8 6
3 7 11
15
(plo
t num
bers
)
19
23
27
31
35
39
43
47
(plo
t num
bers
)
51
55
59
63
8 1 4 2 8 1 4 2 7 5 1 4 7 5 1 4
4 8 12
16
20
24
28
32
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64
Block 3 Block 4
Monterey Fronteras Monterey Fronteras
Block 1 Block 2
Fronteras Monterey Fronteras Monterey
Plots: 30ft long,one bed wide
0
0.4
0.8
1.2
1.6
2
Rainfall (acre-in)
Total rainfall: 5.8in
Results
Marketable Yield, Fronteras
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
Lbs/
acre
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Trt # Description lbs/acre Yield loss p-value
1 Elev SAR 70,626 4% 0.953
2 Elev SAR 68,795 6% 0.618
3 Elev Cl 68,850 6% 0.632
4 Elev Cl 64,075 13% 0.022
5 Elev Cl 61,160 17% 0.001
6 Medium SO4 69,689 5% 0.820
7 High SO4 65,756 10% 0.094
8 Control/United Water 73,393
Treatments
Marketable Yield, Monterey
-
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
Lbs/
acre
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Differences are not statistically significant
Trt # Description lbs/acre Yield loss p-value
1 elev SAR 51,040 4% 0.960
2 elev SAR 50,763 5% 0.928
3 elev Cl 51,725 3% 0.995
4 elev Cl 53,296 0% 1.000
5 elev Cl 50,812 5% 0.934
6 Medium SO4 52,797 1% 1.000
7 High SO4 51,700 3% 0.995
8 Control/United water 53,243
Treatments
Soil Analysis – Cl (meq/L)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
planting 1st 2nd 3rd
Sampling events
Control Cl 1 Cl 2 Cl 3dS/m meq/L
Treatment EC Cl
Control 1.3 1.2
Elev. Cl 1 1.6 4.2
Elev. Cl 2 1.9 7.7
Elev. Cl 3 2.3 11.7
Leaf Blade Analysis, Cl (%)
Fronteras
Monterey
dS/m meq/L
Treatment EC Cl
Control 1.3 1.2
Elev. Cl 1 1.6 4.2
Elev. Cl 2 1.9 7.7
Elev. Cl 3 2.3 11.7
60,000
64,000
68,000
72,000
76,000
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
lbs/
acre
Cl (meq/L)
Irrigation Water Cl vs Fronteras Yield
2017-2018 Irrigation Water Cl (meq/L)
<2 2-4 4-6 6-8 8-10 10-12 >12
60,000
64,000
68,000
72,000
76,000
1 1.4 1.8 2.2 2.6
Yiel
d (
lbs/
acre
)
EC (dS/m)
Irrigation Water EC vs Fronteras Yield(Elev. Cl Treatments)
y = -8710.7x + 84144R² = 0.6748
60,000
64,000
68,000
72,000
76,000
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
lbs/
acre
EC (dS/m)
Irrigation Water EC vs Fronteras Yield(All Treatments)
Irrigation Water SAR
60,000
65,000
70,000
75,000
2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
lbs/
acre
SAR
Irrigation Water SAR vs Fronteras Yield (All Treatments)
68,000
70,000
72,000
74,000
2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
lbs/
acre
SAR
Irrigation Water SAR vs Fronteras Yield (Elev. SAR Treatments)
Soil SAR
Irrigation Water SO4
60,000
64,000
68,000
72,000
76,000
10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0
lbs/
acre
SO4 (meq/L)
Irrigation Water SO4 vs Fronteras Yield (All Treatments)
64,000
66,000
68,000
70,000
72,000
74,000
10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0
lbs/
acre
SO4 (meq/L)
Irrigation Water SO4 vs Fronteras Yield (SO4 Treatments)
Other observations:
✓ Yield reduction happened before plant symptoms
✓ Plant symptoms not evident until late May
✓ Significant effects and trends of treatments on Fronteras yield started
to appear in April
✓ Cull rates of both Fronteras and Monterey weren’t affected by
treatments; no trends observed
✓ Small effect (up to 6%) of treatments on berry weight of Fronteras;
Monterey not affected
✓ June yield was highly affected by lygus bug outbreak
Summary
• Fronteras is highly susceptible to salinity, especially Cl
• Salinity effects on Monterey were not statistically significant
• Rainfall between 1st and 2nd sampling emphasize the effectiveness
of leaching with good water
• Don’t wait for plant symptoms: know your water and soil chemistry
• Research needed for other cultivars
Acknowledgements:
• Crisalida Berry Farms: David Murray, Matt Conroy, Raul Coronado, Ezikiel
Ramirez, Constancio Garcia, Luiz and the harvesting crew
• Tim Hartz, UC Davis Extension Specialist
• Michael Cahn, UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County
• Steve Grattan, UC Davis Extension Specialist
• Nathan Bradford and Kamille Garcia, UC Cooperative Extension, SRAs
• CDFA SCBGP
• Thelma Hansen Funds
Questions/comments?
Field Day, June 2018
