Effects of wetted soil volume on young pear trees

Abstract

Pear orchards in the Goulburn Valley, Australia, are being re-developed and expanded using better varieties and modern planting systems. Efficient irrigation systems, like drip, are an integral component of these new orchards. However, drip is rarely used in pear orchards in the region and many existing orchards use microjet irrigation systems. Soil wetting patterns from drip systems are much smaller than microjet systems and this may impact on the performance of young pear trees. A field experiment was established in 2012 to investigate the effects of wetted volume (imposed by the combination of irrigation system and irrigation frequency) on irrigation requirements, tree growth and water st..