A good soil sensor must help you manage the soil moisture and soil salinity in your fields. These factors are important not only in reducing the costs of water and fertilizer but also in increasing the quantity and ensuring the quality of the crop.
The aspect about impacting the quality of the crop is not as well known. But to see this, consider this article. Efficiently managing irrigation helps prevent issues impacting quality such as undesirable walnut pellicle color, shrivel, thin shell, and peewee nuts. And it is very important for the grower to prevent such issues if they want to get a high price for their crop.
In this article, Bruce Lampinen, integrated orchard management walnut and almond specialist at University of California, Davis points out that irrigation issues were one of the important factors resulting in color issues in the 2017 harvest of walnuts. Bruce also recommends against excessively large irrigation prior to harvest since this can negatively impact the quality of the crop.
The variety of walnut you are growing also determines the impact of inefficient irrigation practices. For example, the article points out that Chandler is generally less sensitive to wet conditions than Howard or Tulare varieties.
GroGuru’s certified soil sensors are geared towards making life easier for you by providing you with the right recommendations to increase your bottom line. Reach out to us to see how we can help.