Greetings from Imperial County!

Welcome to new Community Education Specialist II - Climate Smart Agriculture

We are pleased to announce that Kristian Salgado has come on board as the new Community Education Specialist II (CES 2) serving the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Imperial County.  Kristian will provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers in the area of voluntary implementation of Climate Smart Agriculture that includes Statewide Water Efficiency Enhancement Program (SWEEP), Healthy Soils Program (HSP), and the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP). Climate Smart Agriculture is a California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and University of California Agriculture and Natural resources (UCANR) partnership program.

Kristian recently graduated from Humboldt State University with a Master of Arts in Social Science in the interdisciplinary Environment and Community Program. Her thesis research helped to identify neighborhood needs and possible solutions in Imperial County.  Her research methodology was grounded in Participatory Action Research (PAR) and community sciences. She feels passionate about the proper dissemination and development of knowledge that can help support communities like the Imperial Valley.

Kristian also has a BA degree from San Diego State University (SDSU) double majoring in Psychology and Environmental Studies. She is a recipient of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Student Sustainability Leadership Award, 2014, and the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) Best Practice Award- Student Energy Efficiency, 2013. She hopes to continue to use her Interdisciplinary Environment and Community backgrounds to conduct research that tackles the big social issues involving human-environmental interactions. She is interested in how humans interact with the environment and how nature influences human behavior and vice-versa, the well-being of humans, and the sustainability of the ecosystem.

As a Community Education Specialist for the UCCE Imperial County, Kristian Salgado looks forward to working closely with the farmers and ranchers of the Imperial County on a variety of climate smart agriculture topics that are most concerning to them. 

UCCE - IMPERIAL COUNTY RECEIVES GLOBAL COVERAGE FOR RESEARCH

US: Drip is the winner in irrigation trials in California sugar beets

Halfway through a two-year irrigation trial to test furrow irrigation versus drip on sugar beet in California’s Imperial Valley, Ali Montazar is looking for ways to boost yields with as little water consumption as possible in a region where furrow irrigation is the common practice.

Montazar, irrigation and water management advisor with the University of California department of agriculture and natural resources (UCANR) in Imperial County, is comparing and evaluating sugar beets for crop water use, sugar percentage, and yield, using both furrow and drip, since growers are now thinking of switching to subsurface drip.

Preliminary results from year one of the trial show that yield and crop water use are better with drip. Yield was 21 percent higher, and water use was a few points lower.

Montazar worked with a local grower in commercial fields, not on UCANR demo plots, so he had a large area to test the methods. For furrow, he is testing on 70 acres, and for drip on 22 acres.

“Most growers don’t have a reservoir, they take water from the canal,” he said. “So, the drip tape system costs $400 to $500 per acre on average for sugar beets.”

Actual crop water use was nearly 5 percent higher with drip than furrow, since transpiration was higher and water uptake by the plant was better. With furrow irrigation, growers end up using much more water, while drip requires about 1.2-acre feet less, which amounts to about 19 percent less water.

“That’s promising, because water saved can be sold to San Diego County which will be revenue for the growers here,” he said, referring to the water transfer agreement in place between Imperial Irrigation District and San Diego.

He spaced the furrows about 30 inches apart, which is common practice for sugar beets, and did the same with drip lines.

In terms of sugar percentage, there was little difference between the two methods of irrigation, but yield was 21 percent higher with drip, which translates to more extractable sugar for the grower. Drip led to bigger size beets and bigger roots.

In the drip fields, water use efficiency improved by 12 percent over furrow - this is a ratio of yield to crop water use. This showed him that more water can be conserved with drip lines.

Nitrogen use efficiency was also much better with drip, which will lower costs since about 25 to 30 percent less fertilizer can be applied with drip lines for beets.

“Furrow washes out more fertilizer with leaching, but drip can use a third less fertilizer. If a grower doesn’t know this, they will end up with a higher concentration of nitrogen, which is not good,” he pointed out.

In a nutshell, drip irrigation will save growers money on water and fertilizer use, offer higher yield and sugar content.

With that said, abut 98 percent of beets in Imperial Valley are under furrow irrigation. The grower who offered his land for the trial has begun to think about drip, being progressive. This trial will help show the sugar beet industry the promise of this technology, Montazar said.

In the next year, he will replicate the trial in a different field with the same grower and try to answer questions on how much water is needed, and specific yield figures.

Credit given to Padma Nagappan at Ag Alert & SugarOnline.com in the U.K.

Top administrators from UC ANR visit Imperial Valley

Two top administrators with the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources met with staff, stakeholders and county officials during a two-day visit to Imperial County recently.

Dr. Wendy Powers, associate vice president of the University of California ANR, and Dr. Mark Lagrimini, vice provost of Research and Extension, talked with staff from both UC Cooperative Extension and the Desert Research & Extension Center on a number of important issues.

Powers spoke about budget cuts and a delay in hiring advisors.  She said there is a need to collaborate with both public and private sector entities to increase funding for research and the hiring of new advisors.

They were also briefed about UCCE and DREC projects, accomplishments and barriers by the directors, county advisors and CES representatives.

Following that meeting, Powers and Lagrimini were given a tour of the campus and research fields, the FarmSmart gardens, water plant, feedlot, organic field, various research plots, water reservoir, laboratory and the olive field.

Powers and Lagrimini then met with the county Board of Supervisors, the county ag commissioner, and UCCE and DREC directors, and briefly talked about position partnerships.  They also met with farmers, ranchers, educators, county officials, and other county dignitaries and stakeholders over lunch.

Lagrimini gave a short presentation on "UCCE & the REC Systems: Looking Forward." He talked about the intense interest in growing industrial hemp and told the crowd that county director director Oli Bachie could be the first person in the low desert to conduct research on it.

Supervisor Ray Castillo discussed the ongoing partnership the county already has with UC Cooperative Extension.  Castillo said, "It is important to note that the state Legislature and the University of California recognized the important role the Imperial Valley would play in the agricultural economy of California back in 1912, when this facility was established.  They must have thought that the unique climate, soil and water resources of this region might be worthy of some future study - and it turns out they were onto something."

He added, "Two advisors at the University of California Cooperative Extension - Imperial County have applied for and received research grant funding totaling almost $400,000 to date, and we will continue to explore new ways to strengthen our partnership in the future."

After lunch, Irrigation and Water Management advisor Ali Montazar led neighborhood and growers' field tours.  They visited Vessey & Co. farms, Scott Howington's organic farms, and Ronnie Leimgruber's vegetable and alfalfa farms.  Leimgruber is a Climate smart farm awardee.

They also went to see some drainage canals and the Alamo River.

Power and Lagrimini were able to talk with the growers about the benefits of research and their challenges in irrigation and Climate Smart farming.  The growers provided detailed information on organic farming and harvest issues as well. They also remarked that UCCE and local growers works closely together to enhance productivity.

Livestock advisor Brooke Latack led the second day's tour.  Powers and Lagrimini toured a feedlot, El Toro's hay press, saw sheep grazing on local fields and a solar field in Calexico.  They drove by the border, several canals and adjacent farms.  They also saw the hydro turbine at drop 4, the All-American Canal along with Imperial Irrigation District infrastructures.

At the end of the tour, they met back at DREC for an informal lunch and the opportunity for staff to voice their concerns and suggestions.

Submitted by Trish McNeece

Desert Research and Education Center

Watch this short but very informative video about DREC.

⇒⇒⇒⇒    VIDEO

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