Irrigation is the single most expensive component of agricultural production in Kern County. Water costs range from $40 to $190 per ac/ft depending on irrigation district and elevation. Water use for crops varies from 1.5 ac-ft/ac for winter grain to more than 4 ac-ft/ac for alfalfa. Average irrigated crop land is about 800,000 acres requiring 2 to 2.3 million ac-ft of water per year. Two areas of focus are: 1. Irrigation system management, which includes scheduling, optimal system design and maintenance, and 2. salinity/fertility management, which includes reclaiming and improving soil structure and nutrient availability.
Examples of Research and Teaching Projects:
Cover crops have improved water use and infiltration rate on sealing soils.
Improved irrigation scheduling on sealing soils has resulted in yield increases of 100 to 200% over the state average for blackeye peas.
Irrigation scheduling programs and crop water use data have been developed for most Kern County crops.
Irrigation systems have been compared, including sprinkler vs. drip irrigation in potatoes, narrow vs. standard lateral spacings in sprinkler irrigated carrots, and drip vs. micro sprinklers in pistachios.
Reuse of marginally saline drain water in pistachios for irrigation has been shown feasible.
Agronomy programs provide information on varieties, production practices, crop rotation, fertility, and pest management for common field crops.
The impact of soil amendments including synthetic fertilizers, biosolids and various classes of compost are tested to determine their short- and long-term benefits to soil structure, disease development and environmental impacts. In addition, Kern County participates in many valley-wide nutrient studies.