Managing almond trees with less water

Irrigators faced with reduced water allocations need to make a range of decisions including:

• the purchase of additional water (at a likely elevated value);
• prioritise water onto preferred patches;
• giving other patches reduced volumes with consequent reductions in production;
• abandoning poorly performing patches, and
• possibly removing plantings of lowest priority and bringing forward redevelopment plans.

The success of a drought irrigation strategy must consider the impacts in both the drought season and subsequent seasons.

This factsheet covers options for managing your almond trees with a reduced water allocation as well as describing the experience of an almond grower near Mildura who faced limited water availability in the 2007/08 season.

Topics covered include:

• water requirements
• regulated deficit irrigation (RDI)
• sustained deficit irrigation (SDI)
• irrigation strategy
• water saving practices (immediate and longer-term)
• water budget planning

Download:

• Managing almond trees with less water in the Mallee (PDF - 623.0 KB)
• Managing almond trees with less water in the Mallee – accessible (WORD - 557.0 KB)