How Much Water To Grow One Almond

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Growing Almonds With Little Water. Is it Possible?

Oct 17, 2018

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Almonds hang from a branch at an almond orchard on Apr 24, 2015 in Firebaugh, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Much was written during California'due south recent five-year drought nigh the amount of water used by almonds. The nuts have go California'south almost lucrative agricultural commodity, and a major export product.

Long before concerns about water employ by almond growers emerged, the industry initiated measures to conserve h2o past embracing microirrigation systems. Information technology has also become a leader in efforts such as recharging groundwater by flooding almond orchards during winter storms.

The h2o required to grow almonds too grows more than nuts. Other materials from the plant – from the tree itself to the nut hull – are used in a variety of products, with initiatives underway to find new uses for these materials.

To explain these initiatives further, H2o Deeply recently interviewed Richard Waycott, president andCEO of the Almond Lath of California.

H2o Securely: The almond industry has invested millions of dollars in water efficiency measures. What has this yielded so far and what more than are you hoping to learn?

Richard Waycott: Many almond growers have farmed in California for generations, and recognize that water is the lifeblood of California and a key component of responsible farming, essential to growing food. The California almond community began investing in water research in 1982 to make up one's mind if a then-new irrigation method – microirrigation – could work in almond orchards without negatively impacting yields. Tested via long-term studies beyond the growing region, the results were positive and, by targeting water applications directly to the trees' roots instead of uniformly across the field, farmers conserved h2o and created other operational efficiencies.

This research has resulted in the wide adoption of microirrigation, which today is used by nearly fourscore percent of almond farms. This is near double the California state average of 42 percent of farms using microirrigation. This has helped almond farmers reduce the corporeality of water information technology takes to grow a pound of almonds past 33 percent over the past twenty years.

While almond farmers take made great strides in the area of irrigation efficiency, there's more we can do and are doing. The Almond Irrigation Improvement Continuum, created by irrigation experts, is a roadmap for California almond farmers to accelerate adoption of research-based, water-efficient practices and technology. The continuum provides research-based guidance to better any farmer's irrigation efficiency by focusing on five key areas: calculating orchard water requirements, measuring applied water, and monitoring irrigation system performance, soil moisture and plant water status.

Additionally, to help farmers minimize waste and grow more crop per drop, the Almond Board has developed a complimentary irrigation scheduling tool. Using data from their farms virtually orchard and irrigation system setup, along with local weather condition data and other inputs, the calculator generates irrigation schedules including the optimal amount and timing of irrigation. Based on research, this interactive determination-support tool is designed to streamline on-subcontract decision-making and minimize environmental impacts.

Water Deeply: What role is the almond industry playing in advancing groundwater recharge?

Waycott: California's aquifers are collectively the state'southward largest h2o storage arrangement and are used statewide for drinking water and farming. Overreliance on groundwater means that many of the land's aquifers are nether pressure. To back up water sustainability in California, almond farmers are exploring how California's almond orchards can be leveraged to replenish surreptitious aquifers. On-subcontract groundwater recharge applies excess wintertime floodwater to fallow orchards, allowing information technology to seep down and restore groundwater.

Water recharged back into those aquifers benefits all Californians, non just farmers. This research is critical to creating more than sustainable water resources in California and core to the California almond customs's commitment to continuous improvement.

Water Deeply: By your calculations, how much h2o does it have to grow an almond? And in what other means is an almond used, besides for the nut itself?

Waycott: All food takes water to abound and the water needed to grow an almond tree is similar to that of other fruit and nut trees in California.

The water used to grow an almond really grows four products: The kernel you lot consume, which is protected by a hull and a shell, too every bit the tree. The trees store carbon and are transformed into electricity at the end of their lives; the shells become livestock bedding; and the hulls are nutritious dairy feed, reducing the water needed to grow other feed crops.

Almond farmers are committed to finding even more innovative new uses of almond coproducts that tin can support California in creating a 18-carat bioeconomy where every byproduct is an input for another valuable production. Electric current inquiry is exploring using almond hull and beat components as growing medium for mushroom tillage, producing feed sources for poultry, plastic additives for strength and colour, soil amendments for almonds and other crops, supplemental winter nutrient sources for honey bees, and even for brewing beer.

Water Deeply: Acreage of almonds planted in California has increased in contempo years, with some percentage of this replacing annual crops. Is there a signal at which, from a market or h2o standpoint, there's an unsustainable number of acres?

Waycott: Over the past several years, California as a whole has seen increased plantings of perennial crops – things like fruit trees, nuts and vines – which generally have higher associated values than annual crops. While some have suggested that the shift toward higher-value perennial crops has led to an increase in agronomical h2o use, co-ordinate to the California Department of Water Resources the full amount of agricultural water has held steady since 2000 and actually declined over a longer catamenia.

When yous take a await at our ingather specifically, almonds grow on 17 pct of California's irrigated farmland, simply they utilize only xi percent of the water California devotes to growing nutrient.

California is the nearly efficient identify to grow almonds on the planet. In addition to its ideal Mediterranean climate – essential to growing almonds – California'due south Key Valley is domicile to rich soils, natural resources and infrastructure, and innovative research and technology.

Economically, California grows more than 80 per centum of the world's almond supply, which creates a comparative advantage, creating value not just for farmers but for Californians equally a whole. According to the California Agronomical Issues Center, the California almond community delivers pregnant economic value to the state, supporting 104,000 jobs across California and contributing $11 billion to California'sGDP.

This article originally appeared on Water Deeply , and you can find it here . For important news about the California drought, y'all can sign up to the Water Securely email list.