09/09/05 Drip irrigation and potatoes

University of Idaho potato cropping systems specialist Bryan Hopkins says its time for Idaho producers to start learning how to grow potatoes using drip irrigation. Drip is something growers definitely have to manage and it's different than what they're doing now. HOPKINS "It's a common way of irrigating in Israel, California, Arizona, in places where water is a premium." It has been that in Idaho for the past five years, thanks in part to the drought. Hopkins found that drip irrigation in his research plots did two things. HOPKINS "I used ten to 15 percent less water to grow a better crop." The drip irrigation yields were ten percent higher even with the water savings. In water application he says it offers 90 to 95 percent uniformity. Drip irrigation also limits germination of weed seeds between rows and potentially cuts losses from diseases like late blight and early blight that flourish on wet leaves. Hopkins hopes he isn`t experimenting alone because he's asking growers to set aside some of their acreage and really work with a drip irrigation system, getting the kinks out now for what he believes may be the future in Idaho. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott