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Almond Facts
MAY | JUNE 2016
Third-generation Fresno County almond grower
and
Blue Diamond
grower-owner George
Goshgarian Jr. is investing time and technology
to better understand the irrigation needs of his
almond orchard and to time irrigation sets and
rates using data from real-time monitoring of
soil, climate conditions and tree use.
Goshgarian, who farms 400 acres of permanent crops
with his father,
Blue Diamond
Director from District 8
George Goshgarian Sr., this year installed a system
that combines Watermark soil moisture sensors, on-site
weather stations and sap flow sensors to base his irrigation
decisions on tree need and use.
“With this technology I think we can really hone in
on what the trees need rather than rely on theoretical
situations,” Goshgarian said.
Goshgarian’s transformation on his 400 acres of almonds
and other trees and vines illustrates how almond growers can
move up the Almond Irrigation Improvement Continuum.
The continuum is part of the Accelerated
Innovation Management Program (AIM),
a strategic effort by the Almond Board of
California (ABC) to make growers more
efficient and sustainable as they address
the challenges of the next century.
Guidance on how almond growers
can incorporate new technologies and
strategies to move up the Irrigation Continuum has been
aggregated at the Almond Board’s website under the
Irrigation Continuum tab.
ABC’s Gabriele Ludwig, Director of Environmental Affairs,
said at the continuum’s Irrigation 1.0 level all growers
should be incorporating practices in each of five key areas:
• Evaluating soil moisture;
• Evaluating plant water status;
• Determining applied water;
• Estimating orchard water requirements based
on evapotranspiration rates; and
• Assessing irrigation system performance
and efficiency.
While Goshgarian for several years has relied on CIMIS
ET data, tensiometers and visual assessment to generally
understand irrigation needs in his orchard, a more refined
system that provides regular, real-time data to fine-tune
adjustments in his irrigation scheduling moves him into a
higher level along the continuum, Ludwig said.
Gypsum Blocks
The gypsum block system measures soil moisture in
one-foot increments throughout the soil profile. Weather
stations are located within each 40-acre block to provide
site-specific climate information. Data is collected and
generated in real time so Goshgarian can pull up current
information on his computer to understand what is
happening in the orchard at any given time.
“I monitor the soil moisture in order to stay ahead of my
irrigation curves. When trees start waking up you can see
it drying out because roots are pulling water out of the first
couple feet of the profile,” Goshgarian Jr. said.
He is working to develop a system that integrates that
information with data about temperature, wind speed
and solar radiation to get a full picture of water needs in
the orchard. While sap flow sensors are not as refined for
almonds as is the measurement of stem water potential
with pressure chambers, he hopes the sensors will be an
Taking the Guesswork
Out of Irrigation
George Goshgarian Jr.,
a member of the Almond
Board’s Environmental
Committee, is the third
generation to farm the
Fresno County property
along with his father
George Sr., also an active
member of the ABC’s
Board of Directors and
Blue Diamond
Board
Director from District 8.
