Cover Cropped Almond Orchards Frost Risks

Project PI: Kosana Suvočarev

Co-PIs: Amelie Gaudin, Samuel Sandoval, Jon Lundgreen, Yufang Jin, Mark Battany, Kyaw Tha Paw U

Student: Ian McDonald

Funding source: Project Apis m.

Duration: August 2022, until August 2025

Project description

Due to numerous environmental benefits of cover crops, we designed the experiment at 6 different orchards to evaluate the differences in winter/spring temperatures when frost risks are highest for almond blooming. Our experimental design includes sites with eddy covariance towers and additional neighboring orchards with bare soils. While past recommendations are to control the vegetation height in orchards and vineyard alleys to avoid frost damage, we are studying the effects of cover crops with irrigation for frost protection. Our hypothesis is that cover crops can help enhance the frost protection due to its roughness when irrigation is used as a main measure.

Project goals

1) evaluate impacts of cover crops on orchard temperatures with measurements at the height of the bearing branches, 2) develop irrigation recommendations for frost protection for cover crop almond management

Measurements:

Adding T/RH at two heights within the tree crowns (i.e. lowest bearing branches and the mid-canopy) and low cost pendant sensors (from Mark Battany’s resources) to the existing EC towers.

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