UF/IFAS - Vegetarian Newsletter

V e g e t a r i a n N e w s l e t t e r
UF/IFAS - Horticultural Sciences Department A Vegetable Crops Extension Publication
Vegetarian 04-03 March 2004

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Learning to Better Manage: The Florida Drip Irrigation School

The Florida Drip Irrigation School (FDIS) is a one-day educational program that focuses on drip irrigation maintenance and management for commercial vegetable growers. In the past, many educational efforts have sought to teach growers about fertilizer management, irrigation management, and soil fumigation separately. With the development of best management practices (BMPs) and promising methyl-bromide alternatives that may be injected through the drip system, the drip system is now the interface of fertilization, irrigation and fumigation practices. Hence, an integrated approach to teaching drip irrigation management is needed. The FDIS goal is to offer practical, up-to-date management information on all aspects of drip irrigation.

Since its inception in 2001, the FDIS has been offered throughout Florida at County Extension Offices and IFAS Research and Education Centers. FDIS has brought together Extension personnel, members of the ag supply industry, state agencies, and producers. Research and regulatory updates are taught through combinations of classroom lectures and hands-on demonstrations in the field (Table 1). While most popular topics include fertilizer management, irrigation management, system maintenance, and visualization of water movement, each program is tailored to address the specific needs of the vegetable growers of the area. Instructors’ background, experience and teaching styles are also diverse (Table 2). Attendance has been high and ranged from 23 to 78 (55 average) for the eight FDIS programs offered between 2001 and 2003.

FDIS attendees are provided with supporting educational materials (EDIS publication, brochures, and copies of PowerPoint presentations). Proceedings of the FDIS were published in 2002 by Citrus & Vegetable Magazine and are available on-line at http://www.citrusandvegetable.com/home/2002_OctIrrigation.html . Electronic copies of Power Point Presentations are available to IFAS personnel only at a password-protected section of the North Florida Research and Education Center-Suwannee Valley web site accessible at http://nfrec-sv.ifas.ufl.edu.

Together with CEU and CCA credits, FDIS participants receive a certificate of program completion. Knowledge increase for each participant is measured by comparing participants’ score increase in identical pre-training and post training tests. At the beginning of the day, participants are asked to answer anonymously and in writing a set of 10 to 20 questions that cover key topics of the program (pre-training test). Questions are usually provided by the instructors themselves. Participants are asked to answer the same questions again after the training. Based on these test results, knowledge gain ranged between +17% and +26% and averaged +21% (Table 2). Overall program ratings at the end of the day showed consistently that a large majority (95%) of the participants rated the FDIS as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’.

On-coming FDIS programs are regularly posted on the calendar of events of the ‘Vegetarian’ newsletter (http://www.hos.ufl.edu/vegetarian/vegetarian.htm) and the NFREC-SV web site.

Table 1. Location, date, program leaders and educational content of the Florida Drip Irrigation Schools (2001-2003).
Program location	Date program offered	Program leaders	Topics presented
Program location	Date program offered	Program leaders	Oral presentations	Hands-on field demonstrations
North Florida Research and Education Center-Suwannee Valley, Live Oak	11/13/01	Bob Hochmuth and Eric Simonne	Principles of nutrient management Uses of Cardy meters Drip system maintenance Troubleshooting common mistakes in irrigation design	Visualization of soil water movements with dye Delivery of chemicals through drip systems Drip system components
Miami-Dade county, Homestead	8/12/02	Teresa Olczyk and Eric Simonne	Scheduling drip irrigation Uses of Cardy meters Soil moisture measurement Drip system design and maintenance Troubleshooting common mistakes in irrigation design New farm bill	Visualization of soil water movements with dye Mobile irrigation lab Delivery of chemicals through drip systems Drip system components Soil moisture measurement
Gulf Coast Research and Education Center - Dover	11/13/02	John Duval and Eric Simonne	Irrigation scheduling Fertilizer management Regulatory update	Visualization of soil water movements with dye Soil moisture measurement
North Florida Research and Education Center-Suwannee Valley, Live Oak	12/04/02	Bob Hochmuth and Eric Simonne	Role of the Suwannee River Partnership Drip irrigation in the BMP era Drip tape selection System maintenance Fumigation with drip irrigation	Visualization of soil water movements with dye Soil moisture sensors Developing a fertilization program
Indian River Research and Education Center, Ft. Pierce	3/13/03	Elizabeth Lamb, Eric Simonne, and Ed Skvarch	System design and maintenance Fertilizer management Cost share programs Grower’s experiences with drip Water quality conservation System troubleshooting	Visualization of soil water movements with dye Chemical updates Cardy meters System components
FACTS X, Lakeland	4/30/03	Eric Simonne	Fertilizer management in the BMP era Fumigation via drip irrigation Drip system automation System maintenance	N/A
Miami-Dade county, Homestead	8/21/03	Teresa Olczyk and Eric Simonne	Water conservation survey result BMP program Flood damage Mobile irrigation lab System maintenance System components Common mistakes in irrigation design EQIP program System automation	Visualization of soil water movements with dye Deliveries of chemicals
North Florida Research and Education Center-Suwannee Valley, Live Oak	12/03/03	Bob Hochmuth and Eric Simonne	Field testing of possible BMPS for watermelon Pannel discussion: drip irrigation and BMPs Remote control for drip systems	Visualization of soil water movements with dye Building a BMP plan Maintenance and chlorination

Table 2. Instructors’ background, attendance and knowledge gain of the Florida Drip Irrigation School (2001-2003).
Location	Date	Instructors				Attendance	Knowledge gain^z
Location	Date	IFAS County	IFAS Specialist	State agencies	Industry representative	Attendance	Knowledge gain^z
NFREC-SV	11/13/01	1	3	0	3	52	+17%
Miami-Dade county	8/12/02	1	4	2	3	78	+20%
GREC-Dover	11/13/02	0	3	1	3	32	+20%
NFREC-SV	12/04/02	1	4	0	2	65	n/a
IRREC	3/13/03	1	4	1	10	35	+22%
FACTS X, Lakeland	4/30/03	1	3	1	1	23	n/a
Miami-Dade county	8/21/03	1	3	1	5	75	+26%
NFREC-SV	12/03/03	1	3	2	3	35	n/a
^{z Based on pre-training and post-training test scores.}

(Eric Simonne and David Studstill, bio. sci., Horticultural Sciences Department - Vegetarian 04-03)