A vineyard irrigation short course will be offered online by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service viticulture and enology professors on three consecutive Fridays starting Jan. 15.
The course will be from 1:30-4 p.m. Jan. 15, Jan. 22 and Jan. 29.
Guy Fipps, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension state irrigation specialist, and Charles Swanson, AgriLife Extension irrigation specialist, both in Bryan-College Station, will cover water quality, irrigation principles and technology, evapotranspiration concepts and chemigation.
Registration is available online. The cost is $30 per session or $75 for all three sessions. Course content will be:
- Jan. 15 – Vineyard Drip Irrigation Systems — Water quality; irrigation hydraulic principles; types of drip products and design considerations for vineyard irrigation systems.
- Jan. 22 – Managing Drip Irrigation for Vineyards – Soil moisture sensor technologies; installation and management of soil moisture sensors; evapotranspiration concepts and calculating irrigation runtime.
- Jan. 29 – Chemigation for Vineyard Drip Irrigation Systems – Rules and regulations for chemigation; required equipment and types of injectors; calibration of equipment and calculating injection rates.
Three general Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units will be available with one per session. Attendees who complete all three sessions will also receive a Vineyard Irrigation Proficiency Certificate from the Texas A&M School of Irrigation.
Michael Cook, AgriLife Extension viticulture program specialist, Denton, said irrigation and chemigation are important aspects of wine grape production around the state and that the program covers a wide range of information growers can apply to their operations.
“Growers will be equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to plan for, install and maintain an irrigation system in a vineyard,” he said. “Also, we will discuss the importance of chemigation as well as give growers the tools needed to schedule irrigation.”
For more information, contact Swanson atclswanson@tamu.edu or Pierre Helwi, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension viticulture specialist, Lubbock, at pierre.helwi@ag.tamu.edu.
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