Drought risk management for irrigated potato production in Idaho

King, B. and Stark, J. and Love, S. and McIntosh, C. (2006) Drought risk management for irrigated potato production in Idaho. pp. 321-330. In: Proceedings of the U.S. Society for Irrigation and Drainage Professionals Water Management Conference. Ground Water and Surface Water Under Stress: Competition, Interaction, Solutions. USA-ID-Boise, 2006/10/25-28.

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Abstract

Streamflow in much of the western United States originates as snowfall that has
accumulated in the mountains during the winter and early spring. During periods
of drought, the water supply for a large portion of irrigated cropland in Idaho is at
risk of depletion before the growing season ends. In the case of irrigated potato
production, early depletion or limited availability of irrigation water can result in
substantial financial loss to a producer due to reduced yield and quality and
difficulty in harvesting, handling and storing the raw product. Basin wide
estimates of available water supply are provided by Federal and State agencies,
however, a given producer's irrigation water supply can be vastly different due to
water rights based on the Doctrine of Prior Appropriation, which allocates water
according to a priority date. To minimize financial risk under drought conditions,
potato producers need realistic estimates of available water supply well in
advance of the growing season and production management guidelines for
economical potato production under limited water supply. To address this need, a
methodology for estimating the probability of a water supply shortage that
incorporates water right based allocation was developed to assist producers with
drought risk management planning. Additionally, the drought tolerance of six
commercial potato varieties was evaluated for four widely varying seasonal
drought management patterns simulated by irrigation management. The
methodology developed to estimate probability of a water shortage on an
irrigation district basis is described and results of an economic risk analysis for
the six potato varieties subjected to the four drought management patterns is
presented. The results show that the probability of a water shortage can vary
widely among irrigation districts due to differences in water priority dates. The
results of the economic risk analysis show that potato variety selection and
irrigation management strategy can substantially reduce economic loss in potato
production systems during drought.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
NWISRL Publication Number:	1195
Subjects:	Irrigated crops > Potato Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:55
Last Modified:	01 Nov 2016 15:27
Item ID:	855
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/855