Over the past year when we give a tour at KB Farms, the
first question we are asked is, “what about water?” You can’t open the paper
without an article about the California drought and the future of water in the
state. Flower growers like the rest of agriculture depends on water,
therefore, we are very concerned about its quality and quantity now and in the
future. We are taking major steps to reduce our water usage without
compromising quality.
DRIP IRRIGATION:
Kitayama Brothers instituted the most basic method of water
savings over 15 years ago when we converted all our crops to drip irrigation
away from sprinklers or nozzle spray irrigation.
WATER RECYCLING SYSTEM:
This year Kitayama Brothers completed our gerbera water recycling system.
The system is beneficial for two reasons; one is to use the recycled water but also to use the recycled fertilizer.
We collect the water from the hydroponic gerbera system with white PVC pipe collectors.
The recycled water is then sent to collecting tanks where
the water and fertilizer are filtered and reused on our field crops.
Here
is a picture of the recycle tanks and recycle system next to a new collection
pond for greenhouse roof runoff.
TENSIOMETERS:
My sister-in-law, Carol Kitayama graduated in horticulture
and does projects for KB. One of her current projects is to experiment
with tensiometers to measure our water usage versus the actual water needs of
the plant. Conventional wisdom was that over-watering was better than
under-watering especially in our sandy soil. However, with data from the
tensiometers we believe we could cut our water use by 10-20%.
Tensiometers are commonly used in the fields with produce; we believe KB is the
first to experiment with tensiometers in the greenhouse.
Next year is supposed to be an El Nino year in California
which could result in a lot of rain. That would be great, but that won’t
solve our long term problem. Just like every other problem in life, it
will require thinking and hard work to overcome this threat.
~ RHK
