Installation of drip tape in row middles for cover crops

Vineyard cover crop research, Fabian Garcia ASC, Las Cruces 

posted by Jacqueline Cormier, PhD graduate student, NMSU Viticulture

 At the Fabian Garcia Science Center, the cover crop trial is well on its way. The drip tape was installed into the Malbec block on September 27, 2019. This drip tape will enable us to be more precise with our watering than our previous flood set up. Being on drip we can now water the south and north sides of the field independently from one another. This is important because like many more permanent and commercial sites, our field is no longer perfectly level. The grape vines themselves are also on drip irrigation, thus, we can efficiently manage our water use.

One of the cover crops we are working with this year is ‘Ameristand 803T’ alfalfa which was seeded on October 3, 2019 and is already up in our plots. We planted the alfalfa with a rhizobium inoculant to give it a good head start.

    Fabian Garcia field crew hold drip tape in place as it is installed into the Malbec vineyard block.
Photo credit Fausto Baranzini Rogel.