Citrus Cold Weather Protection and Irrigation Scheduling Tools Using Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN) Data

With a crop value of $597 million in 2006/07, citrus is the most important horticultural crop grown in Florida. The 2.4 million tons of annual citrus production in Florida accounts for approximately 75 and 20% of United States and world citrus production, respectively. Agricultural water use has become a greater concern for citrus production in Florida due to increasing competition between agricultural, commercial, and residential use of limited water supplies. Tools have been developed for the FAWN that will assist citrus growers in improving frost protection and irrigation scheduling while saving water. These tools are the Cold Protection Toolkit and the Citrus Microsprinkler Irrigation Scheduler. Use of these tools, potential benefits to citrus growers and water savings are described below.

The link address is: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss509