Studies on irrigation management for sustainable production of high-quality mandarin oranges

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The objective of this study is to establish irrigation specifications for production of the high-quality mandarin orange fruit in the Arida area, Wakayama. As a fundamental approach, the available soil moisture required to maintain appropriate water stress on the mandarin orange trees for growth of the high-quality fruit was estimated by interrelating among water potentials in leaf, soil, and atmosphere. Amount of irrigation water and irrigation interval appropriate for maintaining the suitable range of soil moisture ware estimated and compared with the actual irrigation results on the orchards where the oranges up to "high-quality" grade were harvested. As a result, the estimated daily irrigation amount was almost equal to the actual, but the estimated irrigation interval tended to be longer than the actual. Furthermore, the practical verification should be conducted more for establishing the stable production of high-quality oranges based on the growth condition on the study orchards.