Public Domain Picture: 20100406-NRCS-JMV-0006

Arrowhead Farms of Zavala County, TX, now draws water from either the Nueces River (on other side of nearby trees) or deep water wells (brown pipes), either of which are filtered through sand tanks and pumped to the tree roots on Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Sediment free water is essential because, it will flow through various automated pressure and flow control valves, pipes, tubing and finally out emitters that drip water out of tiny holes at a rate of 1 gallon/hr. Each tree has several emitters under its drip line and over a typical 24 hour watering period will get just the right amount of water to survive Texas temperatures as best as possible. The farm has been owned by Mr. Akram Mohammad, a pecan farmer since 2005. The 719-acre farm with 10,000 trees, features some orchards with underground micro irrigation system that feeds water to the roots of 4,380 pecan trees on 146 acres. Mr. Mohammad said, “USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) was essential to my business and trees surviving the recent exceptional drought. The trees were stress free thanks to underground micro-irrigation. This is essential to the future growth of Texas agriculture and good for America.” U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Environmental Quality Initiative Program (EQIP) awarded Mr. Mohammad a $130,000 grant in 2008. He provided $26,000 for the balance of the $156,000 total cost to install a 146-acre underground micro-irrigation for 4,380 trees. USDA Photo by J. M. Villarreal.

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April 27, 2014