Public Domain Picture: 20100329-NRCS-JMV-0003

An Arrowhead Farms tractor pulls a contractor's specialized equipment that digs twin furrows 10 inches deep and buries a drip irrigation tube between rows of pecan trees, during the installation of a micro irrigation system at Arrowhead Farms in Crystal City, TX, on Tuesday, March 29, 2010. Up until now, flood irrigation has been used and it results in a high degree of weed growth throughout the grounds. Underground irrigation will starve the topsoil and dramatically retard weed growth and the need for labor and cost of herbicides. In all, about 25,000 feet of drip tubing was used. 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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May 2, 2014