ABSTRACT:
Land area used for citrus (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) production in Southwest Florida has expanded. The location of this expansion is a concern of water use and environmental regulatory agencies. Citrus requires well-drained conditions for optimum growth, but the soils in the region are primarily poorly to very poorly drained with seasonal high water tables. Drainability is the major factor which determines soil suitability for citrus production. The objectives of this study were to use the DRAINMOD soil water management/drainage model to 1) simulate water table behavior for artificially-drained flatwoods, slough, and de-pressional soils, 2) determine differences in soil drainability using an index calculated by DRAINMOD, 3) categorize soils as to suitability for citrus production, and 4) evaluate the accuracy of the method. Mean SEW30 of depressional soils was higher (indicating lower drainability) than flatwoods or slough soils. Empirical water table data from citrus groves agreed with this result. Mean SEW30 varied most for the slough soils. Soil suitability for citrus was ranked in the order flat-woods > sloughs > depressions. Comparison to current citrus grove locations showed that groves exist on the lands rated high to intermediate in drainability.
Footnotes
T. A. Obreza is an assistant professor, University of Florida, Southwest Florida Research & Education Center, Immokalee, FL; H. Yamataki is a resource soil scientist, L1SDA SCS, Ft. Myers, FL; L. G Pearlstine is an assistant, systems ecology, Department of Wildlife & Range Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Florida Agric. Exp. Sin. Journal Series No. R-01875.
- Copyright 1993 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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