Page 24 - Vol.39-No.9 issue

IRRIGATION

THE TORO COMPANY WINS 2023

WATERSENSE® EXCELLENCE AWARD

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) than 2,100 manufacturers, builders, re- WaterSense recognized The Toro Com-
recently honored The Toro Company with tailers, utilities, government and nonprofit pany for supporting dozens of training and
a 2023 WaterSense® Excellence Award organizations partner with WaterSense to community education events in 2022 and
for e!orts in promoting the WaterSense promote water-e#cient products, homes promoting WaterSense to thousands of
program and water e#ciency through its and programs. industry professionals. In addition, The Toro
products, education and outreach. The “With extreme weather a!ecting water Company continued water e#ciency re-
Toro Company was one of 25 Excellence supplies and quality, saving this precious search e!orts with Texas A&M University
Award winners, and this marked the ninth resource is more important than ever,” said and University of Minnesota’s Turfgrass
consecutive year that TTC received a Wa- Veronica Blette, Chief, WaterSense Branch. Research, Outreach and Education Center.
terSense Excellence Award. “The 2023 award winners helped Ameri- “The advancement of water-saving
cans look to WaterSense and save not just technologies and education is an integral
water, but the energy required to heat and part of our purpose, and we are honored
treat it, as well as reduce greenhouse gas to have our e!orts recognized,” said Edric
emissions associated with energy use.” Funk, group vice president, golf, grounds
Since 2006, over 40,000 certified and irrigation at The Toro Company. “We
water-e#cient plumbing and irrigation congratulate every water agency, munic-
products have helped consumers and ipality and business that has been recog-
businesses save 7.5 trillion gallons of nized for their e!orts and look forward
water; the amount of energy needed to to continued collaboration with EPA Wa-
pump, treat and heat water by 880 billion terSense.”
WaterSense, a voluntary partnership kilowatt hours; and $171 billion in water WaterSense seeks to protect the future
program sponsored by EPA, is both a label and energy bills. These savings also helped of our nation's water supply by o!ering
for water-e#cient products, programs and prevent 337 million metric tons of green- consumers and businesses simple ways to
homes, and a resource for helping con- house gas emissions, which is equivalent use less water with water-e#cient prod-
sumers learn ways to save water. More to planting 5.6 billion trees. ucts, homes, and services.
Circle 31 on enquiry card
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN

IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

Aarthi Janakiraman, Research Director activities and drought-prone areas, leading Growing pressure in Europe regarding
at TechVision, Frost & Sullivan, explores to crop failure and economic losses. Due water conservation, policies underlining
technological advances in irrigation tech- to the increasing changes in weather pat- sustainable water practices in agricultural
niques that aid in preserving crop yield and terns, it’s imperative to adopt agricultural activities, and water conservation strate-
quality in drought-prone areas practices that can withstand temperature, gies have led to many agricultural sector
water, and cold changes, to name a few. research and innovation activities, especial-
Climate change has become a cause of
concern across various geographies and Irrigation techniques in ly related to water use for perennial crops,
demographics. It has resulted in chang- the foremost being irrigation techniques.
es in ecological patterns, an extension of agriculture Within perennials, it’s a well-known fact
arid zones, the depletion of glaciers, and E!ective irrigation techniques enable that wine-producing regions in Europe
a temperature rise, to name a few. These farmers to mitigate some of the challenges and the U.S. have witnessed incidences
changes have a far-reaching impact on associated with water scarcity, especially of drought that have a!ected grape pro-
various key sectors, one being agriculture. for perennial crops and drought-prone re- duction and quality, leading to implement-
The e!ect of climate change and global gions. Several factors influence the choice ing water management strategies that can
warming has resulted in shi"s in the soil of the irrigation method, ranging from the ensure quality, yield and preserve the vines.
ecosystem, including the biome, and a de- type of soil, crop, water availability, and Irrigation techniques have played a vital
crease in water resources, amongst others, access to other resources. role in the same. European vine growers
leading to changes in the soil-water nexus; are actively adopting various emerging ir-
this has adversely a!ected crop quality, rigation technologies, with drip irrigation
requiring higher amounts of external in- as one of the widely used ones.
tervention such as fertilisers and other Drip irrigation is well-
crop aids. established
This further creates soil ecosystem
imbalance, leading to a vicious cycle. The Drip irrigation has come a long way
situation is more prominent in regions de- since its introduction in Israel during the
pendent on seasonal rainfall for agricultural 1950s and 1960s. Drip irrigation is well
established, mainly because it can help uni-
22 Vol. 39 No. 9