Efficiency of irrigation of highbush blueberry in Poland

In the past few years, Poland has been growing into a leader in the cultivation of highbush blueberry in Europe and now occupies a very high 3rd place in world production, just behind the USA and Canada. The leading position on the European market, the growing demand for the fruit and the possibility of entering new markets present to Polish producers new opportunities and increase the number of new plantings. In the cultivation of blueberry, irrigation is a factor determining the size and quality of the crop, as the blueberry plant, due to its shallow root system, requires adequate moisture and permeability in the topsoil, generally throughout the entire growing period. The results obtained in several studies confirm the high effectiveness of blueberry irrigation, particularly on plantations at their full fruiting potential. The rise in yield achieved through the use of irrigation averaged 95%, corresponding to 4.51 t·ha-1. The average irrigation efficiency coefficient was a 41.37 kg rise in fruit yield per 1 mm (10 m3) of water used for irrigation.