Canola and Camelina as New Crop Options for Cool-Season Production in California

Nicholas George, Joy Hollingsworth, Wan-Ru Yang, Stephen Kaffka
2017 Crop science  
693 RESEARCH C alifornia has one of the most valuable and diverse agricultural industries in the world (FAOSTAT, 2015; Tolomeo et al., 2012) , but annual cropping systems in the state are dominated by warm-season species that require irrigation. These systems tend to be high-value but water demanding, and face an increasing challenge from irrigation water supply constraints, which are expected to worsen with future climate change (Cayan et al., 2008; Cook et al., 2015; Jackson et al., 2012; Lee
more » ... and Six, 2010; Mann and Gleick, 2015; Parry et al., 2007) . Moreover, there has been a steady increase in the planted area of perennial crops such as almond [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb] in California (USDA NASS, 2015) , resulting in increasingly fixed demand for irrigation water for perennials, and correspondingly less irrigation water available for the production of annual warm-season species. Cool-season annual crops, that are produced during times of year with lower evapotranspiration demand, and that can make direct use of winter rainfall, provide less water-intensive cropping alternatives to maintain economic returns when water for irrigation is limited. In terms of planted area, cool-season cropping in California is dominated almost entirely by wheat (Tolomeo et al., 2012; USDA NASS, 2015) . In other regions of the world, canola and other Brassica oilseed species have been ABSTRACT Annual crop production in California is mostly dominated by warm-season species that require irrigation. Irrigation has been restricted due to drought and policy and may become more
doi:10.2135/cropsci2016.04.0208 fatcat:26i2g54lgbgm5lucatle4kgwgm