Introducing New Crops with High Water-Use Efficiency in the Middle East and North Africa

2008 ◽  
pp. 659-667
Author(s):  
Ahmed A. El Obeidy
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
North Africa ◽  
High Water ◽  
New Crops ◽  
Use Efficiency

Water-use efficiency on irrigated dairy farms in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales

2000 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 643 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Armstrong ◽  
J. E. Knee ◽  
P. T. Doyle ◽  
K. E. Pritchard ◽  
O. A. Gyles
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Milk Fat ◽  
Large Range ◽  
New South ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
High Water ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Use Efficiency

A survey of 170 randomly selected, irrigated, dairy farms in northern Victoria and 9 in southern New South Wales was conducted to examine and benchmark the key factors influencing water-use efficiency. Water-use efficiency was defined as the amount of milk (kg milk fat plus protein) produced from pasture per megalitre of water (irrigation plus effective rainfall). Information on water-use, milk production, supplementary feeding, farm size and type, pasture management, and irrigation layout and management was collected for each farm by personal interview for the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons. The farms were ranked in the order of water-use efficiency with the average farm compared with the highest and lowest 10% of farms. The range in water-use efficiency was 25–115 kg milk fat plus protein/ML, with the highest 10% averaging 94 kg/ML and the lowest 10% averaging 35 kg/ML. The large range in water-use efficiency indicated potential for substantial improvement on many farms. The high water-use efficiency farms, when compared with the low group: (i) produced a similar amount of milk from less water (387 v. 572 ML) (P<0.05), less land (48 v. 83 ha) (P< 0.05) and a similar number of cows (152 v. 143 cows); (ii) had higher estimated pasture consumption per hectare (11.5 v. 5.5 t DM/ha) (P<0.01) and per megalitre (1.0 v. 0.5 t DM/ML) (P<0.01); (iii) had higher stocking rates (3.2 v. 1.8 cows/ha) (P<0.01); (iv) used higher rates of nitrogen fertiliser (59 v. 18 kg N/ha.year) (P<0.05) and tended to use more phosphorus fertiliser (64 v. 34 kg P/ha.year) (P<0.10); (v) used similar levels of supplementary feed (872 v. 729 kg concentrates/cow); (vi) had higher milk production per cow (396 v. 277 kg fat plus protein) (P<0.05); and (vii) directed a higher proportion of the estimated energy consumed by cows into milk production (53 v. 46%) (P<0.05). The survey data confirmed that irrigated dairy farm systems are complex and variable. For example, the amount of feed brought in from outside the milking area varied from 0 to 74% of the estimated total energy used by a milking herd. There was a large range in the level of supplement input amongst the farms in the high water-use efficiency group, and in the low water-use efficiency group. This indicates that the management of the farming system has a greater impact on the efficiency of water-use on irrigated dairy farms, than the type of system. The data from the survey provide information for individual farms, a measure of the water-use efficiency of the industry, and an indication of the quality of regional land and water resources.

High-throughput phenotyping of an apple core collection: identification of genotypes with high water use efficiency

2017 ◽  
pp. 335-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Lopez ◽  
B. Pallas ◽  
S. Martinez ◽  
P.E. Lauri ◽  
J.L. Regnard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Core Collection ◽  
High Water ◽  
High Throughput Phenotyping ◽  
Use Efficiency

Mutual physiological genetic mechanism of plant high water use efficiency and nutrition use efficiency

2007 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Xing Cao ◽  
Zheng-Bin Zhang ◽  
Ping Xu ◽  
Li-Ye Chu ◽  
Hong-Bo Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
High Water ◽  
Genetic Mechanism ◽  
Use Efficiency

High crop productivity with high water use in winter and summer on the Liverpool Plains, eastern Australia

2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 303 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Young ◽  
P.-J. Derham ◽  
F. X. Dunin ◽  
A. L. Bernardi ◽  
S. Harden
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
High Water ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Transpiration Efficiency ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Outflow ◽  
Almost All

We report exceptional productivity and associated water-use efficiency across seasons for commercial crops of rainfed spring wheat and grain sorghum growing on stored soil water in Vertosols on the Liverpool Plains, central-eastern Australia. Agreement between the independently measured terms of evapotranspiration (ET) and the soil water balance (in-crop rainfall + δsoil water) was achieved within acceptable uncertainty across almost all measurement intervals, to provide a reliable dataset for the analysis of growth and water-use relationships without the confounding influence of water outflow either overland or within the soil. Post-anthesis intrinsic transpiration efficiency (kc ) values of 4.7 and 7.2 Pa for wheat and sorghum, respectively, and grain yields of 8 and 7 t/ha from ET of 450 and 442 mm (1.8 and 1.6 g/m2.mm), clearly demonstrate the levels of productivity and water-use efficiency possible for well-managed crops within an intensive and productive response cropping sequence. The Vertosols in which the crops were grown enabled rapid and apparently unconstrained delivery of significant quantities of subsoil water (34% and 51% of total available) after anthesis, which enabled a doubling of pre-anthesis standing biomass and harvest indices of almost 50%. Durum wheat planted into only 0.30 m of moist soil and enduring lower than average seasonal rainfall, yielded less biomass and grain (2.3 t/ha) with lower water-use efficiency (0.95 g/m2.mm) but larger transpiration efficiency, probably due to reduced stomatal conductance. We argue that crop planting in response to stored soil water and management for high water-use efficiency to achieve high levels of average productivity of crop sequences over time can have a significant effect on both increased productivity and enhanced hydrological stability across alluvial landscapes.

scholarly journals Introducing Cereus into an Arid Region as a New Fruit Crop

HortScience ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 753C-753
Author(s):  
Ahmed ElObeidy*
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
High Water ◽  
Arid Environment ◽  
Water Shortages ◽  
Drought Tolerant ◽  
Species Characteristics ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Healthy Growth ◽  
Very High

One of the major steps in responding to imminent water shortages in the Middle East is improving water use efficiency. Drought-resistant crops would be an effective technology to curb rising demands of water. Columnar Cactus species characteristics fit with most of the requirements of a drought tolerant crop with very high water-use efficiency. Cereus cacti have physiological and morphological methods of exploiting environments that would soon desiccate other plants. Four Cereus species were introduced into UAE deserts and could be ideal for establishing crop plantations in the arid environment. The introduced fruiting cacti are Cereus hexagonus, C. pachanoi, C. peruvianus, and C. validus. Plants were propagated by cuttings in the greenhouse. Cuttings developed roots within 2*&8211;4 weeks of planting. The propagated plants were acclimatized and transplanted into the field in the desert. C. peruvianus was the most promising in the new environment in terms of its high adaptability and healthy growth in the new environment. C. pachanoi grew very fast, averaging up to a fifteen centimeter a month of new growth. C. pachanoi was recommended as a rootstock for other species. C. validus could not survive the new environment.

Physiological and proteome analysis suggest critical roles for the photosynthetic system for high water-use efficiency under drought stress in Malus

Plant Science ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 236 ◽  
pp. 44-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shasha Zhou ◽  
Mingjun Li ◽  
Qingmei Guan ◽  
Fengli Liu ◽  
Sheng Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drought Stress ◽  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Proteome Analysis ◽  
High Water ◽  
Photosynthetic System ◽  
Use Efficiency

Water Use, Grain Yield, and Osmoregulation in Wheat

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 523 ◽  
Author(s):  
JM Morgan ◽  
AG Condon
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Harvest Index ◽  
High Water ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Water Deficits ◽  
Turgor Maintenance ◽  
Use Efficiency

Genotypic differences in turgor maintenance in wheat were shown to be associated with differences in grain yield in the field at both high and Low water deficits. High water deficits were produced by growing plants in field plots using water stored in the soil at sowing, and excluding rain with a rain cover. At low water deficits plants received rainfall, and irrigation was supplied before and immediately after sowing, at tillering, at jointing, at ear emergence, and during grain filling. Yield differences were analysed in terms of harvest index, water use, and water use efficiency. Water use was calculated from changes in soil water contents. At high water deficits all three factors were associated with differences in turgor maintenance. However, only the variations in water use and harvest index could be logically associated with differences in turgor maintenance. Analysis of the soil water extraction data showed that the differences in water use efficiency were due solely to differences in water use at depth while surface water losses were the same, i.e. the ratio of transpiration to soil evaporation would have been higher in low-osmoregulating genotypes. At low water deficits, no differences were observed in harvest index, though there were non-significant correlations between turgor maintenance and total water use efficiency or total water use. A similar result was obtained when the water use and yield data were related to osmoregulation measurements made in the glasshouse. It is therefore concluded that effects of turgor maintenance or osmoregulation on grain yield were primarily associated with differences in water use which were, in turn, due to differences in water extraction at soil depths between 25 and 150 cm.

Leaf characteristics, wood anatomy and hydraulic properties in tree species from contrasting habitats within upper Rio Negro forests in the Amazon region

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Sobrado
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Loss ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
High Water ◽  
Hydraulic Characteristics ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Species Specific

Abstract:Leaf blade physical and chemical characteristics, wood composition and anatomy, as well as long-term water-use efficiency and hydraulic characteristics of leaf-bearing terminal branches were assessed in tree species growing in contrasting forests of the Venezuelan Amazonas: mixed forest on oxisol soil and caatinga on podzol soil. Two upper-canopy tree species were selected in each forest, and three individuals per species were tagged for sampling. Leaf nitrogen isotopic signatures (δ15N) were negative and species-specific, which suggests that in species of both forest the N-cycle is closed, and that tree species can withdraw N from a variety of N-pools. Leaf construction costs, dry mass to leaf area ratio, thickness and sclerophylly index tended to increase in microhabitats with lower fertility and large water table fluctuations. The hydraulic characteristics and long-term water use are species-specific and related to the particular conditions of the habitat at the local scale. Ocotea aciphylla (mixed forest) with a combination of low δ13C and high hydraulic sufficiency may maintain high water loss without risk of xylem embolisms. By contrast, Micranda sprucei (slopes of the caatinga forest), had a combination of relatively high hydraulic sufficiency and the highest long-term water-use efficiency, which suggest that embolism risk would be avoided by water loss restriction. Assuming a warmer and drier climate in the future, the species with more conservative water transport and/or better stomatal control would be at lower risk of mortality.

scholarly journals Yield and Leaf Quality of Processing Spinach under Deficit Irrigation

HortScience ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1868-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel I. Leskovar ◽  
Giovanni Piccinni
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
High Water ◽  
Water Savings ◽  
Leaf Quality ◽  
Spinacea Oleracea ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Irrigation Treatments

Restrictions placed on water usage for farmers have prompted the development of irrigation management projects aiming at water savings of economically important crops. The objective of this work was to determine yield, water use efficiency, and leaf quality responses to deficit irrigation rates of processing spinach (Spinacea oleracea L.) cultivars. Three irrigation treatments were imposed with a center pivot system, 100%, 75%, and 50% crop evapotranspiration rates (ETc). Commercial cultivars used were `DMC 09', `ASR 157', and `ACX 3665'. Leaf quality was significantly affected by deficit irrigation rate and cultivar. Leaf yellowness was highest at 50% ETc, and was more evident for `ACX 3665'. The percent excess stem (>10 cm) was higher at 100% ETc. This response was greater in `ACX 3665' than in `ASR 157' and `DMC 09'. Marketable yields were significantly higher for `ASR 157' at either 100% or 75% ETc rates, compared to `DMC 09' and `ACX 3665'. High water use efficiency was also measured at 75% ETc for `ASR 157'. Minimum canopy temperature differences were detected among the irrigation treatments. This work demonstrated that it is possible to reach a 25% water savings in one season, without reducing yields when using vigorous cultivars.

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