Mulching optimizes water consumption characteristics and improves crop water productivity on the semi-arid Loess Plateau of China

Estimating crop water productivity (CWP) for spatially variable climatic conditions in Egypt is important for the redistribution of crop planting to optimize production per unit of water consumed. The current paper aims to estimate maximum CWP trends under conditions of the Northern Nile Delta over three decades to choose crops that exhibit a higher productivity per unit of water and positive trends in the CWP. The Kafr El Sheikh Governorate was selected to represent the Northern Nile Delta Region, and mean monthly weather data for the period of 1985 to 2015 were collected to calculate standardized reference evapotranspiration and crop water use for a wide array of crops grown in the region using the CROPWAT8.0 model. The CWP was then calculated by dividing crop yield by seasonal water consumption. The CWP data range from 0.69 to 13.79 kg·m−3 for winter field crops, 3.40 to 10.69 kg·m−3 for winter vegetables, 0.29 to 6.04 kg·m−3 for summer field crops, 2.38 to 7.65 kg·m−3 for summer vegetables, 1.00 to 5.38 kg·m−3 for nili season crops (short-season post summer), and 0.66 to 3.35 kg·m−3 for orchards. The crops with the highest CWP values (kg·m−3) over three decades in descending order are: sugar beet (13.79), potato (w2) (10.69), tomato (w) (10.58), eggplant (w) (10.05), potato (w1) (9.98), cucumber (w) (9.81), and cabbage (w) (9.59). There was an increase in CWP of 41% from the first to the second and 22% from the second to the third decade. The CWP increase is attributed to a small decrease in water consumption and to a considerable increase in crop yield. The yield increases are attributed mainly to the planting of higher yielding varieties and/or the application of better agronomic practices.

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Irrigation Management Effects on Crop Water Productivity for Maize Production in the Texas High Plains

Water Conservation Science and Engineering ◽

10.1007/s41101-020-00100-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 37-43

Author(s):

Gary W. Marek ◽

Thomas H. Marek ◽

Steven R. Evett ◽

Yong Chen ◽

Kevin R. Heflin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Productivity ◽

Irrigation Management ◽

High Plains ◽

Crop Water ◽

Maize Production ◽

Crop Water Productivity ◽

Texas High Plains ◽

Management Effects

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Simulated efficient growth-stage-based deficit irrigation strategies for maximizing cotton yield, crop water productivity and net returns

Agricultural Water Management ◽

10.1016/j.agwat.2021.106840 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 250 ◽

pp. 106840

Author(s):

Sushil Kumar Himanshu ◽

Yubing Fan ◽

Srinivasulu Ale ◽

James Bordovsky

Keyword(s):

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Growth Stage ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Cotton Yield ◽

Crop Water ◽

Net Returns ◽

Crop Water Productivity

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Maize Seedling Establishment, Grain Yield and Crop Water Productivity Response to Seed Priming and Irrigation Management in a Mediterranean Arid Environment

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11040756 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 756

Author(s):

AbdAllah M. El-Sanatawy ◽

Ahmed S. M. El-Kholy ◽

Mohamed M. A. Ali ◽

Mohamed F. Awad ◽

Elsayed Mansour

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Irrigation Management ◽

Seed Priming ◽

Severe Drought ◽

Arid Environments ◽

Crop Water ◽

Crop Water Productivity ◽

Irrigation Regimes

Water shortage is a major environmental stress that destructively impacts maize production, particularly in arid regions. Therefore, improving irrigation management and increasing productivity per unit of water applied are needed, especially under the rising temperature and precipitation fluctuations induced by climate change. Laboratory and field trials were carried out in the present study, which were aimed at assessing the possibility of promoting maize germination, growth, grain yield and crop water productivity (CWP) using seed priming under different irrigation regimes. Two seed priming treatments, i.e., hydro-priming and hardening versus unprimed seeds, were applied under four irrigation regimes, i.e., 120, 100, 80 and 60% of estimated crop evapotranspiration (ETc). The obtained results indicated that increasing irrigation water from 100% up to 120% ETc did not significantly increase grain yield or contributing traits, while it decreased CWP. Deficit irrigation of 80 and 60% ETc gradually decreased grain yield and all attributed traits. Seed priming significantly ameliorated seedlings’ vigor as indicated by earlier germination, higher germination percentage, longer roots and shoots, and heavier fresh and dry weight than unprimed seeds with the superiority of hardening treatment. Additionally, under field conditions, seed priming significantly increased grain yield, yield contributing traits and CWP compared with unprimed treatment. Interestingly, the results reflect the role of seed priming, particularly hardening, in mitigating negative impacts of drought stress and enhancing maize growth, grain yield and attributed traits as well as CWP under deficit irrigation conditions. This was demonstrated by a significant increase in grain yield and CWP under moderate drought and severe drought conditions compared with unprimed treatment. These results highlight that efficient irrigation management and seed priming can increase maize yield and water productivity in arid environments.

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Global Satellite-Based ET Products for the Local Level Irrigation Management: An Application of Irrigation Performance Assessment in the Sugarbelt of Swaziland

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs11060705 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 705 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Poolad Karimi ◽

Bhembe Bongani ◽

Megan Blatchford ◽

Charlotte de Fraiture

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Performance Assessment ◽

Management Practices ◽

Local Level ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Irrigation Management ◽

Irrigation Performance ◽

Crop Water ◽

Management Regime ◽

Crop Water Productivity

Remote sensing techniques have been shown, in several studies, to be an extremely effective tool for assessing the performance of irrigated areas at various scales and diverse climatic regions across the world. Open access, ready-made, global ET products were utilized in this first-ever-countrywide irrigation performance assessment study. The study aimed at identifying ‘bright spots’, the highest performing sugarcane growers, and ‘hot spots’, or low performing sugarcane growers. Four remote sensing-derived irrigation performance indicators were applied to over 302 sugarcane growers; equity, adequacy, reliability and crop water productivity. The growers were segmented according to: (i) land holding size or grower scale (ii) management regime, (iii) location of the irrigation schemes and (iv) irrigation method. Five growing seasons, from June 2005 to October 2009, were investigated. The results show while the equity of water distribution is high across all management regimes and locations, adequacy and reliability of water needs improvement in several locations. Given the fact that, in general, water supply was not constrained during the study period, the observed issues with adequacy and reliability of irrigation in some of the schemes were mostly due to poor scheme and farm level water management practices. Sugarcane crop water productivity showed the highest variation among all the indicators, with Estate managed schemes having the highest CWP at 1.57 kg/m3 and the individual growers recording the lowest CWP at 1.14 kg/m3, nearly 30% less. Similarly center pivot systems showed to have the highest CWP at 1.63 kg/m3, which was 30% higher than the CWP in furrow systems. This study showcases the applicability of publicly available global remote sensing products for assessing performance of the irrigated crops at the local level in several aspects.

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