scholarly journals The Impact and Value of Accurate Evapotranspiration Networks in Texas High Plains Production Agriculture

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-455
Author(s):  
Thomas Henry Marek ◽  
Dana Porter ◽  
Terry A. Howell ◽  
Gary W. Marek ◽  
David Brauer
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Network Data ◽  
List Type ◽  
Texas High Plains ◽  
The Impact

Highlights Irrigation scheduling using accurate ET network data can conserve energy and water. ET networks can be a valuable, cost effective, and feasible management tool in water policy. The Texas High Plains ET Network saved irrigated producers an estimated $US 22M dollars annually. ET network benefits and use extend beyond the agricultural sector. Abstract . Evapotranspiration (ET) networks have been developed and used to support weather and related ET information needs of U.S. agricultural production for nearly half a century, but many networks have been affected by inherent problems associated with sustaining operations. Consequently, these challenges have led to the discontinuation of network service in many cases. Most ET networks have been impacted by inadequate financial support compounded by inadequate public awareness and understanding of their usefulness and value in irrigation management, water conservation and water planning, and policy activities. Data accuracy is vital to usefulness, yet network data quality is often degraded when limited resources result in reduced equipment maintenance and data QA/QC. A discussion of ET network requirements and associated costs is presented. Estimates of the value and pumping reduction using the Texas High Plains ET networks are presented documenting the improvements of crop water use estimates and the impact associated with these improvements on irrigation groundwater withdrawal. Keywords: ET network, Evapotranspiration network, Irrigation scheduling, Irrigation value, Water management tools, Water savings.

scholarly journals Relationships Between Early Wheat Streak Mosaic Severity Levels and Grain Yield: Implications for Management Decisions

Plant Disease ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 101 (9) ◽  
pp. 1621-1626 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Workneh ◽  
S. O’Shaughnessy ◽  
S. Evett ◽  
C. M. Rush
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Disease Severity ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Regression Function ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Texas High Plains ◽  
Severity Levels ◽  
The Impact

Wheat streak mosaic (WSM) caused by Wheat streak mosaic virus, which is transmitted by the wheat curl mite (Aceria tosichella), is a major yield-limiting disease in the Texas High Plains. In addition to its impact on grain production, the disease reduces water-use efficiency by affecting root development. Because of the declining Ogallala Aquifer water level, water conservation has become one of the major pressing issues in the region. Thus, questions are often raised as to whether it is worthwhile to irrigate infected fields in light of the water conservation issues, associated energy costs, and current wheat prices. To address some of these questions, field experiments were conducted in 2013 and 2016 at two separate locations to determine whether grain yield could be predicted from disease severity levels, assessed early in the spring, for potential use as a decision tool for crop management, including irrigation. In both fields, disease severity assessments started in April, using a handheld hyperspectral radiometer with which reflectance measurements were taken weekly in multiple plots in arbitrarily selected locations across the fields. The relationship between WSM severity levels and grain yield for the different assessment dates were determined by fitting reflectance and yield values into the logistic regression function. The model predicted yield levels with r2 values ranging from 0.67 to 0.85 (P < 0.0001), indicating that the impact of WSM on grain yield could be fairly well predicted from early assessments of WSM severity levels. As the disease is normally progressive over time, this type of information will be useful for making management decisions of whether to continue irrigating infected fields, especially if combined with an economic threshold for WSM severity levels.

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

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

scholarly journals High Plains Aquifer–State of Affairs of Irrigated Agriculture and Role of Irrigation in the Sustainability Paradigm

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ajaz ◽  
Sumon Datta ◽  
Scott Stoodley
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Groundwater Depletion ◽  
High Plains ◽  
High Plains Aquifer ◽  
Soil Moisture Sensors ◽  
Pumping Rates ◽  
Subsurface Drip ◽  
State Of Affairs

Groundwater depletion is a serious issue in the southern and central parts of the High Plains Aquifer (HPA), USA. A considerable imbalance exists between the recharge process and groundwater extractions in these areas, which threatens the long-term sustainability of the aquifer. Irrigated agriculture has a major share in the economy, and it requires high pumping rates in regions vulnerable to large groundwater level declines. A literature review has been conducted to understand the state of affairs of irrigated agriculture in the HPA, along with the dynamics of groundwater decline and recharge using statistical and remote-sensing based datasets. Also, three irrigation management and technology-based approaches have been discussed from the perspective of sustainability. The southern and central parts of the HPA consist mostly of non-renewable groundwater formations, and the natural water storage is prone to exhaustion. Moreover, the aforementioned regions have comparatively higher crop water requirement due to the climate, and irrigating crops in these regions puts stringent pressure on the aquifer. The upper threshold of irrigation application efficiency (IAE) is high in the HPA, and could reach up to 95%; however, considerable room for improvement in irrigation water management exists. In general, the practices of irrigation scheduling used in the HPA are conventional and a small proportion of growers use modern methods to decide about irrigation timing. Among numerous ways to promote sustainable groundwater use in the HPA, deficit irrigation, use of soil moisture sensors, and subsurface drip irrigation can be considered as potential ways to attain higher lifespans in susceptible parts of the aquifer.

scholarly journals Improved Irrigation Management of Sweet Orange with Huanglongbing

HortScience ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 916-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Said A. Hamido ◽  
Kelly T. Morgan ◽  
Robert C. Ebel ◽  
Davie M. Kadyampakeni
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Leaf Area ◽  
Sweet Orange ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Irrigation Treatment ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Water Dynamics ◽  
Stem Water Potential ◽  
Area Index ◽  
The Impact

Because of the decline in production and negative economic effects, there is an urgent need for strategies to reduce the impact of Huanglongbing (HLB) on citrus [Citrus ×sinensis (L.) Osbeck]. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different irrigation schedules on total available soil water (TAW) and water uptake characteristics of citrus trees affected by HLB in central and southwest Florida. The study was initiated in Jan. 2014 for 2 years on 5-year-old sweet orange trees located in three commercial groves at Arcadia, Avon Park, and Immokalee, FL. Each grove had three irrigation scheduling treatments including the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) recommendations, Daily irrigation, and an Intermediate treatment. All groves received similar volumes of water per week based on evapotranspiration (ETo) reported by the Florida Automated Weather Network. Sap flow (SF) measurements were taken for two trees per treatment for at least 10 days per site (twice/year). During those periods, leaf area, leaf area index (LAI), and stem water potential (Ψ) were determined. Also, TAW was determined using drainage curve and capacitance soil moisture sensors installed at incremental soil depths of 0–15, 15–30, and 30–45 cm. Results showed significant differences in average SF, LAI, Ψ, and TAW measurements among treatments. Diurnal SF value under daily irrigation treatment increased by 91%, 51%, and 105% compared with UF/IFAS irrigation in Arcadia, Avon Park, and Immokalee, respectively. Soil water contents (WCs) under daily treatment increased by 59%, 59%, and 70% compared with UF/IFAS irrigation treatment in Arcadia, Avon Park, and Immokalee, respectively. Our results indicated that daily irrigation improved tree water dynamics compared with IFAS or Intermediate irrigation scheduling treatments and reduced tree stress with the same volume of water.

scholarly journals Hybrid Bermudagrass and Tall Fescue Turfgrass Irrigation in Central California: I. Assessment of Visual Quality, Soil Moisture and Performance of an ET-Based Smart Controller

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1666
Author(s):  
Amir Haghverdi ◽  
Maggie Reiter ◽  
Anish Sapkota ◽  
Amninder Singh
Keyword(s):  
Tall Fescue ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Precipitation Rate ◽  
Irrigation Frequency ◽  
Central California ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The Impact

Research-based information regarding the accuracy and reliability of smart irrigation controllers for autonomous landscape irrigation water conservation is limited in central California. A two-year irrigation research trial (2018–2019) was conducted in Parlier, California, to study the response of hybrid bermudagrass and tall fescue to varying irrigation scenarios (irrigation levels and irrigation frequency) autonomously applied using a Weathermatic ET-based smart controller. The response of turfgrass species to the irrigation treatments was visually assessed and rated. In addition, turfgrass water response functions (TWRFs) were developed to estimate the impact of irrigation scenarios on the turfgrass species based on long-term mean reference evapotranspiration (ETo) data. The Weathermatic controller overestimated ETo between 5and 7% in 2018 and between 5 and 8% in 2019 compared with California Irrigation Management Information System values. The controller closely followed programmed watering-days restrictions across treatments in 2018 and 2019 and adjusted the watering-days based on ETo demand when no restriction was applied. The low half distribution uniformity and precipitation rate of the irrigation system were 0.78 and 28 mm h−1, respectively. The catch-cans method substantially underestimated the precipitation rate of the irrigation system and caused over-irrigation by the smart controller. No water-saving and turfgrass quality improvement was observed owing to restricting irrigation frequency (watering days). For the hybrid bermudagrass, the visual rating (VR) for 101% ETo treatment stayed above the minimum acceptable value of six during the trial. For tall fescue, the 108% ETo level with 3 d wk−1 frequency kept the VR values in the acceptable range in 2018 except for a short period in mid-trial. The TWRF provided a good fit to experimental data with r values of 0.79 and 0.75 for tall fescue and hybrid bermudagrass, respectively. The estimated VR values by TWRF suggested 70–80% ETo as the minimum irrigation application to maintain the acceptable hybrid bermudagrass quality in central California during the high water demand months (i.e., May to August) based on long-term mean ETo data. The TWRF estimations suggest that 100% ETo would be sufficient to maintain the tall fescue quality for only 55 days. This might be an overestimation impacted by the relatively small tall fescue VR data in 2019 owing to minimal fertilizer applications and should be further investigated in the future.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Two Water Conservation Policies: An Integrated Modeling Approach

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biswa R. Das ◽  
David B. Willis ◽  
Jeffrey Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Economic Optimization ◽  
Policy Model ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Texas High Plains ◽  
Policy Impacts ◽  
Regional Cost

Agriculture in the Texas High Plains depends entirely on the Ogallala Aquifer. Texas enacted water conservation legislation to address declining reserves in the aquifer. We developed an integrated regional water policy model that links a hydrology model with an economic optimization model to estimate policy impacts with respect to economic cost and water conservation. Testing the effectiveness of two policies, a groundwater extraction tax and extraction quotas, we observe that neither significantly inhibits groundwater use. Although both policies conserve similar amounts of groundwater, the regional cost of the tax policy to agriculture is more than the quota policy.

scholarly journals Texas High Plains Initiative for Strategic and Innovative Irrigation Management and Conservation

2013 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Weinheimer ◽  
Phillip Johnson ◽  
Donna Mitchell ◽  
Jeff Johnson ◽  
Rick Kellison
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation Management ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Texas High Plains ◽  
Management And Conservation

scholarly journals Assessment of Alternative Agricultural Land Use Options for Extending the Availability of the Ogallala Aquifer in the Northern High Plains of Texas

Hydrology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Chen ◽  
Gary Marek ◽  
Thomas Marek ◽  
Jerry Moorhead ◽  
Kevin Heflin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Ogallala Aquifer ◽  
Dryland Farming

The Ogallala Aquifer has experienced a continuous decline in water levels due to decades of irrigation pumping with minimal recharge. Corn is one of the major irrigated crops in the semi-arid Northern High Plains (NHP) of Texas. Selection of less water-intensive crops may provide opportunities for groundwater conservation. Modeling the long-term hydrologic impacts of alternative crops can be a time-saving and cost-effective alternative to field-based experiments. A newly developed management allowed depletion (MAD) irrigation scheduling algorithm for Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used in this study. The impacts of irrigated farming, dryland farming, and continuous fallow on water conservation were evaluated. Results indicated that simulated irrigation, evapotranspiration, and crop yield were representative of the measured data. Approximately 19%, 21%, and 32% reductions in annual groundwater uses were associated with irrigated soybean, sunflower, and sorghum, respectively, as compared to irrigated corn. On average, annual soil water depletion was more than 52 mm for dryland farming scenarios. In contrast, only 18 mm of soil water was lost to evaporation annually, for the long-term continuous fallow simulation. The fallow scenario also showed 31 mm of percolation for aquifer recharge.

scholarly journals Comparison of Lysimeter-Derived Crop Coefficients for Legacy and Modern Drought-Tolerant Maize Hybrids in the Texas High Plains

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 1243-1257
Author(s):  
Gary W. Marek ◽  
Thomas H. Marek ◽  
Steven R. Evett ◽  
Jourdan M. Bell ◽  
Paul D. Colaizzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Coefficient ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
High Plains ◽  
List Type ◽  
Season Length ◽  
Planting Dates ◽  
Corn Hybrids ◽  
Drought Tolerant ◽  
Crop Coefficients

HighlightsDaily maximum crop coefficient (Kc) values were similar for legacy hybrids and a modern drought-tolerant (DT) hybrid.Later planting dates for a DT hybrid resulted in average season lengths ~25 days shorter than those of legacy hybrids.Results illustrated the effects of environment, planting date, interannual variation in temperature, and the importance of climate-specific Kc functions.DT hybrids may be more effective at reproductive growth during periods of heat stress in semi-arid environments, although additional data are needed to support this conclusion.Abstract. Corn (Zea mays L.) is a major irrigated crop grown in the Southern High Plains including the Texas Panhandle. Irrigation from the Ogallala Aquifer is required to sustain profitable corn production in the region by supplementing inadequate and erratic rainfall. Effective irrigation scheduling works to extend limited groundwater resources by avoiding water losses associated with runoff and/or percolation below the root zone. The use of crop coefficient (Kc) and reference evapotranspiration (ETo) values to estimate daily crop water use (ETc) remains an effective scheduling tool that can complement other irrigation scheduling approaches. Both Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO-56) piecewise and curvilinear Kc values for corn are found in the literature. However, advances in corn genetics have led to questions about the applicability of Kc values developed using legacy corn hybrids to irrigation of modern drought-tolerant (DT) hybrids. Lysimeter-derived Kc values for legacy corn hybrids grown in large weighing lysimeter fields at the USDA-ARS Conservation and Production Research Laboratory at Bushland, Texas, were compared with those derived from a modern DT corn hybrid recently grown in the same fields. Results indicated that although midseason daily Kc values were similar for all hybrids, average season length was ~25 days shorter for the modern DT hybrid, characterized by a shortened initial growth period followed by more rapid increase of Kc during the development period. However, plots of Kc over thermal time illustrated that the differences in season length were likely attributable to later planting dates associated with the DT corn hybrids. Average seasonal water use was 730 and 811 mm for the legacy and modern DT hybrids, respectively (three years each), with corresponding average yields of 1.2 and 1.4 kg ha-1. Results suggest that published Kc and Kcb values developed with legacy corn hybrids remain largely applicable to modern DT corn hybrids when used with accurate estimates of effective canopy-based growth stages and climate-specific Kc functions. Keywords: Crop coefficients, Drought-tolerant, Evapotranspiration, Maize, Weighing lysimeters.

Application of DSSAT-CERES-Wheat model to simulate winter wheat response to irrigation management in the Texas High Plains

2016 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 50-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Attia ◽  
Nithya Rajan ◽  
Qingwu Xue ◽  
Shyam Nair ◽  
Amir Ibrahim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Texas High Plains
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