Estimating Crop Consumption of Irrigation Water for the Conterminous U.S.

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 985-1002
Author(s):  
Narayanan Kannan ◽  
Sujoy B. Roy ◽  
John S. Rath ◽  
Carrie S. Munill ◽  
Robert A. Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Water Application ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Watershed Model ◽  
Crop Water Consumption ◽  
The U.S

Abstract. Water consumption for crop irrigation is the largest single use of water in the U.S. but is poorly quantified because of limitations in data and the inherent challenges in measuring water consumption. In this study, water consumption for irrigated agriculture was estimated across the U.S. to improve understanding of water budgets in different regions. Published data on cropping patterns and water application were used in conjunction with a national-scale analysis to estimate water application and crop water consumption using the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) watershed model. Crop water consumption estimates were based on evapotranspiration, with supporting information on the diversity of crops, irrigated area, water quantity and source, and local weather conditions. Quantification of water consumption supports broader analyses of the food-energy-water nexus and allows evaluation of the efficiency of irrigation water use at different spatial scales. Focusing on 2005 data, it is estimated that 60% of water reported as withdrawn from various sources is applied to fields, indicating a potentially large and poorly understood conveyance loss that occurs in a small number of states. Of the field-applied irrigation water, roughly 65% is directly used by crops or is lost in the field, with large regional variations. This may be compared to consumption estimates in prior studies that ranged from 16% to 90%. Areas that dominate the national aggregate estimate of crop water consumption include California’s Central and Imperial Valleys, areas overlying the Ogallala Aquifer in the central U.S., the Lower Colorado Basin, and the eastern part of the Pacific Northwest Basin. Keywords: Crop water use, Irrigated agriculture, SWAT, Watershed model, Water withdrawal.

scholarly journals Past, Present, and Future of Irrigation on the U.S. Great Plains

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 703-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. Evett ◽  
Paul D. Colaizzi ◽  
Freddie R. Lamm ◽  
Susan A. O’Shaughnessy ◽  
Derek M. Heeren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Irrigation Technology ◽  
Irrigated Area ◽  
Irrigation Water Use ◽  
The U.S

Highlights Irrigation is key to the productivity of Great Plains agriculture but is threatened by water scarcity. The irrigated area grew to >9 million ha since 1870, mostly since 1950, but is likely to decline. Changes in climate, water availability, irrigated area, and policy will affect productivity. Adaptation and innovation, hallmarks of Great Plains populations, will ensure future success. Abstract. Motivated by the need for sustainable water management and technology for next-generation crop production, the future of irrigation on the U.S. Great Plains was examined through the lenses of past changes in water supply, historical changes in irrigated area, and innovations in irrigation technology, management, and agronomy. We analyzed the history of irrigated agriculture through the 1900s to the present day. We focused particularly on the efficiency and water productivity of irrigation systems (application efficiency, crop water productivity, and irrigation water use productivity) as a connection between water resource management and agricultural production. Technology innovations have greatly increased the efficiency of water application, the productivity of water use, and the agricultural productivity of the Great Plains. We also examined the changes in water stored in the High Plains aquifer, which is the region’s principle supply for irrigation water. Relative to other states, the aquifer has been less impacted in Nebraska, despite large increases in irrigated area. Greatly increased irrigation efficiency has played a role in this, but so have regulations and the recharge to the aquifer from the Nebraska Sand Hills and from rivers crossing the state. The outlook for irrigation is less positive in western Kansas, eastern Colorado, and the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles. The aquifer in these regions is recharged at rates much less than current pumping, and the aquifer is declining as a result. Improvements in irrigation technology and management plus changes in crops grown have made irrigation ever more efficient and allowed irrigation to continue. There is good reason to expect that future research and development efforts by federal and state researchers, extension specialists, and industry, often in concert, will continue to improve the efficiency and productivity of irrigated agriculture. Public policy changes will also play a role in regulating consumption and motivating on-farm efficiency improvements. Water supplies, while finite, will be stretched much further than projected by some who look only at past rates of consumption. Thus, irrigation will continue to be important economically for an extended period. Sustaining irrigation is crucial to sustained productivity of the Great Plains “bread basket” because on average irrigation doubles the efficiency with which water is turned into crop yields compared with what can be attained in this region with precipitation alone. Lessons learned from the Great Plains are relevant to irrigation in semi-arid and subhumid areas worldwide. Keywords: Center pivot, Crop water productivity, History, Sprinkler irrigation, Subsurface drip irrigation, Water use efficiency.

Effect of Subsoiling Cultivation on Corn in Semi-Arid Region of Western Liaoning Province

2013 ◽  
Vol 750-752 ◽  
pp. 2348-2351
Author(s):  
Jian Gu ◽  
Guang Hua Yin ◽  
Liang Hao ◽  
Pei Fei Cong ◽  
Gui Fang Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Liaoning Province ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Dryland Farming ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Crop Water Consumption ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
The Impact

The effect of subsoiling on corn in dryland farming was discussed. The results showed that corn yields were higher increased compared subsoiling with traditional cultivation, especially in the rainfall less year. At same time, crop water consumption was not increased with the increased in output of the corn. The output of small amount of water increases actually. Water use efficiency was affected not only by the impact of water consumption, but also by the depth and cycles of subsoiling cultivating. Under certain conditions of the impact of the water consumption, the appropriate subsoiling cultivation cycle and depth could not significantly increase production, however, significantly increase water use efficiency.

scholarly journals Forty Years of Increasing Cotton’s Water Productivity and Why the Trend Will Continue

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-478
Author(s):  
Edward M Barnes ◽  
B. Todd Campbell ◽  
George Vellidis ◽  
Wesley Porter ◽  
Jose Payero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Water Requirements ◽  
Crop Water Productivity ◽  
The U.S

Highlights Over the last 40 years the amount of irrigation water used by cotton in the United States has decreased while yields have increased leading to a large increase in crop water productivity (CWP). Many factors have contributed to improved CWP, such as improvements in water delivery systems. Irrigation scheduling technologies have also contributed to improved CWP; however, farmer adoption of advanced scheduling technologies is still limited and there is significant room for improvement. Increased yields from improved cultivars without an increase in water requirements has also been important for CWP. Continued developments in sensor technologies and improved crop simulation models are two examples of future strategies that should allow the U.S. cotton industry to continue an upward trend in CWP. Abstract. Over the last 40 years the amount of irrigation water used by cotton in the United States has decreased while yields have increased. Factors contributing to higher water productivity and decreased irrigation water use include migration of cotton out of the far western U.S. states to the east where more water requirements are met by rainfall; improved irrigation delivery systems with considerable variation in types and adoption rates across the U.S.; improved irrigation scheduling tools; improved genetics and knowledge of cotton physiology, and improved crop models that can help evaluate new irrigation strategies rapidly and inexpensively. The considerable progress over the last 40 years along with the promise of emerging technologies suggest that this progress will continue. Keywords: Cotton, Crop water productivity, Irrigation, Sustainability, Water use efficiency.

scholarly journals Water Use Efficiency Differences in Maize Varieties under Every Furrow and Alternate Furrow Irrigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Isaac R. Fandika ◽  
Grivin Chipula ◽  
Geoffrey Mwepa
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Furrow Irrigation ◽  
Yield Reduction ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Irrigation Interval ◽  
Maize Varieties ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Crop Water Consumption

Water-use efficiency (WUE) differences of selected maize varieties under alternate and every furrow irrigation were investigated in a split-plot design trials with three replicates. Alternate furrow (AFI) and Every furrow irrigation (EFI) were main treatments and twenty maize varieties were sub-treatments. Plots were 64 m2 with one maize seed per station spaced at 0.25m apart. Crop water use results indicated that EFI consumed more water than the AFI. The AFI reduced crop water consumption by 38 - 45% compared to EFI.  Differences were also prominent in maize varieties’ response to AFI. Late maturing maize varieties proved to have minor yield reduction with AFI compared to early and medium maturing maize varieties. WUE (kg m-3) differed with irrigation water application strategy (P<0.001). AFI had high WUE. A combination of AFI with selection of water efficient maize varieties was a good strategy for improving WUE. The AFI is a promising furrow irrigation water management strategy for water saving. According to farmers experience at five irrigation schemes and on station research, it was concluded that AFI is one of the climate smart irrigation technique that farmer can easily adopt and apply as it saves labour, time water whilst reducing conflict for water among irrigators. It was recommended that AFI be applied fully on early and medium maturing maize varieties within an irrigation interval of 7 days. For late maturing maize varieties, AFI technique should be applied from initial stage to mid - stage (up 55 days from planting) then apply EFI at tasselling and silking stages to reduce water stress at this critical stage.

scholarly journals Tree Wind Breaks in Central Asia and Their Effects on Agricultural Water Consumption

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Thevs ◽  
Alina Joana Gombert ◽  
Eva Strenge ◽  
Kumar Aliev ◽  
Begaiym Emileva
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Single Row ◽  
Field Crops ◽  
Crop Water Consumption ◽  
Reduced Water

Across Central Asia, agriculture largely depends on irrigation due to arid and semi-arid climatic conditions. Water is abstracted from rivers, which are largely fed by glacier melt. In the course of climate change, glaciers melt down so that a reduced glacier volume and reduced water runoffs are expected being available for irrigation. Tree wind breaks are one option to reduce water consumption in irrigated agriculture and build resilience against climate change. This paper therefore assessed water consumption of major crops (cotton, wheat, corn, rice, potato, and barley) in Kyrgyzstan and adjacent areas in combination with tree wind breaks. Crop water consumption was assessed through the Penman Monteith approach. Tree wind break types investigated were single rows from poplars and multiple rows with undergrowth by elm and poplar, respectively. Tree water consumption was determined through sapflow measurements. Seasonal ETo for field crops was 876 mm to 995 mm without wind breaks and dropped to less than half through multiple row wind breaks with undergrowth (50 m spacing). Tree water consumption was 1125 mm to 1558 mm for poplar and 435 mm for elm. Among the wind break crop systems, elm wind breaks resulted in highest reductions of water consumption, followed by single row poplars, at spacing of 50 m and 100 m, respectively. Yet, elm grows much slower than poplar so that poplars might be more attractive for farmers. Furthermore, single row wind breaks might by much easier to be integrated into the agrarian landscape, as they consume less space.

Irrigation Scheduling Based on Evaporation and Crop Water Requirement for Summer Peanuts1

1984 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. K. Pahalwan ◽  
R. S. Tripathi
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Water Requirement ◽  
Crop Water Requirement ◽  
Pan Evaporation ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Formation Stage ◽  
Evaporation Ratio ◽  
Pod Development

Abstract Field experiment was conducted during dry season of 1981 and 1982 to determine the optimal irrigation schedule for summer peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) in relation to evaporative demand and crop water requirement at different growth stages. It was observed that peanut crop requires a higher irrigation frequency schedule during pegging to pod formation stage followed by pod development to maturity and planting to flowering stages. The higher pod yield and water use efficiency was obtained when irrigations were scheduled at an irrigation water to the cumulative pan evaporation ratio of 0.5 during planting to flowering, 0.9 during pegging to pod formation and 0.7 during pod development to maturity stage. The profile water contribution to total crop water use was higher under less frequent irrigation schedules particularly when the irrigations were scheduled at 0.5 irrigation water to the cumulative pan evaporation ratio up to the pod formation stage.

scholarly journals Winter wheat crop water consumption and its effect on yields in southern Romania, in the very dry 2019-2020 agricultural year

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 12309
Author(s):  
Mihai BERCA ◽  
Valentina-Ofelia ROBESCU ◽  
Roxana HOROIAS
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Vegetation Period ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Soil Drought ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Winter Wheat Crop ◽  
Crop Water Consumption

Researches on winter wheat in the south part of Romanian Plain during the dry years 2019 and 2020 have been focused on the crop water consumption issue in excessive conditions of air and soil drought. The wheat crop water consumption in the research sites (Calarasi and Teleorman counties), for the entire vegetation period, autumn – spring – summer, is between 1000 and 1050 m3 of water for each ton of wheat produced. Only in the spring-summer period, the wheat extracts a quantity of about 5960 m3 ha-1, i.e. 851 m3 t-1. The useful water reserve is normally located at about 1500 m3/ha-1, at a soil depth of 0-150 cm. In the spring of 2020, it has been below 400 m3 ha-1, so that at the beginning of May the soil moisture had almost reached the wilting coefficient (WC). Wheat plants have been able to survive the thermal and water shock of late spring - early summer, due to enhanced thermal alternation between air and soil. For a period of about 34 days, this alternation brought the plants 1-1.5 mm water, i.e. approximately 442 m3 ha-1, which allowed the prolongation of the plant’s agony until the rains of the second half of May. Yields have been, depending on the variety, between 1500 and 3000 kg ha-1, in average, covering only 60% of the crop costs. Other measures to save water in the soil have also been proposed in the paper.

scholarly journals Optimization of irrigation water in South Africa for sustainable and beneficial use

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Akinola Mayowa Ikudayisi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Optimization Algorithm ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Land Area ◽  
Water Requirements ◽  
Irrigation Water Use

Water is an essential natural resource for human existence and survival on the earth. South Africa, a water stressed country, allocates a high percentage of its available consumptive water use to irrigation. Therefore, it is necessary that we optimize water use in order to enhance food security. This study presents the development of mathematical models for irrigation scheduling of crops, optimal irrigation water release and crop yields in Vaal Harts irrigation scheme (VIS) of South Africa. For efficient irrigation water management, an accurate estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ETₒ) should be carried out. However, due to non-availability of enough historical data for the study area, mathematical models were developed to estimate ETₒ. A 20-year monthly meteorological data was collected and analysed using two data–driven modeling techniques namely principal component analysis (PCA) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS). Furthermore, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed for real time prediction of future ETₒ for the study area. The real time irrigation scheduling of potatoes was developed using a crop growth simulation model called CROPWAT. It was used to determine the crop water productivity (CWP), which is a determinant of the relationship between water applied and crop yield. Finally, a new and novel evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithm called combined Pareto multi-objective differential evolution (CPMDE) was applied to optimize irrigation water use and crop yield on the VIS farmland. The net irrigation benefit, land area and irrigation water use of maize, potatoes and groundnut were optimized. Results obtained show that ETₒ increases with temperature and windspeed. Other variables such as rainfall and relative humidity have less significance on the value of ETₒ. Also, ANN models with one hidden layer showed better predictive performance compared with other considered configurations. A 5-day time step irrigation schedule data and graphs showing the crop water requirements and irrigation water requirements was generated. This would enable farmers know when, where, and how much water to apply to a given farmland. Finally, the employed CPMDE optimization algorithm produced a set of non-dominated Pareto optimal solutions. The best solution suggests that maize, groundnut and potatoes should be planted on 403543.44 m2, 181542.00 m2 and 352876.05 m2areas of land respectively. This solution generates a total net benefit of ZAR 767,961.49, total planting area of 937961.49 m2 and irrigation water volume of 391,061.52 m3. Among the three crops optimized, maize has the greatest land area, followed by potatoes and groundnut. This shows that maize is more profitable than potatoes and groundnut with respect to crop yield and water use in the study area.

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