Reducing sugarcane irrigation demand through planting date adjustment in Alagoas State, Brazil

ABSTRACT Sugarcane is both an important crop for the Brazilian Northeast economy, which faces severe water scarcity, and a water-intensive crop. Thus, it is important to develop irrigation strategies to reduce irrigation water demand in the region. This study aims to determine the sugarcane planting date that results in the maximum rainwater availability to the crop in the growing cycle. The crop effective precipitation was estimated from a soil water balance performed during three planting cycles of sugarcane, cultivar ‘RB 92579’. The crop was planted under subsurface drip irrigation in five months: October, November, December, January, and February, corresponding to the dry season period of the region. The experiment was conducted at the Açúcar e Álcool Coruripe Mill, located in the Coruripe municipality, State of Alagoas, Brazil, during the years 2012 to 2016. For all planting dates and growing cycles studied, the average effective rainy precipitation was equal to 30% of the total rainfall under irrigated conditions and 54.5% without considering the irrigation component in the soil water balance. November was the planting date that resulted in the minimum irrigation depth for the sugarcane growing cycle, with the potential irrigation water saving ranging from 5 to 129 mm.

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Remote sensing-based soil water balance for irrigation water accounting at the Spanish Iberian Peninsula

Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences ◽

10.5194/piahs-380-29-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 380 ◽

pp. 29-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jesús Garrido-Rubio ◽

Alfonso Calera Belmonte ◽

Lorena Fraile Enguita ◽

Irene Arellano Alcázar ◽

Mario Belmonte Mancebo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Time Series ◽

Water Balance ◽

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Soil Water ◽

Irrigation Water ◽

Water Governance ◽

Soil Water Balance ◽

Water Requirements ◽

Water Accounting

Abstract. Temporal series maps of irrigated areas, and the corresponding irrigation water requirements based on remote sensing, is a recognized tool contributing to water governance at different scales, from water user associations to whole river basin districts. These thematic cartographies offer a first estimation of the crop irrigation requirements, and a biophysical based approach of the temporal and spatial distribution of the crop water use in the cultivated areas. This work describes the operational application of these methodologies, providing valuable information for water governance and management purposes. The basic products obtained in the whole Spanish part of the Iberian Peninsula during the period 2014–2017 were: (i) annual maps of irrigated crops based on time series of multispectral satellite imagery; and (ii) the direct remote sensing-based water accounting, by quantifying agricultural water flows (e.g. rainfall, irrigation, evapotranspiration, drainage and recharge), through a remote sensing-based soil water balance. Hence this paper provides a remote sensing based water accounting approach, which relies on dense time series of multispectral imagery acquired by the multisensor constellation arranged by Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 satellites, jointly with meteorological data and agronomic knowledge. Then, based on these purpose and approach, annual and monthly maps of net irrigation water requirements have been elaborated at the most practical spatial and temporal scales for water governance purposes over big areas such river basin districts. This work summarizes the methodologies used and discuss the technical and non-technical feasibility of the proposed approach.

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Remote sensing–based soil water balance for irrigation water accounting at plot and water user association management scale

Agricultural Water Management ◽

10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106236 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 238 ◽

pp. 106236 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jesús Garrido-Rubio ◽

Jose González-Piqueras ◽

Isidro Campos ◽

Anna Osann ◽

Laura González-Gómez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Water Balance ◽

Soil Water ◽

Irrigation Water ◽

Soil Water Balance ◽

User Association ◽

Water User ◽

Water User Association ◽

Association Management ◽

Water Accounting

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Assessing Irrigation Water Use with Remote Sensing-Based Soil Water Balance at an Irrigation Scheme Level in a Semi-Arid Region of Morocco

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13061133 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 1133

Author(s):

Mohamed Hakim Kharrou ◽

Vincent Simonneaux ◽

Salah Er-Raki ◽

Michel Le Page ◽

Saïd Khabba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Water Balance ◽

Soil Water ◽

Irrigation Water ◽

Management Practices ◽

Irrigation District ◽

Soil Water Balance ◽

Balance Model ◽

Irrigation Water Use ◽

Semi Arid

This study aims to evaluate a remote sensing-based approach to allow estimation of the temporal and spatial distribution of crop evapotranspiration (ET) and irrigation water requirements over irrigated areas in semi-arid regions. The method is based on the daily step FAO-56 Soil Water Balance model combined with a time series of basal crop coefficients and the fractional vegetation cover derived from high-resolution satellite Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) imagery. The model was first calibrated and validated at plot scale using ET measured by eddy-covariance systems over wheat fields and olive orchards representing the main crops grown in the study area of the Haouz plain (central Morocco). The results showed that the model provided good estimates of ET for wheat and olive trees with a root mean square error (RMSE) of about 0.56 and 0.54 mm/day respectively. The model was then used to compare remotely sensed estimates of irrigation requirements (RS-IWR) and irrigation water supplied (WS) at plot scale over an irrigation district in the Haouz plain through three growing seasons. The comparison indicated a large spatio-temporal variability in irrigation water demands and supplies; the median values of WS and RS-IWR were 130 (175), 117 (175) and 118 (112) mm respectively in the 2002–2003, 2005–2006 and 2008–2009 seasons. This could be attributed to inadequate irrigation supply and/or to farmers’ socio-economic considerations and management practices. The findings demonstrate the potential for irrigation managers to use remote sensing-based models to monitor irrigation water usage for efficient and sustainable use of water resources.

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Evidence that banana (Musa spp.), a tropical monocotyledon, has a facultative long-day response to photoperiod

Functional Plant Biology ◽

10.1071/fp11128 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 38 (11) ◽

pp. 867 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Jeanie A. Fortescue ◽

David W. Turner ◽

Ronald Romero

Keyword(s):

Seasonal Variation ◽

Soil Water ◽

Planting Date ◽

Soil Water Balance ◽

Planting Dates ◽

Musa Spp ◽

Long Day ◽

Thermal Development ◽

Using Data ◽

The Tropics

Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) may flower at any time of the year but they show seasonal variation in flowering. To determine whether photoperiod contributed to this seasonal variation, we calculated the thermal development units (DT) from planting to bunch appearance (flowering) using data from published planting date experiments in the tropics and subtropics. Minimising the coefficient of variation in DT across planting dates was used to evaluate the contribution of photoperiod and soil water balance to time of flowering. Coefficients evaluating sensitivity to photoperiod were estimated in some datasets and validated on independent datasets. Data on the rate of bunch appearance from four locations over several years were analysed to establish correlations between this, photoperiod and temperature. The time of bunch initiation was matched against photoperiod to determine whether short photoperiods delayed bunch initiation. Long photoperiods in the mid-vegetative phase hastened flowering while soil water deficits delayed it. Cultivars of the Cavendish subgroup (AAA) were more sensitive to photoperiod than the Maricongo cultivar (False Horn-type plantain, AAB). Long photoperiods during the reproductive phase were correlated with an increased rate of bunch appearance some 8 to 11 weeks later. Musa spp. show a facultative long-day response to photoperiod.

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Effects of Biochar on Irrigation Management and Water Use Efficiency for Three Different Crops in a Desert Sandy Soil

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12187678 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (18) ◽

pp. 7678

Author(s):

Giorgio Baiamonte ◽

Mario Minacapilli ◽

Giuseppina Crescimanno

Keyword(s):

Water Stress ◽

Water Balance ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Soil Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Irrigation Water ◽

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Soil Water Balance ◽

Desert Sand ◽

Use Efficiency

This paper aimed at investigating if the application of biochar (BC) to desert sand (DS) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), characterized by a very poor soil-water retention (SWR) and by a very low value of the maximum water available for crops (AWmax), could positively affect soil water balance, by reducing the irrigation needs (VIRR) and improving the irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) and the water use efficiency (WUE). The analysis was performed for three crops, i.e., wheat (Triticum aestivum), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). BC was applied to the DS at different fractions, fBC (fBC = 0, 0.091, 0.23 and 0.33). Drip irrigation was adopted as a highly efficient water saving method, which is particularly relevant in arid, water-scarce countries. Soil water balance and irrigation scheduling were simulated by application of the AQUACROP model, using as input the SWR measured without and with BC addition. The effect of BC was investigated under either a no-water stress (NWS) condition for the crops or deficit irrigation (DI). The results showed that the application of BC made it possible to reduce the predicted VIRR and to increase the IWUE under the NWS scenario, especially for wheat and sorghum, with less evident benefits for tomato. When a deficit irrigation (DI) was considered, even at the lowest considered fBC (0.091), BC counterbalanced the lower VIRR provided under DI, thus mitigating the yield reduction due to water stress, and improved the WUE. The influence of BC was more pronounced in wheat and tomato than in sorghum. The results evidenced that the application of BC could be a potential strategy for saving irrigation water and/or reducing the effects of drought stress in desert sand. This means that biochar could be used a management option to promote local production and reduce the dependency on food import, not only in the UAE, but also in other countries with extremely arid climatic conditions and large extensions of sandy soils similar to the considered DS.

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