The value of information for the management of deficit irrigation systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Schuetze ◽  
Oleksandr Mialyk
Keyword(s):  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Value Of Information ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Soil Variability ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Irrigation Systems ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
The Impact

<p>Due to climate change, extreme weather conditions such as droughts may have an increasing impact on the water demand and the productivity of irrigated agriculture. For the adaptation to changing climate conditions, the value of information about irrigation control strategies, future climate development, and soil conditions for the operation of deficit irrigation systems is evaluated. To treat climate and soil variability within one simulation-optimization framework for irrigation scheduling, we formulated a probabilistic framework that is based on Monte Carlo simulations. The framework can support decisions when full, deficit, and supplemental irrigation strategies are applied. For the analysis, the Deficit Irrigation Toolbox (DIT) is applied for locations in arid and semi-arid climates. It allows the analysis of the impact of information on (i) different scheduling methods (ii) different crop models, (iii) climate variability using recent and future climate scenarios, and (iv) soil variability. The provided results can serve as an easy-to-use support tool for decisions about the value of climate and soil data and/or a cost-benefit analysis of farm irrigation modernization on a local scale.</p>

Prove of concept of a global evaluation of the value of information for the management of deficit irrigation systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Schuetze
Keyword(s):  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Value Of Information ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Global Evaluation ◽  
Irrigation Systems ◽  
The Impact

<p>Due to climate change, extreme weather conditions such as droughts may have an increasing impact on the water demand and the productivity of irrigated agriculture. For the purpose of adaptation to changing climate conditions, the value of information about irrigation control strategies, future climate development and soil conditions for the operation of deficit irrigation systems is evaluated. To treat climate and soil variability within one simulation optimization framework for irrigation scheduling we formulated a probabilistic framework that is based on Monte Carlo simulations. The framework can support decisions when full, deficit and supplemental irrigation strategies are applied. For the a global analysis the Deficit Irrigation Toolbox (DIT) is now adapted for a global analysis using ERA5 reanalysis data and large ensemble CESM scenarios for the global climate . It allows the analysis of the impact of information of (i) different scheduling methods (ii) different crop models, (iii) climate variability using recent and future climate scenarios. The results show a prove of concept which facilitates the development of an easy-to-use support tool for decisions about the value of management, climate and soil data and/or a cost benefit analysis of farm irrigation on a local scale.</p>

scholarly journals BEETSOIL: a decision support tool for forecasting the impact of soil conditions on sugar beet harvest

2019 ◽  
Vol 191 ◽  
pp. 131-141
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Gabarron-Galeote ◽  
Jacqueline A. Hannam ◽  
Thomas Mayr ◽  
Patrick J. Jarvis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Sugar Beet ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Innovation Issues in Water, Agriculture and Food

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria do Rosário Cameira ◽  
Luís Santos Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
The Impact

The main challenge faced by agriculture is to produce enough food for a continued increase in population, however in the context of ever-growing competition for water and land, climate change, droughts and anthropic water scarcity, and less-participatory water governance. Such a context implies innovative issues in agricultural water management and practices, at both the field and the system or the basin scales, mainly in irrigation to cope with water scarcity, environmental friendliness, and rural society welfare. Therefore, this special issue was set to present and discuss recent achievements in water, agriculture, and food nexus at different scales, thus to promote sustainable development of irrigated agriculture and to develop integrated approaches to water and food. Papers cover various domains including: (a) evapotranspiration and crop water use; (b) improving water management in irrigated agriculture, particularly irrigation scheduling; (c) adaptation of agricultural systems to enhance water use and water productivity to face water scarcity and climate change; (d) improving irrigation systems design and management adopting multi-criteria and risk approaches; (e) ensuring sustainable management for anthropic ecosystems favoring safe and high-quality food production, as well as the conservation of natural ecosystems; (f) assessing the impact of water scarcity and, mainly, droughts; (g) conservation of water quality resources, namely by preventing contamination with nitrates; (h) use of modern mapping technologies and remote sensing information; and (i) fostering a participative and inclusive governance of water for food security and population welfare.

The multiple personalities of water conservation

Water Policy ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Samani ◽  
R. K. Skaggs
Keyword(s):  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Low Efficiency ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Farm

“Water conservation” means different things to different people and the principles of depletion and diversion are often confounded and misconstrued, particularly when the different perceptions of the value of water and units of analysis are involved. Many public policies and public and private investments have been implemented in the name of conserving water, particularly in irrigated agriculture. Unfortunately, many of these policies and investments cannot make additional water available to new users owing to the nature of closed basin hydrology. The assumption that farmers are low-efficiency irrigators is used to justify transfer of income and wealth to agricultural water users and others through direct investments and cost sharing programs. Instead, these programs serve to sustain and increase consumptive use of water in agriculture and disrupt the existing hydrologic balance. In arid climates, where deficit irrigation is practiced, conventional water conservation measures such as drip irrigation often result in increased depletion at the individual farm level and less water available for other users. This paper discusses water conservation misconceptions, particularly those related to irrigated agriculture in the arid southwestern United States. Deficit irrigation is a common practice throughout the southwest, the region is experiencing rapid population growth and naturally limited water supplies have been exacerbated by current drought conditions. In this paper, the water conservation impacts of drip irrigation, irrigation scheduling and canal lining are discussed in the context of the hydrological assumptions that are used to promote these technologies. The potential of drip irrigation, irrigation scheduling and canal lining to sustain and increase crop evapotranspiration in deficit irrigation environments is illustrated. Given hydrologic conditions, the authors conclude that accurate basin-wide accounting of water use, including equitable distribution based on existing legal entitlements would significantly contribute to water conservation efforts.

scholarly journals Novel simulation-based algorithms for optimal open-loop and closed-loop scheduling of deficit irrigation systems

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Schütze ◽  
M. de Paly ◽  
U. Shamir
Keyword(s):  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Optimization Algorithms ◽  
Optimization Technique ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Open Loop ◽  
Loop Scheduling ◽  
Irrigation Systems ◽  
Programming Technique

The scarcity of water compared with the abundance of land constitutes the main drawback within agricultural production. Besides the improvement of irrigation techniques a task of primary importance is solving the problem of intra-seasonal irrigation scheduling under limited seasonal water supply. An efficient scheduling algorithm has to take into account the crops' response to water stress at different stages throughout the growing season. Furthermore, for large-scale planning tools compact presentations of the relationship between irrigation practices and grain yield, such as crop water production functions, are often used which also rely on an optimal scheduling of the considered irrigation systems. In this study, two new optimization algorithms for single-crop intra-seasonal scheduling of deficit irrigation systems are introduced which are able to operate with general crop growth simulation models. First, a tailored evolutionary optimization technique (EA) searches for optimal schedules over a whole growing season within an open-loop optimization framework. Second, a neuro-dynamic programming technique (NDP) is used for determining optimal irrigation policy. In this paper, different management schemes are considered and crop-yield functions generated with both the EA and the NDP optimization algorithms compared.

scholarly journals Effects of Deficit Irrigation Scheduling on Water Use, Gas Exchange, Yield, and Fruit Quality of Date Palm

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2256
Author(s):  
Maged Mohammed ◽  
Abdelkader Sallam ◽  
Muhammad Munir ◽  
Hassan Ali-Dinar
Keyword(s):  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Fruit Quality ◽  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Date Palm ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Irrigation Systems ◽  
Irrigation Treatments ◽  
And Control

Water scarcity is very common in the arid region due to the low yearly rainfall. The cost of water for agricultural usage is extremely high in dry locations. Date palm is a high water-demanding tree throughout the year in arid regions. Therefore, the application of deficit irrigation strategies for date palm cultivation may significantly contribute to conserving irrigation water. The present study aimed to assess the effects of controlled deficit irrigation using two modern micro-irrigation systems on water use efficiency (WUE), gas exchange, fruit yield, and quality of date palm (Khalas cv.). The irrigation systems included drip irrigation (DI) and subsurface irrigation (SI) systems. The study was conducted during the 2020 and 2021 seasons at the Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. The meteorological variables of the study area were real-time monitored using cloud-based IoT (Internet of Things) to calculate the evapotranspiration reference (ETo) and control the irrigation scheduling. Three irrigation treatments (50, 75, and 100% ETc) were applied using DI and SI systems compared with the traditional surface bubbler irrigation (Control). The actual applied water at the deficit irrigation treatments of 50, 75, and 100% ETc were 27.28 ± 0.06, 44.14 ± 1.07, and 55.55 ± 0.37 m3 palm−1, respectively. At all deficit irrigation treatments, the leaf chlorophyll and gas exchange were significantly higher in the SI compared to the DI system. The yield of date palms did not differ significantly between the control and SI systems at both the level of 100 and 75% ETc. The WUE under the SI (1.09 kg m−3) was significantly higher than the DI system (0.52 kg m−3) at the 50% level. There was no significant difference regarding the fruit quality parameters between SI at 50% ETc and control at 100% ETc. Therefore, adopting deficit irrigation strategies using the SI system at 50% ETc level throughout the year could be suggested for date palm irrigation to save water, improve WUE, and maintain fruit quality.

A model for deficit irrigation analysis of crops

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-53
Author(s):  
K. Adekalu ◽  
D. Okunade
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Maximum Yield ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Cost Ratio ◽  
Water Reduction ◽  
Benefit Cost Ratio ◽  
Benefit Cost

Scarcity and high cost of water is the most important limiting factor for crop production in irrigated agriculture. Deficit irrigation can be implemented to optimize the use of available water resources and put more land on productive use. A model was developed to determine the savings in water and the economic benefit derived from deficit irrigation. The model was tested using yield-water use data of maize, tomato, okra and cowpea grown under irrigated condition in Nigeria. Cowpea is the main source of plant protein in the local diet and okra one of the major vegetable crops planted in Nigeria. The results indicated that some water reduction is possible without affecting yields. The optimum water reduction is 4, 8, 12 and 18% for maize, tomato, okra and cowpea, respectively. Maximum allowable water reduction increased with increase in the benefit-cost ratio of each tested crop. The maximum allowable water reduction is 9, 13, 21 and 32%, with a corresponding increase in cultivated area by 10, 16, 23 and 50% for maize, tomato, okra and cowpea, respectively, at a benefit-cost ratio of 1.5. The model, in most of the years showed that the optimum moisture reduction level increased with increasing seasonal rainfall. Increasing rooting depth or soil water holding capacity also increased the relative maximum yield for water reduction levels up to 40–50%. The developed model would be useful in determining the effect of soil, water, and crop variables on deficit irrigation of crops in different agro-ecological zones with appropriate crop and soil data input, and proper irrigation scheduling.

scholarly journals Water Footprint of main crops in Austria / Wasser-Fußabdruck wichtiger Nutzpflanzen in Österreich

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabina Thaler ◽  
Anne Gobin ◽  
Josef Eitzinger
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yield ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
The Impact

Summary Water is a key resource for human activities and a critical trigger for the welfare of the whole society. The agricultural sector makes up the main share in global freshwater consumption and is therefore responsible for a large part of the water scarcity in many drought prone regions. As an indicator that relates human consumption to global water resources, the “Water Footprint” (WF) concept can be used, where in case of crop production the total consumed water of crop fields for the crop growing seasons is related to the harvested dry matter crop yield (such as grains). In our study, we simulated the green and primary blue WF of selected main crops for Austrian conditions. Different irrigation scheduling scenarios, demonstrated for a main agricultural production area and various crops in Austria with significant irrigation acreage, were studied. The impact of climate and soil conditions on the green crop WFs of reference crops over the whole territory of Austria were simulated in a second step. Sunflower, winter wheat and grain maize showed the highest WF in the semi-arid study regions, especially on soils with low water capacity. In more humid regions, low temperatures were the main limiting factor on the crop yield potential and frequently led to higher WFs due to lower yields.

scholarly journals Integrated management of water resources demand and supply in irrigated agriculture from plot to regional scale

2016 ◽  
Vol 373 ◽  
pp. 51-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Schütze ◽  
Michael Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Stochastic Methods ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Weather Extremes ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Growing water scarcity in agriculture is an increasing problem in future in many regions of the world. Recent trends of weather extremes in Saxony, Germany also enhance drought risks for agricultural production. In addition, signals of longer and more intense drought conditions during the vegetation period can be found in future regional climate scenarios for Saxony. However, those climate predictions are associated with high uncertainty and therefore, e.g. stochastic methods are required to analyze the impact of changing climate patterns on future crop water requirements and water availability. For assessing irrigation as a measure to increase agricultural water security a generalized stochastic approach for a spatial distributed estimation of future irrigation water demand is proposed, which ensures safe yields and a high water productivity at the same time. The developed concept of stochastic crop water production functions (SCWPF) can serve as a central decision support tool for both, (i) a cost benefit analysis of farm irrigation modernization on a local scale and (ii) a regional water demand management using a multi-scale approach for modeling and implementation. The new approach is applied using the example of a case study in Saxony, which is dealing with the sustainable management of future irrigation water demands and its implementation.

scholarly journals Changes in water demands under adaptation actions to climate change in an irrigation district

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waldo Ojeda-Bustamante ◽  
Ronald E. Ontiveros-Capurata ◽  
Jorge Flores-Velázquez ◽  
Mauro Iñiguez-Covarrubias
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Irrigation District ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Water Demands ◽  
Adaptation Action ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Planting Season

Climate change will affect the water balance of irrigated agriculture. Therefore, farmers and irrigation managers should consider adapting to new scenarios. Changes in water demands in a Mexican irrigation district were studied using an irrigation-scheduling model. The impact on water demands of two potential adaptation actions, adjusting planting season and using longer-season varieties (LV), was estimated and compared with a baseline scenario. Two cropping plans (wet and dry) for the last 15 water years were considered. Cumulative and daily irrigation demands were estimated for each agricultural season and each adaptation action. The reference period (1961–1990) and three future climate projections (2011–2040, 2041–2070, 2071–2098) under A1B scenario were used. Results indicated that without adaptation water demands will decrease as temperatures increase and season lengths will shorten. However, as farmers respond with adaptation actions to maintain actual yields, water demand can be higher than non-adaptation action. The impacts of climate change on water demands depend on the adopted adaptation actions and have a greater effect on peak and cumulative demands. The water demands increased by 2.4% when LV were used and 16.3% when this is combined with adjusting planting season. Thus, adaptation actions should be chosen carefully to minimize future agricultural risk.

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