Efficacy of benzyladenine for compensating the reduction in soybean productivity under low water supply

Undoubtedly, drought is a negative consequence of climate change. Farmers have to deal with this issue and may be forced to irrigate their crops with less water than required, however reduction in productivity is anticipated. Thus, two–year field trials were conducted to assess the impact of irrigation regimes (60, 80 and 100% of crop evapotranspiration, denoted ET60, ET80, and ET100, respectively) and benzyladenine rates (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg L−1, symbolized as BA0, BA50, BA100, BA150, BA200, respectively) on soybean. Findings clarified that the maximum increases in plant height and net assimilation rate were obtained with the interactions of ET100 or ET80 x BA200 or BA150 in both seasons. ET80 x BA200 (in both seasons) and ET100 x BA150 (in the first season) were as similar as ET100 x BA200 for enhancing pods number plant−1. Irrigation water use efficiency progressively increased with decreasing irrigation water amount and increasing benzyladenine rate. In conclusion, the reduction in seed yield due to lowering water supply up to 80% of crop evapotranspiration (with saving 20% of irrigation water) could be compensated using benzyladenine, 150 mg L−1, thus it should be involved in soybean irrigation programs.

Response of onion crop to bulb set size and planting date under mulching in dry Mediterranean environment

<p class="042abstractstekst">The present pot experiment under open field conditions was conducted to evaluate the response of onion crop to bulb set size and planting date using mulching. Two different sizes of onion sets at planting (large (6-10 g) and small (2-6 g)) and three different planting dates (February, March, and April) with two soil coverings (with and without straw mulching) were tested. Treatments were replicated three times. Onion was not exposed to any drought stress during the course of the experiment.<br />Results indicated that the larger bulb sets which were planted earlier under mulching, maximised the total bulb yield (Yield, 44.0 t ha^-1), water use efficiency (WUE, 8.37 kg m^-3), and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE, 9.57 kg m^-3). Moreover, findings revealed that onion crop appreciably respond to smaller bulb sets when they were planted earlier under mulching. Onion bulb responses were predicted to be linearly increased with the earliness in planting date, with an obvious better preference under mulching and heavier bulb sets. Hence, adopting early planting date with mulching is suggested for sustainable crop production and for enhancing water use efficiency in dry Mediterranean area.</p>

Irrigation Water Use Efficiency in Olive Trees in Kairouan, Tunisia

This study evaluated the technical efficiency and irrigation water use efficiency of olive farms in Tunisia, using Data Envelopment Analysis. In order to calibrate and validate the findings, data related to area, water use, water quality, cultivar, input, and yield were collected based on interviews from 45 irrigated olive farms in Kairouan Governorate. The results show that average input-oriented water use efficiency under the CRS and VRS specifications is 17.2% and 36.3%, respectively, indicating that the sampled olive farms could reduce the use of water by an average of 82.8% and 63.7% by improving the performance of irrigation systems. Also, it was found that there are large differences in irrigation water use efficiency between the CRS and VRS specifications. Consequently, this indicates that a number of olive farms can enhance overall efficiency by improving the scale of operation. In practical terms, this study provides significant insights for the olive growers in this study regarding the importance of removing scale inefficiency. Specifically, they need to consider the effects of water and soil quality on irrigated fields to improve the efficiency of irrigation water use.

Improving Irrigation Water Use Efficiency of Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Production in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam

Recent prolonged dry periods and lack of irrigation water have severely affected the productivity of coffee farms in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. This paper analyzes the efficiency of irrigation water use for Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) in the Lam Dong province. A Cobb–Douglas production function was used to determine coffee productivity’s response to the application of irrigation water and other production factors using data collected from 194 farmers, while the technical efficiency (TE) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) were analyzed using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. The correlation of different factors to IWUE was determined using the Tobit model. The production function analysis using Cobb–Douglas shows that the volume of irrigation water, amount of working capital, labor, and farm size significantly influence coffee productivity. Indigenous farmers are more efficient in utilizing irrigation water than migrant farmers. The Tobit result indicates that farmers’ experience, education level, the distance of farm to water sources, security of access to water sources, extension contact, and credit access significantly affect IWUE. The study findings further suggest that mitigating water shortages in coffee farms require subregional and national policy support such as better access to credit and extension services, training, land management, and household-level efforts to improve farming practices through the application of appropriate technologies and traditional knowledge.

Assessment of Irrigation Water Use Efficiency in Citrus Orchards Using AHP

Irrigation water use efficiency, the small size of the orchards, and part-time farmers are major issues for Spanish citriculture. How should irrigation water use efficiency be assessed? Does irrigation water use efficiency improve when increasing the size of the orchards? Are full-time farmers more efficient in irrigation water use than part-time ones? To address these three questions, we propose to apply a new multicriteria approach based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique and the participation of a group of experts. A new synthetic irrigation efficiency index (IEI) was proposed and tested using data from an irrigation community (IC) and a cooperative of farmers in the East of Spain. The results showed that the size of the orchards had no relation with the IEI scoring but full-time farmers tended to have better IEI scores and, thus, were more efficient. These results were obtained from a sample of 24 orchards of oranges, navelina variety, growing in a very similar environment, and agronomical characteristics. The proposed methodology can be a useful benchmarking tool for improving the irrigation water management in other ICs taking into account the issues related to farm data sharing recorded during the case study.