scholarly journals Evaluation of Hydroclimatic Variability and Prospective Irrigation Strategies in the U.S. Corn Belt

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orduña-Alegria ◽  
Schütze ◽  
Niyogi
Keyword(s):  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Corn Belt ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Full Irrigation ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Irrigation Technologies ◽  
The U.S

Changes in climate, land use, and population growth has put immense pressure on the use of water resources in agriculture. Non-irrigated fields suffer from variable water stress, leading to an increase in the implementation of irrigation technologies, thus stressing the need to analyze diverse irrigation practices. An evaluation of 17 sites in the U.S. Corn Belt for two temporal climaticconditions was carried out. It consisted of the analysis of critical hydroclimatic parameters, and the evaluation of seven diverse irrigation strategies using the Deficit Irrigation Toolbox. The strategies included rainfed, full irrigation, and several optimizations of deficit irrigation. The results show a significant change in the hydroclimatic parameters mainly by increased temperature and potential evapotranspiration, and a decrease in precipitation with an increase in intense short rainfall events. Consequently, the simulations indicated the potential of deficit irrigation optimization strategies to increase water productivity above full irrigation and rainfed conditions. In particular, GET-OPTIS for wet soil conditions and the Decision Tables for dry soil conditions seasons. The presentstudy highlights the contributions of atypical weather to crop production and the implications for future management options, and allows specialized regionalization studies with the optimal irrigation strategy.

scholarly journals Deficit irrigation as a sustainable option for improving water productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Ethiopia. A Critical Review 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Desale Asmamaw ◽  
Mekete Desse ◽  
Seifu Tilahun ◽  
Enyew Adgo ◽  
Jan Nyssen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Yield Reduction ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Full Irrigation ◽  
Sub Saharan

<p>Water scarcity is a major limiting factor for crop production by irrigation in sub-Saharan countries. Improved irrigation scheduling that can ensure the optimal use of the allocated water and enhance water productivity (WP) is required to address future water scarcity in the region. Maximizing WP by exposing the crop to a certain level of water stress using deficit irrigation (DI) is considered a promising strategy. To adopt DI strategies, a shred of comprehensive evidence concerning DI for different crops is required. This review aims to provide adequate information about the effect of DI on WP. We reviewed 90 research papers from Ethiopia and summarize the effect of DI on WP and yield. It is shown that DI considerably increased WP compared to full irrigation. Despite higher WP, reduced biomass yield was obtained in some of the studied DI practices compared to full irrigation. It was also found that yield reduction may be low compared to the benefits gained by diverting the saved water to irrigate extra arable land. From this review, we understood that growers must recognize specific soil management and crops before applying DI strategies. Maize revealed the highest (2.65 kg m<sup>-3</sup>) and lowest (0.50 kg m<sup>-3</sup>) WP when irrigated at only the initial stage compared with being fully irrigated in all growth stages, respectively. Also, onion showed a decreasing WP with increased irrigation water from 60% crop water requirement (ETc) (1.84 kg m<sup>-3</sup>) to 100% ETc (1.34 kg m<sup>-3</sup>). Increasing water deficit from 100 to 30% ETc led to an increase of wheat WP by 72.2%. For tomato, the highest WP (7.02 kg m<sup>-3</sup>) was found at 70% ETc followed by 50% ETc (6.98 kg m<sup>-3</sup>) and 85% ETc (6.92 kg m<sup>-3</sup>), while the water application of 100% ETc (or full irrigation) showed the least WP (6.79 kg m<sup>-3</sup>). Teff showed the lowest WP (1.72 kg m<sup>-3</sup>) under optimal irrigation, while it was highest (2.96 kg m<sup>-3</sup>) under 75% ETc throughout the growing season. The regression analysis (R<sup>2</sup>) for WP increment and yield reduction versus saved water showed higher values, indicating that DI could be an option for WP increment and increasing overall yield by expanding irrigated area and applying the saved water in water-scarce regions. In conclusion, in areas where drought stress is the limiting factor for crop production, the application of DI is feasible.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Keywords: Overall yield increase, water productivity, water saved, yield reduction</p>

scholarly journals Performance Evaluation of Sesame under Regulated Deficit Irrigation Application in the Low Land of Western Gondar, Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Sisay Ambachew Mekonnen ◽  
Assefa Sintayehu
Keyword(s):  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Crop Water Productivity ◽  
Moisture Deficit ◽  
North Western ◽  
Western Ethiopia

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is the leading oil seed crop produced in Ethiopia. It is the second most important agricultural commodity for export market in the country. It is well suited as an alternative crop production system, and it has low crop water requirement with moderate resistance to soil moisture deficit. The low land of North Western Ethiopia is the major sesame producer in the country, and the entire production is from rainfed. The rainfall distribution in North Western Ethiopia is significantly varied. This significant rainfall variability hampers the productivity of sesame. Irrigation agriculture has the potential to stabilize crop production and mitigate the negative impacts of variable rainfall. This study was proposed to identify critical growth stages during which sesame is most vulnerable to soil moisture deficit and to evaluate the crop water productivity of sesame under deficit irrigation. The performance of sesame to stage-wise and uniform deficit irrigation scheduling technique was tested at Gondar Agricultural Research Center (Metema Station), Northern Western Ethiopia. Eight treatments, four stage-wise deficit, two uniform deficit, one above optimal, and one optimal irrigation applications, were evaluated during the 2017 irrigation season. The experiment was designed as a randomized complete block design with three replications. Plant phenological variables, grain yield and crop water productivity, were used for performance evaluation. The result showed that deficit irrigation can be applied both throughout and at selected growth stages except the midseason stage. Imposing deficit during the midseason gave the lowest yield indicating the severe effect of water deficit during flowering and capsule initiation stages. When deficit irrigation is induced throughout, a 25% uniform deficit irrigation can give the highest crop water productivity with no or little yield reduction as compared with optimal irrigation. Implementing deficit irrigation scheduling technique will be beneficial for sesame production. Imposing 75% deficit at the initial, development, late season growth stages or 25% deficit irrigation throughout whole seasons will improve sesame crop water productivity.

scholarly journals Luxury transpiration of winter wheat and its responses to deficit irrigation in North China Plain

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 361-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Yueping ◽  
Gao Yang ◽  
Wang Guangshuai ◽  
Si Zhuanyun ◽  
Shen Xiaojun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Experimental Period ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
Full Irrigation ◽  
Daily Transpiration

Reducing crop luxury transpiration is an important step in improving water productivity; water shortage regions are potential hotspots for studying physiological water conservation. This study investigated the amount of luxury transpiration in winter wheat and its responses to different irrigation treatments in North China Plain. The results showed that luxury transpiration existed and increased with growth of winter wheat and after rainfall. In each sampling day, the amount of luxury transpiration under full irrigation was significantly higher than that under deficit irrigation. The average amount of luxury transpiration was 258.87 g/m<sup>2</sup> under full irrigation, and 125.18 g/m<sup>2</sup> under deficit irrigation during the experimental period. Although the amount of luxury transpiration was 2.09-fold higher under full irrigation than that in deficit irrigation, the water loss ratio due to luxury transpiration in deficit irrigation (8.13%) was significantly higher than that in full irrigation (6.75%). Furthermore, the ratio between luxury transpiration amount and crop daily transpiration was revealed in all sampling dates. Therefore, deficit irrigation should be generalized in the water shortage area, because it can save irrigation water and reduce the amount of luxury transpiration. Full irrigation should be carried out in the water abundant region mainly for higher production.

scholarly journals Adapatation of Sowing Date for Improving Sorghum Yield in Rainfed Areas in Sudan Using AQUACROP Model

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 220
Author(s):  
Mohammed Abd Almahamoud Alshikh ◽  
Hassn Ibrahim M. ◽  
Salah Abdel Rahman Salih ◽  
Ali Hussien Kadhim ◽  
Khalid Abd Almageed M.
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Sowing Date ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
World Population ◽  
Aquacrop Model ◽  
Rain Fall

Due to the rapid growth in world population, the pressure on water resources to feed the growing population is increasing. The Nile water share of Sudan is almost exploited; and agricultural production by rained water is threatened by the pressure of climate change. It is inevitable that the production per unit water consumed, the water productivity, must be increased to meet this challenge. This research therefore focuses on the benchmarking of physical water productivity in rain fed areas and gaining a better understanding of the temporal and spatial variations and the scope for possible improvement. A review of the available records and sources that provide measurements of crop-water productivity was consulted to assess plausible ranges of water productivity levels for rain fed Sorghum crop and to provide a first explanation for the differences that are found using AQUACROP model. As such this study may be considered as crucial step was to establish a water productivity database for the rain fed sorghum crop in the country. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) which is the most important cereal crop in Sudan has been constrained by the detrimental effect of drought which has often caused food shortages. Almost 90% of the total sorghum cropped area is rain-fed, and 60% of that is in drought prone soil conditions. Spatial information on water use, crop production and water productivity will play a vital role for water managers to assess where scarce water resources are wasted and where in a given region the water productivity can be improved. Hence, a methodology has been developed in this study to quantify spatial variation of crop yield, evapotranspiration and water productivity using the AQUACROP model in five stations. The AQUACROP model is used to investigate optimum sowing date that result in maximization of grain yield.Benchmarking of rain fed Sorghum actual and potential grain efficiency in different agro-climate zones was made for the year 1979 to 2013. AQUACROP model was applied at five locations (Gedaref, Damazin, Dalang, El Fashir, and El Obyied) each representing an agro-climate zone. Causes of poor yield performance were investigated and consequently measures needed to improve performance were identified. The study indicates that increase in sorghum yields under historical climate conditions in the different studied stations is possible when early sowing is used and initial rain showers are utilized, yield decrease by 43% when sowing date is delayed from July 15 (the recommended date) to August 1. Stations with high rain fall (Damazin, Gadaref and Dalang) show little variations in inter-annual yields but with a tendency towards high yields, 3536, 3741, 3737 kg/fed for the above stations respectively compared to 2266 and 1086 kg/fed for El Obyied and El Fashir respectively at 15 June. The obtained WUE is lower in the driest regions (El Fashir, and El Obyied) and higher for those of high rain fall. To aid decision makers and crop growers in rain fed areas a set of recommendations for policy making and for future research were identified.

Modeling Evapotranspiration and Crop Growth of Irrigated and Non-Irrigated Corn in the Texas High Plains Using RZWQM

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1653-1666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huihui Zhang ◽  
Robert Wayne Malone ◽  
Liwang Ma ◽  
Lajpat R. Ahuja ◽  
Saseendran S. Anapalli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Stress Factors ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Area Index

Abstract. Accurate quantification and management of crop evapotranspiration (ET) are critical to optimizing crop water productivity for both dryland and irrigated agriculture, especially in the semiarid regions of the world. In this study, four weighing lysimeters in Bushland, Texas, were planted to maize in 1994 with two fully irrigated and two non-irrigated for measuring crop ET. The Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2) was used to evaluate soil water balance and crop production with potential evapotranspiration (PET) estimated from either the Shuttleworth-Wallace method (PTSW) or the ASCE standardized alfalfa reference ET multiplied by crop coefficients (PTASCE). As a result, two water stress factors were defined from actual transpiration (AT) and were tested in the model against the lysimeter data, i.e., AT/PTSW and AT/PTASCE. For both water stress factors, the simulated daily ET values were reasonably close to the measured values, with underestimated ET during mid-growing stage in both non-irrigated lysimeters. Root mean squared deviations (RMSDs) and relative RMSDs (RMSD/observed mean) values for leaf area index, biomass, soil water content, and daily ET were within simulation errors reported earlier in the literature. For example, the RMSDs of simulated daily ET were less than 1.52 mm for all irrigated and non-irrigated lysimeters. Overall, ET was simulated within 3% of the measured data for both fully irrigated lysimeters and undersimulated by less than 11% using both stress factors for the non-irrigated lysimeters. Our results suggest that both methods are promising for simulating crop production and ET under irrigated conditions, but the methods need to be improved for dryland and non-irrigated conditions. Keywords: ET, RZWQM modeling, Stress factor, Weighing lysimeter.

scholarly journals Effect of Drought, Nitrogen Fertilization, Temperature, and Photoperiodicity on Quinoa Plant Growth and Development in the Sahel

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvar-Beltrán ◽  
Dao ◽  
Marta ◽  
Saturnin ◽  
Casini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
N Fertilization ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Sowing Dates ◽  
Four Levels

Drought, heat stress, and unfavorable soil conditions are key abiotic factors affecting quinoa’s growth and development. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of progressive drought and N-fertilization reduction on short-cycle varieties of quinoa (c.v. Titicaca) for different sowing dates during the dry season (from October to December). A two-year experimentation (2017–2018 and 2018–2019) was carried out in Burkina Faso with four levels of irrigation (full irrigation—FI, progressive drought—PD, deficit irrigation—DI and extreme deficit irrigation—EDI) and four levels of N-fertilization (100, 50, 25, and 0 kg N ha−1). Plant phenology and development, just like crop outputs in the form of yield, biomass, and quality of the seeds were evaluated for different sowing dates having different temperature ranges and photoperiodicity. Crop water productivity (CWP) function was used for examining plant’s water use efficiency under drought stress conditions. Emerging findings have shown that CWP was highest under DI and PD (0.683 and 0.576 kg m−3, respectively), while highest yields were observed in 2017–2018 under PD and its interaction with 25 to 50 kg N ha−1 (1356 and 1110 kg ha−1, respectively). Mean temperatures close to 25 °C were suitable for optimal plant growth, while extreme temperatures at anthesis limited the production of grains. Small changes in photoperiodicity from different sowing dates were not critical for plant growth.

scholarly journals Onion Crop Response to Regulated Deficit Irrigation under Mulching in Dry Mediterranean Region

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Mubarak ◽  
Altayeb Hamdan
Keyword(s):  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Total Yield ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
Regulated Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Level

Abstract Enhancing water productivity for sustainable crop production and water savings represents a major challenge for agricultural water management. Pot experiments under open field conditions were conducted for two years, 2016 and 2017, to assess the effects of regulated deficit irrigation under mulch on onion crop production, following a 2 × 3 factorial experiment with two soil cover systems (wheat straw mulch and no-mulch) and three irrigation levels (100%, 80%, and 60% of crop evapotranspiration), with six replications.The results indicated that onion plants were responsive to straw mulching. Bulb diameter, total yield, dry matter, and water productivity were significantly enhanced under mulch whatever the irrigation level used. The seasonal crop water requirements also considerably decreased (about 33%). The results also showed the sensitivity of onion to water stress. Yield, dry matter, and water productivity were higher under full irrigation compared to the deficit irrigation. However, when mulch was used, regulated deficit irrigation highly significantly improved water productivity and onion crop quality and quantity; and this approach could be a promising management practice to meet water shortage consequences in the dry Mediterranean region.

scholarly journals Optimized cultivar deployment improves the efficiency and stability of sunflower crop production at national scale

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Casadebaig ◽  
Arnaud Gauffreteau ◽  
Amélia Landré ◽  
Nicolas B. Langlade ◽  
Emmanuelle Mestries ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Optimization Methods ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Crop Performance ◽  
Stress Patterns

AbstractPlant breeding programs design new crop cultivars which, while developed for distinct populations of environments, are nevertheless grown over large areas during their careers. Over its cultivation area, the crop is exposed to highly diverse stress patterns caused by climatic uncertainty and multiple management options, which often leads to decreased expected crop performance.In this study, we aim is to assess how finer spatial management of genetic resources could reduce the genotype-phenotype mismatch in cropping environments and ultimately improve the efficiency and stability of crop production. We used modeling and simulation to predict the crop performance resulting from the interaction between cultivar growth and development, climate and soil conditions, and management practices. We designed a computational experiment that evaluated the performance of a collection of commercial sunflower cultivars in a realistic population of cropping conditions in France, built from extensive agricultural surveys. Distinct farming locations that shared similar simulated abiotic stress patterns were clustered together to specify environment types. Optimization methods were then used to search for cultivars × environments combinations that lead to increased yield expectations.Results showed that a single cultivar choice adapted to the most frequent environment-type in the population is a robust strategy. However, the relevance of cultivar recommendations to specific locations was gradually increasing with the knowledge of pedo-climatic conditions. We argue that this approach while being operational on current genetic material could act synergistically with plant breeding as more diverse material could enable access to cultivars with distinctive traits, more adapted to specific conditions.

Lucerne yield, water productivity and persistence under variable and restricted irrigation strategies

2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 563 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Rogers ◽  
A. R. Lawson ◽  
K. B. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Deficit Irrigation ◽  
Plant Density ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Full Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Regime ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Forage Species ◽  
Irrigation Treatments

Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) has the potential to be grown widely under water-limiting conditions in the dairy region of northern Victoria and southern New South Wales, Australia, possibly because of its greater water productivity and because irrigation management of lucerne can be more flexible compared with other forage species. A large-scale field experiment was conducted at Tatura in northern Victoria, over 5 years to determine the effects of limiting (deficit) and non-limiting irrigation management on the dry matter (DM) production, water productivity (irrigation and total water productivity) and stand density (or persistence) of lucerne. Nine irrigation treatments were imposed that included full irrigation, partial irrigation and no irrigation in either a single, or over consecutive, irrigation seasons. In the fifth year of the experiment, all plots received the full irrigation treatment to examine plant recovery from the previous irrigation treatments. In any one year, there was a linear relationship between DM production and total water supply (irrigation plus rainfall plus changes in soil water) such that DM production decreased as the total water supply – due to deficit irrigation – decreased. Over the 5 years, annual DM production ranged from 1.4 to 17.7 t DM ha–1 with the highest production occurring in plots that received full irrigation. Irrigation water productivity was inversely related to the amount of water used and was higher in the treatments that had only been partially irrigated for that year compared with the treatments that had been fully watered for that year. Total water productivity values were significantly lower only in the treatments that had not been irrigated for that year, and there was little difference between the treatments that were only partially watered during the year and the fully watered treatments (range 9.1–12.2 kg DM ha–1 mm–1 for Year 4). There was no significant reduction in plant density or plant persistence in those plots where deficit irrigation had been imposed. However, the high irrigation regime and poor drainage in the fully irrigated border-check plots significantly reduced plant density and allowed weed infestation in the fifth year of the experiment. These results suggest that, although lucerne DM production is directly related to total water use and may be significantly reduced in the irrigation regions of south-eastern Australia in seasons when water is restricted, the lucerne stand is able to fully recover once a full irrigation regime is resumed. This makes lucerne an ideal forage species for situations when water is limiting.

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