Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2022) | Viewed by 22713

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gonçalo C. Rodrigues

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture And Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: precision irrigation; farming sustainability; agroeconomics; water resource management; irrigation efficiecy; precision agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The existence and persistence of climate change as well as the global impact of all its environmental ramifications makes evident the need to resort to ancestral practices in overcoming the combined impact of two climatic phenomena―the reduction in precipitation and the increase in temperature―on water balance. The climatic variability, (in)ability to irrigate, (un)availability of water, soil fertility, risk management in the face of extreme events, favorable conditions for organisms harmful to crops, and the alteration of phytosanitary systems are the main critical variables in mitigating the expected effects of climate change on agriculture. It is essential that the efficiency of water and energy use and management is improved in a transversal way, aiming, on the one hand, to increase the economic productivity of the exploration, and, on the other, to increase the availability of water for more irrigation, accompanied by a decrease in the negative environmental impacts associated with this practice.

This Special Issue calls for contributions on the following non-exclusive list of topics: irrigation strategies for improving water use efficiency, irrigation water management and modeling under climate change scenarios, irrigation systems and technologies for improving irrigation water and energy use efficiency, individual/collective irrigation management support platforms, and precision irrigation.

Prof. Dr. Gonçalo C. Rodrigues
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

irrigation water use efficiency
irrigation scheduling and management
sustainable irrigation practices
climate change
water scarcity
precision irrigation
IoT sensors
irrigation networks
energy use efficiency
decision support systems
economic impacts of irrigation efficiency
irrigation system assessment

Published Papers (10 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

20 pages, 3891 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Co-Implementation of Tillage, Precision Nitrogen, and Water Management Enhances Water Productivity, Economic Returns, and Energy-Use Efficiency of Direct-Seeded Rice

by Vijay Pratap, Anchal Dass, Shiva Dhar, Subhash Babu, Vinod Kumar Singh, Raj Singh, Prameela Krishnan, Susama Sudhishri, Arti Bhatia, Sarvendra Kumar, Anil Kumar Choudhary, Renu Singh, Pramod Kumar, Susheel Kumar Sarkar, Sunil Kumar Verma, Kavita Kumari and Aye Aye San

Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11234; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su141811234 - 07 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1404

Abstract

The sustainability of conventional rice (Oryza sativa L.) production systems is often questioned due to the over-mining of groundwater and environmental degradation. This has led to the development of cost-effective, resource-efficient, and environmentally clean rice production systems by optimizing water and nitrogen (N) use. Hence, a 2-year field study (2019 and 2020) was conducted at the ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, to assess the effect of precision N and water management strategies on growth, land, and water productivity, as well as energy-use efficiency in scented direct-seeded rice (DSR). Two crop establishment methods, conventional-till DSR (CT-DSR) and zero-till DSR (ZT-DSR) along with three irrigation scenarios (assured irrigation (irrigation after 72 h of the drying of surface water), irrigation at 20% depletion of available soil moisture (DASM), and 40% DASM+Si (80 kg ha⁻¹)) were assigned to the main plots; three N management options, a 100% recommended dose of N (RDN): 150 kg ha⁻¹; Nutrient Expert® (NE®)+leaf color chart (LCC) and NE®+soil plant analysis development (SPAD) meter-based N management were allocated to sub-plots in a three-time replicated split-plot design. The CT-DSR produced 1.4, 11.8, and 89.4, and 2.4, 18.8, and 152.8% more grain yields, net returns, and net energy in 2019 and 2020, respectively, over ZT-DSR. However, ZT-DSR recorded 8.3 and 10.7% higher water productivity (WP) than CT-DSR. Assured irrigation resulted in 10.6, 16.1 16.9, and 8.1 and 12.3, 21.8 20.6, and 6.7% higher grain yields, net returns, net energy, and WP in 2019 and 2020, respectively, over irrigation at 20% DASM. Further, NE®+SPAD meter-based N management saved 27.1% N and recorded 9.6, 18.3, 16.8, and 8.3, and 8.8, 21.7, 19.9, and 10.7% greater grain yields, net returns, net energy, and WP over RDN in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Thus, the study suggested that the NE®+SPAD-based N application is beneficial over RDN for productivity, resource-use efficiency, and N-saving (~32 kg ha⁻¹) both in CA-based and conventionally cultivated DSR. This study also suggests irrigating DSR after 72 h of the drying of surface water; however, under obviously limited water supplies, irrigation can be delayed until 20% DASM, thus saving two irrigations, which can be diverted to additional DSR areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 2991 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Extended Assessment of Sprinkler Irrigation Uniformity in Greenhouses Using GIS and Hydraulic Modeling

by Iñigo Barberena, Miguel Ángel Campo-Bescós and Javier Casalí

Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9723; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14159723 - 07 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1526

Abstract

Traditionally, distribution uniformity has been obtained by using rain gauges, which makes it a very expensive process. This paper sought to create a simulation strategy using QGIS and EPANET, both free software, that allowed the simulation of the water application results of all the emitters of an irrigation installation. In this way, it was possible to obtain the geospatial representation of the applied water and finally to know the distribution uniformity in the whole installation. The simulation finally fulfilled its objective and was compared with a study of distribution uniformity with rain gauges. The biggest difference between the measured and simulated data was a difference of 5.76% among the sectors. The simulated uniformity was very similar to the measured uniformity, which allowed us to affirm that the proposed simulation methodology was adequate. We believe that the methodology proposed in this article could be very useful in improving the management of sprinkler irrigation systems, particularly those in which distribution uniformity is of special importance. These improvements in management can also result in savings in water and other inputs, which are becoming increasingly important in the current context of climate change and the reduction in the impact of agriculture on the environment. Finally, similar studies could be carried out with the same tools for other pressurized irrigation systems, such as sprinkler irrigation outside greenhouses and drip irrigation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 5876 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Surface Irrigation Contributes to Climate Change Resilience—A Case Study of Practices in Mexico

by Carlos Chávez, Sebastián Fuentes, Carlos Fuentes, Fernando Brambila-Paz and Josué Trejo-Alonso

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7689; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14137689 - 23 Jun 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1782

Abstract

Climate change has brought increased temperatures and decreased rainfall on a global scale; however, population growth requires greater volumes of water and food each year that must be supplied in one way or another. In Mexico, application efficiencies in gravity irrigation are below 50%. Although in recent years the decision has been made to change to pressurized irrigation systems to increase the efficiency of water use, border or furrow irrigation is still the most widely used in agriculture. In this work, we show that with a methodology developed and applied in these systems, application efficiencies greater than 90% were obtained, while the Water Use Efficiency (WUE) increased by 27, 38 and 47% for the three crops where it was applied: sorghum, barley, and corn, respectively. Irrigation times per hectare and applied irrigation depths decreased by more than 30%, representing increased irrigation efficiencies and WUE. Finally, the water savings obtained can mitigate water scarcity in cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 3729 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Different Irrigation Management Practices on Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

by Trevor W. Crosby and Yi Wang

Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10187; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131810187 - 12 Sep 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2192

Abstract

Decisions in irrigation management can greatly impact the overall sustainability of potato production. A field study was conducted in 2018 and 2019 to evaluate the impacts of different irrigation regimes on yield and quality of three russet potato varieties. For Russet Burbank, fry quality at harvest and at 4 and 8 months after harvest was assessed. During early growth stages, the standard practice of irrigating to maintain 60–80% soil moisture was employed. The irrigation treatments were applied during the late tuber bulking and maturation growth stages, and consisted of irrigation at 125%, 100%, 75%, and 50% of daily evapotranspiration (ET). We found that 125%ET provided no increase in total yield and marketable yield compared to other treatments in 2018, and it produced similar marketable yield to 100%ET in 2019. Total yield, but not marketable yield, of 125%ET and 100%ET was significantly higher than the number under 50%ET in 2019. In both years, increasing irrigation rate led to a decrease in irrigation efficiency and water-use efficiency. Irrigation rate had no significant effects on tuber quality at harvest and during storage. This study indicated that over-irrigation at 125%ET was not beneficial to profitable potato production in the Upper Midwest of the US, and deficit irrigation at 75%ET during late tuber bulking and tuber maturation could potentially result in more sustainable water use while not jeopardizing tuber growth. The results support the possibility of adopting late-season deficit irrigation for growing potatoes in the region, though more years of research would allow for a better understanding of the impacts of this practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 3336 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating the Feasibility of Water Sharing as a Drought Risk Management Tool for Irrigated Agriculture

by Rishma Chengot, Jerry W. Knox and Ian P. Holman

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1456; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13031456 - 30 Jan 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2623

Abstract

Droughts can exert significant pressure on regional water resources resulting in abstraction constraints for irrigated agriculture with consequences for productivity and revenue. While water trading can support more efficient water allocation, high transactional costs and delays in approvals often restrict its wider uptake among users. Collaborative water sharing is an alternative approach to formal water trading that has received much less regulatory and industry attention. This study assessed how the potential benefits of water sharing to reduce water resources risks in agriculture are affected by both drought severity and the spatial scale of water-sharing agreements. The research focused on an intensively farmed lowland catchment in Eastern England, a known hot-spot for irrigation intensity and recurrent abstraction pressures. The benefits of water sharing were modelled at four spatial scales: (i) individual licence (with no water sharing), (ii) tributary water sharing among small farmer groups (iii) sub-catchment and (iv) catchment scale. The benefits of water sharing were evaluated based on the modelled reductions in the probability of an irrigation deficit occurring (reducing drought risks) and reduced licensed ‘headroom’ (spare capacity redeployed for more equitable allocation). The potential benefits of water sharing were found to increase with scale, but its impact was limited at high levels of drought severity due to regulatory drought management controls. The broader implications for water sharing to mitigate drought impacts, the barriers to wider uptake and the environmental consequences are discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 8424 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Price of Sustainability of a Traditional Irrigation System in Northern Thailand

by Arriya Mungsunti and Kevin A. Parton

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1375; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13031375 - 28 Jan 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2552

Abstract

In recent years in northern Thailand, the traditional surface-water irrigation system known as muang fai has been challenged by the introduction of small-scale, groundwater pumping technology. This trend presents concerns about the sustainability of the system, as the new technology uses more water but produces lower-quality agricultural outputs. In this paper, we provide evidence that farmers who use relatively modern irrigation technology (ground water pumping systems) are willing to switch to a more traditional (hundreds of years old) and more sustainable surface water irrigation system. In the Sop Rong region in northern Thailand, we surveyed 570 longan farmers, approximately half being muang fai members and half using pumped groundwater. We designed an experiment for the second group to check whether they were interested in becoming muang fai members in a scenario where they have access to the canal system. We found that almost half of them were willing to pay fees to become members and that the negative relationship between membership fees and the willingness to join is robust after controlling for all other relevant factors. Despite this positive result for sustainability, suggesting that there is a price at which many farmers would be willing to switch to a more water-saving system, few farmers are making the shift. We conclude that there are strong social pressures that discourage them from doing so. Such social influences are probably an important and often overlooked determinant of efforts to achieve sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 4293 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Precise Land Levelling on Surface Irrigation Development. Impacts on Maize Water Productivity and Economics

by Qingfeng Miao, José M. Gonçalves, Ruiping Li, Diana Gonçalves, Tiago Levita and Haibin Shi

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1191; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13031191 - 23 Jan 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2259

Abstract

The new technologies of surface irrigation require the adoption of effective Laser-controlled precision land levelling (PLL) to reach the high irrigation performance standards, with significant benefits on water saving, salinity control, crop productivity, and farmer’s income. This study aimed to assess the performance and the impacts of PLL on surface irrigation systems, focusing the maize crop on the irrigation districts Hetao (China) and Lower-Mondego (Portugal). The experimental study at field scale assessed the PLL and evaluated the on-farm irrigation under precise levelled fields and well management practices. PLL operators have been inquired to improve the knowledge about hiring services. The design of surface irrigation scenarios allowed to explain the effects of field size and slope on irrigation and land levelling performance. The best practice to manage the PLL maintenance is an important issue to guarantee a high effectiveness of irrigation performance. The optimization of PLL appeals the application of best soil tillage practices and the monitoring of soil surface elevations with newest information technologies. Efficient operational guidelines to support the PLL planning, schedule, and operation, well trained operators and carefully adjusted equipment, are key factors to the improvement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 159400 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Catchworks: A Historical Water-Distribution System on Mountain Meadows in Central Slovakia

by Martina Slámová, Juraj Hreško, František Petrovič and Henrich Grežo

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1107; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13031107 - 21 Jan 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2060

Abstract

Water meadows or flooded meadows are known from many European countries. A historical irrigation system—catchworks—was identified in only one locality in Slovakia. This article brings a methodical approach to the identification of catchworks on mountain slopes. The main aim was to delineate catchworks using terrain and land use geospatial data intended to supplement existing data on catchworks from the field survey. The identification of shallow and narrow channels in the field is difficult, and their detection in a digital terrain model (DTM) and orthomosaic photos is also challenging. A detailed DTM elaborated from laser scanning data was not available. Therefore, we employed break lines of a Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) model created by EUROSENSE Ltd. 2017, Bratislava, Slovakia. to determine microtopographic features on mountain slopes. Orthomosaics with adjusted red (R) green (G) and blue (B) band thresholds (digital numbers) in a time sequence of 16 years (2002–2018) and the Normalized Green-Red Difference Index (NGRDI) (2018) determined vital herbaceous vegetation and higher biomass. In both cases, the vegetation inside wet functional catchworks was differently coloured from the surroundings. In the case of dry catchworks, the identification relied only on microtopography features. The length of catchworks mapped in the field (1939.12 m; 2013) was supplied with potential catchworks detected from geospatial data (2877.18; 2018) and their total length in the study area increased above 59.74% (4816.30 m). Real and potential catchworks predominantly occupied historical grassland (meadows and pastures) (1952–1957) (4430.31; 91.99%). This result corresponds with the findings of foreign studies referring that catchworks on mountain slopes were related to livestock activities. They are important elements of sustainable land use with a water retention function in traditional agricultural landscapes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2286 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Simple Procedure to Estimate Reference Evapotranspiration during the Irrigation Season in a Hot-Summer Mediterranean Climate

by Gonçalo C. Rodrigues and Ricardo P. Braga

Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 349; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13010349 - 02 Jan 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2045

Abstract

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Penman–Monteith (PM) method is widely regarded as the most effective reference evapotranspiration (ETo) estimator; however, it requires a wide range of data that may be scarce in some rural regions. When feasible relative humidity, solar radiation and wind speed data are unavailable, a temperature-based method may be useful to estimate ETo and provide suitable data to support irrigation management. This study has evaluated the accuracy of two ETo estimations methods: (1) a locally and monthly adjusted Hargreaves–Samani (HS) equation; (2) a simple procedure that only uses maximum temperature and a temperature adjustment coefficient (MaxTET). Results show that, if a monthly adjusted radiation adjustment coefficient (k_Rs) is calibrated for each site, acceptable ETo estimations (RMSE and R² equal to 0.79 for the entire region) can be achieved. Results also show that a procedure to estimate ETo based only on maximum temperature performs acceptably, when compared with ETo estimation using PM equation (RMSE = 0.83 mm day⁻¹ and R² = 0.77 for Alentejo). When comparing these results with the ones attained when adopting a monthly adjusted HS method, the MaxTET procedure proves to be an accurate ETo estimator. Results also show that both methods can be used to estimate ETo when weather data are scarce. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2239 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improving Water Distribution Uniformity by Optimizing the Structural Size of the Drive Spoon Blades for a Vertical Impact Sprinkler

by Pan Tang, Chao Chen and Hong Li

Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7574; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12187574 - 14 Sep 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1849

Abstract

The aim of this study is to improve the water distribution uniformity of a vertical impact sprinkler and explore the design method of the drive spoon blades. The width of straight blades (h₁), the width of curved blades (h₂) and number of blades (s) were chosen as the experiential variables. The suitable ranges of three variables for response surface method were determined initially by one-factor experimental design method, and 17 different drive spoons were designed according to response surface methodology. The results showed that in the one-factor experimental condition, the CU (Christiansen’s uniformity coefficient) values first increased and decreased slightly when h₁ exceeded 3 mm with the increase of h₁ within the variation range of the experimental factor. The CU values firstly increased and then decreased with the increase of h₂. The CU values decreased rapidly when s was less than 3 or greater than 6. The relationship between CU values and h₁, h₂ and s was established using response surface methodology. The p-values for h₁, h₂ and s were 0.0359, 0.0092, 0.0212, and all of the selected factors were significant on CU. The order of parameters affecting CU were h₂, h₁ and s. The ideal parameters for the drive spoon blades were h₁ = 6 mm, h₂ = 4 mm, and s = 3. CU was greatly improved after the optimization of structure for the drive spoon blades, which increased to 87.96% from 73.12%. After optimization, the application rates within 1 to 5 m were improved and increased from 10% to 15% with an average of 10.7% under different operating pressures. The maximum application rates decreased from 9.3, 9.3, 9.4 and 8.4 mm·h⁻¹ to 8.5, 8.4, 8.5 and 7.9 mm·h⁻¹ with operating pressures of 300, 400, 500 and 600 kPa, respectively. The maximum application rates in the overlap area were decreased from 18, 16, 16 and 15 mm·h⁻¹ to 16, 14, 14 and 12 mm·h⁻¹ with operating pressures of 300, 400, 500 and 600 kPa, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Systems Assessment

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (10 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI