Abstract
The study area is the Upper and Middle Modder River basin situated in a semi-arid area of central South Africa. This is an important catchment because of the relatively large nearby towns of Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu. Crop production in the basin using conventional production techniques is currently not suitable due to marginal and erratic rainfall, and high evaporative demand, as well as low precipitation use efficiency on the clay and duplex soils caused by large runoff and evaporation losses. A labour-intensive in-field rain-water harvesting (IRWH) technique for crop production recently introduced into a part of the basin occupied by communal farmers has been shown to increase maize and sunflower yields by 30 to 50% compared to conventional tillage, making crop production utilising this technique a feasible proposition for these farmers. The area of land suitable for the IRWH in the basin is estimated to be 80 667 ha, of which 15 000 ha is located in the communal land. The two catchment management options compared in this paper are: • Allowing the 80 667 ha to remain under grassland and utilising the runoff downstream for irrigating maize • Utilising the 80 667 ha for maize production in the basin using the IRWH technique. Results showed that the expected maize production from the options shown above were 23 040t and 137 134t respectively. The large unproductive water losses during storage and conveyance to downstream use points are probably the main reason for this large difference in production. An economic analysis, which enabled the grazing benefit to be included in the first option, shows that the gross margin of this option, expressed as R/m3 of rain water utilized, could be expected to be between 0.0234 to 0.0254 under current conditions, of which irrigation contributed about 25% or less. The comparable value for the IRWH option was 0.0354. The second option is clearly shown to be the most preferable, with high socio-economic benefits for the communal farmers who are currently struggling to achieve sustainable livelihoods. Water SA Vol. 32(2) 2006: pp.223-228
Highlights
In a new paradigm shift related to integrated water resource management (IWRM) in the context of a river basin, attention is being drawn to consider the upstream ‘on-site’ influences on the various water use entities, as well as the downstream ‘off-site’ impacts arising from them
If all the runoff from this portion of the catchment were to be retained for on-site use for crop production using the in-field rain-water harvesting (IRWH) technique, it is estimated that it will reduce the mean annual runoff from 94.42 x 106 m3 to 68.67 x 106 m3, i.e. a reduction of 25.75 x 106 m3
The IRWH technique introduced to the small-scale communal farmers in the Upper and Middle Modder River Basin (UMMRB) is one such practice designed to increase crop yields under dry-land production compared to conventional tillage, and increase green water productivity
Summary
In a new paradigm shift related to integrated water resource management (IWRM) in the context of a river basin, attention is being drawn to consider the upstream ‘on-site’ influences on the various water use entities, as well as the downstream ‘off-site’ impacts arising from them. Along the path of water flowing in a river basin are many water-related human interventions, including water storage, diversion, regulation, distribution, application, pollution, purification and other associated acts to modify the natural systems. All of these have one common effect, and that is that they impact on those who live downstream (Sunaryo, 2001). Rain-fed agriculture is practiced on approximately 95% of agricultural land, with only 5% under irrigation (Rockström et al, 2002)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
