Efficient Irrigation Technology Research Articles

Application of Efficient Water-saving Irrigation Technology in Farmland Water Conservancy Project

Application of Efficient Water-saving Irrigation Technology in Farmland Water Conservancy Project

Modeling irrigation technology adoption and crop choices: Gains from water trading with farmer heterogeneity in Southern Alberta, Canada

In this paper, we modeled water trading in southern Alberta by incorporating irrigation technologies and crop choices. We consider six irrigation technologies and twelve crops with a variation in land quality to examine the adoption gains from water trading. The results are summarized to account for the gains from water trading and the probability of farmers switching to efficient irrigation technologies to cultivate profitable crops. Simulation results suggest that famers are more likely to follow rational adoption approach in using the gain from water trading to adopt efficient irrigation technologies. This is more likely to occur when the net gain is higher than the cost of adopting an irrigation technology. However, sensitivity analysis shows that high crop price regimes and provision of subsidies on the impact of water trading on technology adoptions could encourage farmers to adopt improved irrigation technologies to produce profitable crops. Effective policies to provide incentives to farmers to adopt efficient irrigation technologies and to improve crop yields may be necessary for the study area.

Challenges in adoption of water‐saving practices: Perspective from drip irrigation adoption in Kenya

AbstractClimate change continues to affect the availability and quantity of water needed for food production globally. Due to this, authorities have increasingly advocated for the adoption of water‐saving practices and technologies such as drip irrigation systems to increase food production as well as efficiently conserve dwindling water resources. Such technologies promise efficiency but pose adoption challenges, especially to farmers as they transition from either rainfed agriculture or other less efficient irrigation technologies. This paper investigated the challenges associated with the adoption of drip irrigation with a focus on the Kenyan context. We employ insights from the sociotechnical systems approach that take into account technology elements such as infrastructures, rationale and meaning, organizational modes, social interactions, and time and space in relation to farmers’ capabilities to transition. The paper elucidates new capabilities that policy should take into account that smallholder farmers require to transition toward drip irrigation technology consequently improving their yields. Relevant and recently published scholarly articles and grey literature, formed the database and were reviewed and qualitatively analyzed. To complement these, eight key informants were consulted. Insights gathered are relevant to practitioners within the drip irrigation field and the method is potentially useful for analysis of other agricultural technology systems.

From Flood to Drip Irrigation Under Climate Change: Impacts on Evapotranspiration and Groundwater Recharge in the Mediterranean Region of Valencia (Spain)

AbstractAgricultural irrigation is the major water consumer in the Mediterranean region. In response to the growing pressure on freshwater resources, more efficient irrigation technologies have been widely promoted. In this study, we assess the impact of the ongoing transition from flood to drip irrigation on future hydroclimatic regimes under various climate change scenarios, with a particular focus on actual evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge in the Mediterranean region of Valencia, Spain. Hydroclimatic predictions for the near‐term future (2020–2049) and the mid‐term future (2045–2074) were made under two emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) using a hydrological model that was forced with data from five GCM‐RCM combinations and field‐based irrigation volume and frequency observations. Our findings suggest that climate change could lead to statistically significant changes in the regional hydroclimatic regime despite projection uncertainties. Major changes include a statistically significant decrease in mean groundwater recharge of up to −6.6% under flood irrigation and −9.3% under drip irrigation and contrasting changes in mean actual evapotranspiration for flood and drip irrigation in the order of +1% and −2.1%, respectively. Since sustainably available water resources in the Valencia region are entirely allocated, the expected changes and associated uncertainties create a challenging context for future water management. Our simulations further indicate that, rather than climate change, the choice of irrigation technique may have a greater impact on actual evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge. Our findings therefore highlight the importance of considering both climate change and irrigation technique when assessing future water resources in irrigated Mediterranean agriculture.

Assessment of smallholder farmers’ demand for and adoption constraints to small-scale irrigation technologies: Evidence from Ethiopia

Increasing agricultural productivity through irrigation technologies is recognized as an effective way to improve smallholders’ livelihoods and food security in developing countries. However, most smallholder farmers do not have access to irrigation technologies. Using a double-bounded contingent valuation survey data from smallholders in Ethiopia and probit and bivariate probit models, this paper analyzes smallholder farmers’ demand for agricultural water lifting technologies (WLTs) and the factors affecting the demand for these technologies. Assessment of farmers’ preferences among three water lifting technologies available in local markets (motorized pump, rope and washer and pulley) show that farmers prefer motorized pumps to pulley or rope and washer technologies. Use of motorized pumps is more efficient and save labour than pulley or rope and washer technologies. However, results show that smallholders are constrained by inadequate access to financing options to adopt more efficient and labour-saving water lifting technology and hence operate below the production possibility frontier. Enhanced access to finance could help ease this constraint and allow smallholders to acquire more efficient irrigation technologies, enhance adoption and improve productivity. With a growing population pressure and land fragmentation in rural Ethiopia, the livelihoods of smallholders depend mainly on the meagre land endowment they possess. Increasing the productivity of land using yield enhancing technologies, particularly multiple cropping per year via small-scale irrigation is key to improve their livelihoods. Targeted interventions are thus warranted to mitigate the key adoption constraints such as improving access to credit and technical know-how of smallholders.

Subsurface irrigation with ceramic emitters: An effective method to improve apple yield and irrigation water use efficiency in the semiarid Loess Plateau

Apple trees consume a large amount of water, causing soil desiccation which reduces the land quality in the Loess Plateau. The development of efficient water-saving irrigation technology has become the main way to maintain apple production and prevent land degradation in this area. Subsurface irrigation with ceramic emitters (SICE) is an energy-efficient and water-saving technology for arid and semi-arid regions. However, the effectiveness of SICE for apple trees needs to be researched because of the special environment of the Loess Plateau. In this study, we determined the optimal buried depth of SICE tape, based on the soil water content (SWC), yield, water use efficiency (WUE) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) of apple trees over a two-year field experiment. Results shown that SICE buried at a depth of 40 cm significantly improved new shoot length, yield, WUE and IWUE by 15.9%, 7.6%, 14.8% and 6.5% respectively compared to subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). Variations in SWC for SICE buried at a depth of 40 cm were smaller than those for SDI. SICE significantly enhanced yield through its ability to save water and increase soil temperature for apple trees. Our study shows that SICE did not only produce a suitable soil water environment and ensure stable growth of apple trees, but also saved more water resources.

基于压力-状态-响应模型的黑河中游张掖市生态安全评价

生态系统服务的状态与生态是否安全密切相关，生态系统服务的正常发挥是实现生态安全的前提。近年来，中国西北荒漠-绿洲扩张速度加快，改变了生态系统服务的供给与传输，进而影响了区域生态安全。以典型荒漠-绿洲区域黑河中游的张掖市为例，基于压力-状态-响应模型，耦合生态系统服务理论，构建了黑河中游生态安全评价指标体系，评估了2001-2015年黑河中游生态安全演变趋势。研究结果表明黑河中游生态系统面临的资源消耗和环境污染压力越来越大，压力指数有所降低；部分地区出现植被退化、破碎化增加等现象，状态指数略有降低；在实施节水灌溉、产业转移、湿地保护等举措后，响应指数显著增加。总体来看，2001-2015年黑河中游生态安全水平呈现波动增长趋势，生态安全综合指数由0.3748增至0.5888，生态安全等级由"较不安全"达到"临界安全"状态，其中高效节水灌溉面积、生态用水量、地下水开采率等水资源相关要素是影响绿洲生态安全水平的主要因子。基于以上研究，提出了坚持生态保护优先、调整种植和产业结构、发展高效节水灌溉技术、提高公众生态保护意识等提高生态安全水平的相关对策与建议，以期为促进区域生态经济可持续发展提供支撑。;The state of ecosystem services is closely related to whether the ecosystem is safe or not. The normal play of ecosystem services is the premise of realizing ecological security. Recently, the expansion speed of desert oasis in Northwest China has accelerated which has changed the supply and transmission of ecosystem services, and further affected the regional ecological security. Taking the middle reaches of the Heihe River in typical desert oasis region as an example, based on Pressure-State-Response model, coupled with the ecosystem service theory, the ecological security evaluation index system of the middle reaches of the Heihe River was constructed, and the evolution trend of ecological security in the middle reaches of the Heihe River from 2001 to 2015 was evaluated. The results showed that the ecosystem in the middle reaches of the Heihe River was facing increasing pressure of resource consumption and environmental pollution, and the pressure index decreased accordingly. As vegetation degradation and fragmentation increased in some areas, the state index decreased slightly. After the implementation of water-saving irrigation, industrial transfer, wetland protection and other positive measures, the response index increased significantly. Overall, from 2001 to 2015, the ecological security level in the middle reaches of the Heihe River showed a fluctuating growth trend, the ecological security index increased from 0.3748 to 0.5888, and the ecological security level reached the state of critical safe from less safe. Among them, water resources related factors such as area of efficient water-saving irrigation, ecological water consumption and groundwater development rate were the main factors affecting the ecological security level of oasis. Based on the above research, this paper puts forward relevant countermeasures and suggestions to improve the ecological security level, such as adhering to the priority of ecological protection, adjusting planting and industrial structure, developing efficient water-saving irrigation technology and improving public awareness of ecological protection, in order to provide support for promoting the sustainable development of regional ecological economy.

Adoption of Water-Conserving Irrigation Practices among Row-Crop Growers in Mississippi, USA

This article identifies irrigated row-crop farmer factors associated with the adoption of water-conserving practices. The analysis is performed on data from a survey of irrigators in Mississippi. Regression results show that the amount of irrigated area, years of education, perception of a groundwater problem, and participation in conservation programs are positively associated with practice adoption; while number of years farming, growing rice, and pumping cost are negatively associated with adoption. However, not all factors are statistically significant for all practices. Survey results indicate that only a third of growers are aware of groundwater problems at the farm or state level; and this lack of awareness is related to whether farmers noticed a change in the depth to water distance in their irrigation wells. This evidence is consistent with a report to Congress from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that recommends policies promoting the use of: (1) more efficient irrigation technology and practices and (2) precision agriculture technologies, such as soil moisture sensors and irrigation automation.

Winter wheat growth and water use under different micro-sprinkling irrigation regimes in the North China Plain

To develop more efficient irrigation technologies and a reasonable and convenient irrigation scheduling for winter wheat production in the North China Plain (NCP), a field experiment with five soil matric potential (SMP) treatments under irrigation with micro-sprinkling hoses was conducted in 2013–2014 and 2014–2015. The SMP thresholds were − 10, − 20, − 30, − 40 and − 50 kPa and monitored using tensiometers at 0.2 m depth and 1.2 m (horizontal distance) from the micro-sprinkling hose. The results indicated that soil moisture consumption occurred mainly in the 0–80 cm soil layer during the anthesis and grain filling stages. The different SMP values had no significant effects on winter wheat plant height, maximum leaf area index, dry biomass, grain yield and yield components and water productivity (WP), but there was a tendency for all these indicators to reach their highest value when the SMP value was around − 40 kPa. Compared with the average winter wheat yield, irrigation amount and WP from local surface irrigation, the − 40 kPa SMP threshold treatment resulted in a yield increase of 10.7%, water savings of 46.5% and WP increase of 5.7%. In the NCP, the SMP threshold of − 40 kPa is recommended to schedule micro-sprinkling irrigation for winter wheat.

Review of Filter and Its Performance Testing in Agricultural Efficient Water-saving Drip Irrigation System

Developing efficient water-saving irrigation technology is one of the important ways to solve the problem of water shortage in China. Rational allocation of drip irrigation filtration system is an important way to slow down the blockage of each component of drip irrigation system (such as emitters, solenoid valve, etc.). At present, many domestic and foreign manufacturers have produced many kinds of filter products, and many experts and scholars have done a lot of research on the hydraulic performance and filtration ability of the filter, but there is no comprehensive report on the filter features and its performances. Based on this, this paper comprehensively expounded the structure, performance characteristics, working principle and research progress of different types of filter, and the trends of filter research and product development were put forward in order to provide theoretical support for the wider application of drip irrigation technology and the construction of new countryside.

Evaluating the Risks of Groundwater Extraction in an Agricultural Landscape under Different Climate Projections

Groundwater resources worldwide are being depleted at alarming rates since 1960 to support agriculture, industry, and domestic water demand. Water harvesting and the implementation of reduced application or more efficient irrigation technologies were identified as two of the most efficient practices to mitigate the declining patterns on groundwater resources. However, prior to implementing these practices, understanding how groundwater interacts with surface water and responds to natural and anthropogenic stressors is crucial. Integrated modeling tools that are able to exchange fluxes in both domains are needed to assess how conservation practices will affect our water resources under different projected climate and land use scenarios. This study aimed to evaluate the most likely impacts of current land management practices under the most severe projections of future climate and quantify the potential mitigation effects of three conservation scenarios on the water resources of the Fort Cobb Reservoir Experimental Watershed (FCREW) in western Oklahoma. The semicoupled SWAT-MODFLOW (SWATmf) model was used to simulate the hydrologic responses of the FCREW to a 50% reduction in the irrigation depths and the transition of 50% and 75% of croplands to rangelands under 32 distinct climate projections. Results showed that future climate can drive a reduction in the streamflow (−18%) and an increase to the depth of the water table (99%–120%) in the western part of the FCREW by the end of the century. The Fort Cobb Reservoir was expected to reduce its release after the mid-2060s to maintain its current target level. All the scenarios, aimed at decreasing groundwater extractions or implementing conservation measures, signaled a full recovery response in the groundwater levels 7–10 years after the year the conservation practices were implemented. The 50% reduction in the irrigation depths was found to elicit faster hydrologic systemic responses than the two that implemented conservation measures, which contravene tradition and would imply cessation of agricultural activities. This study can enable stakeholders to formulate timely adaptation and mitigating strategies to adopt to land use changes.

Potential impact of rainfall variability on groundwater resources: a case study in Uttar Pradesh, India

Groundwater systems are largely influenced by rainfall variability which is considered the principal source of recharge. The present study explores the relation between the long-term rainfall (1992–2014) and the corresponding water table variation over the Varanasi district. The temporal trends of both the water table and long-term rainfall were analyzed using non-parametric Mann-Kendall time-series trend test. The district experienced an annual rainfall average of 876 mm during the study period. In the recent decade (2003–2014), the amount of annual rainfall and rainy days declined by 42 mm and 8 days, respectively, were compared with previous decade (1992–2002). The water table fluctuation had also shown decreasing trend in the recent decade and were compared with the previous decade. The frequent fluctuations in rainfall anomaly and water table fluctuation had been related to El Nino and La Nina events to study the impact of these events at regional scale. The intense cultivation of water intensive crops as well as rainfall variation was found to be one of the major causes behind the water table fluctuation in the study area. Therefore, artificial water recharge and change in cropping pattern through cultivating less water consuming crops with efficient irrigation technologies of water management may help to overcome the upcoming adverse situations.

Approaches to Optimize Uzbekistan's Investment in Irrigation Technologies

For many decades, Uzbekistan has been one of the largest cotton producers in the world. The irrigation water needed for these high production levels has been delivered by the massive diversion of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, which naturally flowed into the Aral Sea. This diversion for agriculture was the main cause of the rapid decline of the Aral Sea, which is at only 10% of its original size today. The traditional method of irrigation, which relies on simple open canal systems, is highly inefficient for managing the region’s critical and limited water resource. It has been qualitatively estimated, for example, that irrigation water lost to evaporation and system inefficiencies is quite large. With the future availability of water at risk for agriculture in Central Asia, primarily due to the loss of glacial volume from global warming, along with declines in seasonal snowpack, it is clear that new approaches to water management are needed. Any serious efforts to restore the Aral Sea and its ecological services would also reduce supplies of irrigation water for Uzbekistan. While regional conflict over water is unlikely, it must be considered since Uzbekistan is a downstream country among several that rely on the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for most of their water supplies. To insure against these risks to cotton production and the underlying economy, better irrigation technologies are needed across Uzbekistan. However, these technologies can be quite expensive, especially given that water is still nearly free. In this case study we explore the use of real options analysis (ROA) to look for optimal investment strategies in efficient irrigation technologies in light of variable climate and policy uncertainties.

Farmers' Perceptions of and Adaptations to Water Scarcity in Colombian and Venezuelan Páramos in the Context of Climate Change

This study examined how members of 2 water user associations in high-elevation ecosystems in Colombia and Venezuela perceive water scarcity as well as the relationship between their perception of and adaptation to it. Among study participants, adaptation was guided not only by the perception of climate change (disturbance of the seasons, decrease in precipitation, and more extreme temperatures) but also by the perception of the socioeconomic causes of water scarcity (increase in cultivated area and population, aging irrigation infrastructure, system management problems). Farmers in the Venezuelan study site have adopted new and more efficient irrigation technologies, restored degraded infrastructure, and undertaken various actions to preserve and conserve wetlands. In the Colombian study site, farmers created a new irrigation system that draws water from a nearby lake, creating access to an abundant resource. The study shows how perceptions of water scarcity in a climate change context are critical determinants of farmers' behavior, especially collective adaptation.

Increased Dependence on Irrigated Crop Production Across the CONUS (1945–2015)

Efficient irrigation technologies, which seem to promise reduced production costs and water consumption in heavily irrigated areas, may instead be driving increased irrigation use in areas that were not traditionally irrigated. As a result, the total dependence on supplemental irrigation for crop production and revenue is steadily increasing across the contiguous United States. Quantifying this dependence has been hampered by a lack of comprehensive irrigated and dryland yield and harvested area data outside of major irrigated regions, despite the importance and long history of irrigation applications in agriculture. This study used a linear regression model to disaggregate lumped agricultural statistics and estimate average irrigated and dryland yields at the state level for five major row crops: corn, cotton, hay, soybeans, and wheat. For 1945–2015, we quantified crop production, irrigation enhancement revenue, and irrigated and dryland areas in both intensively irrigated and marginally-dependent states, where both irrigated and dryland farming practices are implemented. In 2015, we found that irrigating just the five commodity crops enhanced revenue by ~$7 billion across all states with irrigation. In states with both irrigated and dryland practices, 23% of total produced area relied on irrigation, resulting in 7% more production than from dryland practices. There was a clear response to increasing biofuel demand, with the addition of more than 3.6 million ha of irrigated corn and soybeans in the last decade in marginally-dependent states. Since 1945, we estimate that yield enhancement due to irrigation has resulted in over $465 billion in increased revenue across the contiguous United States (CONUS). Example applications of this dataset include estimating historical water use, evaluating the effects of environmental policies, developing new resource management strategies, economic risk analyses, and developing tools for farmer decision making.

Targeted, Precision Irrigation for Moving Platforms: Selected Papers from a Center Pivot Technology Transfer Effort

Abstract. This article is an introduction to an ASABE Special Collection of ten articles concerning center pivot (CP) technology transfer that appears in this issue of and in . The year 2018 marked the 40th anniversary of research and development of low-energy precision application (LEPA) for use with CP sprinkler irrigation systems. Since 1978, researchers, extension specialists, and industry have continued development of multiple technologies that are suitable for mobile lateral irrigation platforms. A two-year technology transfer effort with funding from the USDA-ARS Ogallala Aquifer Program (OAP) was initiated in January 2017 to promote adoption of advanced and efficient irrigation technologies and to highlight recommended practices for mobile irrigation platforms, including both CP and lateral-move (LM) systems. The articles in this Special Collection address five major topic areas: in-canopy and near-canopy irrigation application from moving platforms, site-specific variable-rate irrigation (VRI) and associated sensor technologies for moving platforms, the use of variable-frequency drives (VFDs) with CP systems, and uniformity evaluations for CP systems. While these ten articles are not inclusive of all the important advances in irrigation from moving platforms since 1978, they illustrate that continued improvement in irrigation management occurs by combining engineering and agronomic sciences. Pressurized irrigation from moving platforms is increasing in the U.S. and will be an important tool for meeting global food and water challenges. In addition to introducing and summarizing the Special Collection, this article provides additional rationale for the CP technology transfer effort. Keywords: Center pivot, Irrigation uniformity, Lateral-move sprinkler, LEPA, Linear-move sprinkler, Low-energy precision application, Site-specific irrigation, Sprinkler irrigation, Variable-frequency drives, Variable-rate irrigation, VFD, VRI.

Irrigation in India: Status, challenges and options

In India, spatial and temporal variation of precipitation has been boundless varying from 11000 mm to 90 mm. The average annual per capita water availability has declined from 5000 cubic meter in year 1950 to 1545 cubic meter in year 2011 and estimated to reduce further to 1341 and 1140 cubic meter in year 2025 and 2050, respectively. Agriculture sector, which provide 54.6% of total employment to growing population, alone consumes more than 90% of total groundwater draft in irrigation. Over the years, groundwater has become dominant source of irrigation due to its independent access and timely availability of water. This outrageous dependency on groundwater has led to depletion of water table in 64% district of the country between TE2002 and TE2016. With collective efforts of government at various levels, utilized irrigated potential including both surface and ground water has increased to 87 Mha while ultimate irrigation potential touched 140 Mha. In context of rapid depletion of water resources, there is need to increase water use efficiency. Efficient method, like microirrigation, can play pivotal role in management of irrigation water demand. Properly designed and managed drip and sprinkler irrigation system have irrigation efficiency about 90% and 70%, respectively contrast to surface irrigation method which have just about 40%. Recognizing the gravity of water scarcity in many part of the country, government has started formulating its water policy pivotal to micro irrigation. In year 2015, government has bundled all ongoing irrigation schemes into Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (PMKSY) in which micro irrigation as an integral component. The successful adoption of water efficient technologies has two preconditions namely technical know-how and its accessibility through institutional support systems. Government has taken many initiatives to intensify outreach of efficient irrigation technology to farm.

Future increases in irrigation water requirement challenge the water-food nexus in the northeast farming region of China

Northeast Farming Region of China (NFR) produces about one-third of the national maize output. Shortage of crop irrigation water is one of the main threat to the stable level of maize production in the NFR. Previous studies on the sensitivity of maize production to drought are typically based on field experiments and treat the maize growing season as a whole, with rare attention to the varying impacts of drought across different maize growth stages. Given the importance of NFR on China’s food security, it is crucial to optimize the irrigation schedule to mitigate the adverse effects of drought. In this study, we employ Agro-ecological Zone (AEZ) model to investigate how climate change affects irrigation water requirement (IWR) of maize during different growth stages and under different climate change scenarios. Results indicate that the NFR would experience a substantial increase in the probability of extremely shortage of crop irrigation water under future climate change. The ensemble simulation under future climate projections indicates more frequent demands for irrigation with substantially increased amount in the mid-season stage (G3) when maize is more sensitive to water deficit compared with other stages. These findings indicate that earlier planning of irrigation infrastructure and development of more efficient irrigation scheme and technologies is of great importance to secure maize production in the region.

When Should Irrigators Invest in More Water‐Efficient Technologies as an Adaptation to Climate Change?

AbstractThe western U.S. is expected to experience more frequent and severe droughts as a result of climate change, with potentially large impacts on agricultural production and the economy. Irrigated farmers have multiple options for minimizing the impact of drought including switching to more efficient irrigation technologies. More efficient technologies that increase the fraction of the water available to the crop root zone would allow farmers to maintain current production levels with less water. However, these systems are capital intensive. The objective of this study is to explore when (and under what climatic conditions) it makes economic sense for farmers to invest in new irrigation systems. We examine this in the Yakima River Basin in Washington State of the U.S. We use VIC‐CropSyst, a large‐scale grid‐based modeling framework that mechanistically simulates hydrologic and agricultural processes. Water supply simulated by VIC‐CropSyst drives a river system and water management model (YAK‐RW). A computational platform was developed to perform the economic analysis for each grid cell, crop type, and future climate scenario separately, which allowed us to explore whether the implementation of more efficient irrigation systems would be economically viable. Our results indicate that investing in a more efficient irrigation system improves agricultural economy of the Yakima River Basin (9% −25%). We also show that at the farm level, more significant droughts can provide economic incentives for investment up to a point. For severe climate change projections, droughts become frequent and severe enough that economic benefits of improving water use efficiency do not exceed investment costs.

Reducing water use by alternate-furrow irrigation with livestock wastewater reduces antibiotic resistance gene abundance in the rhizosphere but not in the non-rhizosphere

Livestock wastewater is rich in nutrients but may contain antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Their discharge to watercourses or soil may result in proliferation of ARGs. Irrigation with wastewater appears to be the most feasible option of disposing of it. One efficient irrigation technology used in arid regions is alternate-furrow irrigation (AFI) by alternately drying part of the plant roots for a prolonged period to physiologically reduce transpiration without compromising yield. However, the extent to which AFI with wastewater influences the concentration of antibiotics and spread of ARGs in soil is poorly understood. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how AFI using swine wastewater alters antibiotic kinetics and ARGs abundance under different irrigation rates, using pepper as the model plant. We examined three AFI treatments using 50%, 65% and 80% of the amount of water employed in sufficient conventional furrow irrigation. Each treatment had a groundwater irrigation control. The results showed that antibiotic concentrations and relative ARGs abundance in the top 20 cm of soil did not increase with the irrigation amount, although they were higher than those in the groundwater-irrigated soils. The relative ARGs abundance in the soil was modulated by irrigation amount and reducing the irrigation amount in AFI reduced ARGs dispersion only in rhizosphere. When the soil moisture was close to field capacity, ARGs were more abundant in rhizosphere than in non-rhizosphere, possibly because the rhizosphere is rich in microbes and increasing antibiotic concentrations due to an increase in irrigation rate favors antibiotic-resistant microbiome in competing for substrates. These, however, were not mirrored in the relative ARGs abundance in the roots. These results have important implications as it revealed that reducing the input of antibiotics and ARGs into soil with AFI does not necessarily reduce ARGs proliferation.