Irrigation Efficiency Research Articles

Analyzing hydrological alteration and environmental flows in a highly anthropized agricultural river basin system using SWAT+, WEAP and IAHRIS

Study regionZarineh River Basin, a significant contributor to Urmia Lake inflow, Iran. Study focusEmploying SWAT+, WEAP, and IAHRIS, we assess environmental flow impacts on the Zarineh River Basin through two key aspects. Firstly, we evaluate the dam-induced alteration of the hydrological regime. Secondly, we explore future implications by prioritizing water allocation for environmental flows. Our approach involves developing, calibrating, and validating a SWAT+ hydrological model, analyzing hydrological alteration indicators using IAHRIS, and calculating environmental flows using the basic flow method in the SWAT+ post-processing tool. Using the WEAP water allocation model, three scenarios are assessed: 1) status quo, prioritizing drinking water and industry over agriculture; 2) environmental flows, prioritizing regulation compliance; 3) improved irrigation efficiency, facilitating a 10% increase while maintaining environmental flow prioritization.New hydrological insights for the region: The study reveals the altered flow regime’s failure to capture seasonal variations during dry years, particularly in winter and spring. Environmental and agricultural water demands compete, posing challenges to water management in the basin. Prioritizing environmental requirements increases reliability by 56% for environmental flows but decreases it by 11% for agriculture. Balancing environmental flows and agricultural water demands is crucial. A third scenario considers increased irrigation efficiency, requiring both decreased water allocation and enhanced efficiency. This research offers policymakers insights into formulating balanced environmental flow strategies, considering water demand reliability and basin hydrology.

Assessing water-nitrogen use, crop growth and economic benefits for maize in upper Yellow River basin: Feasibility analysis for border and drip irrigation

Water-saving irrigation is becoming more important in the upper Yellow River basin (YRB) due to reduced water allocation and growing water scarcity. However, drip irrigation as an efficient irrigation method, has not gained as much acceptance as one might expect. In this study, integrated approaches involving field experiments, agro-ecosystem modeling, and financial analysis were proposed to evaluate the multiple benefits of two irrigation methods. Field experiments on maize irrigated with border irrigation and drip irrigation under plastic mulching (i.e., BI-M and DI-M) were conducted in the Hetao Irrigation District (Hetao) of the upper YRB during 2021 and 2022. The AHC model was calibrated and validated using two-year experimental data, performing well in simulations of soil water-salt-nitrogen (N) dynamics and crop growth. An irrigation scheduling module was newly incorporated into AHC. Then the model was applied to analyze scenarios consisting of three classes of groundwater depth (GWD) and five N application levels. Optimal irrigation and N-fertilization strategies were suggested; and DI-M showed significant advantages over BI-M in terms of water-saving (56–66 mm), labor-saving, environmental benefits (50 kg ha−1 less N fertilizer and 19–25 kg ha−1 less N loss), and crop yields (<4%), both in experimental and scenario cases. However, the financial analysis revealed that the current smallholder BI-M could achieve higher net returns (about 12%) compared to DI-M, since the family labor is often not counted as a cost in smallholder farming. Additionally, the widespread adoption of BI-M is also partly attributed to its easy operation. Lastly, results indicated a trend where the advantages of drip irrigation would become more significant in the future, with the increasing agricultural population aging and rising labor costs in the YRB.

Orange grower's perception of drought impacts and strategies for mitigation and adaptation: A study of the Vidarbha region in India

Vidarbha, a region in Maharashtra, India, is famous for its sweet-sour-flavoured Nagpur Orange. Vidarbha is witnessing droughts after every alternate year resulting in crop failure and causing distress to orange growers. The present study attempts to – 1) identify critical challenges Vidarbha orange growers face during drought impact and 2) examine the farmers' perception and awareness about drought impacts, and different adaptation and mitigation strategies in practice at the farmer's level. This research used a field study approach in the drought-prone Vidarbha region to acquire orange farmers' perceptions of the drought impact. We have used a three-stage method to carry out this study. In the first stage, a Delphi method is adopted to identify and validate orange growers' challenges due to drought impact. The second stage comprises utilising multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM)-based best-worst method to prioritise and determine the most critical challenges. This is followed by descriptive statistical analysis in the third stage to determine the overall perception of orange growers about drought and its adaptation and mitigation strategies. It is observed through findings that – “inadequate water bodies, lack of availability of capital, and high cost of drip irrigation” are critical challenges orange growers witness during drought. While “installing an efficient irrigation system and pest control” are the adaptation strategies, and “seeking guidance from the agriculture department” and “reliance on weather forecast” are the mitigation strategies widely adopted by Nagpur orange growers to alleviate drought stress.

An Integrated System for Smart and Efficient Irrigation of Crop Fields

The widespread adoption of new technologies has led to the development of various innovative solutions in agriculture. Crop monitoring using drones for early detection of plant diseases, autonomous machinery for soil preparation, and various robotic systems for harvesting and sorting fruits are just some examples of technology application to increase productivity in agricultural production. This paper describes an integrated system solution for irrigating agricultural production plots aimed at increasing production efficiency while efficiently utilizing necessary resources. All system components (hardware and software) are custom designed, taking into account real-world aspects and constraints in the field. The paper provides a detailed description of all functional units of the system, as well as preliminary experiences with the operation of the implemented prototype system. We also provides some initial characterization of the soil moisture probe that is designed in-house by running extensive LTSpice simulations.

Computational fluid dynamics investigation on the irrigation of a real root canal with a side-vented needle

BackgroundRoot canal therapy is one of the main treatments for root canal diseases, and effective irrigation is the key to successful treatment. Side-vented needle is one of the commonly used needle types in clinic. In the real root canal, due to the influence of the curvature of the root canal, the irrigation flow field in different needle directions shows obvious differences. At the same time, changes in root canal curvature and working depth will lead to changes in irrigation efficiency and the flow field. Both the mainstream of the irrigation flow and the shear stress near the wall changes significant. Consequently, either the replacement in the root canal or the removal efficiency of the smear layers is apparently modified.Materials and methodsIn this paper, the permanent root canal of the maxillary first molar prepared until 15/04 were scanned by micro-CT, and then imported into the software for 3D reconstruction. The key parameters of flushing efficiency of 30G side needle at different working depths of 4.75 mm, 5 mm, 5.25 mm and 5.5 mm were compared. Meanwhile, the simulated models with different curvatures of 0°, 5°, 10°, 20° and 30° based on the real root canal were reconstructed to investigate the curvature effect on the irrigation efficiency.ResultsThe results show that moderate working depth (such as 4.75 mm and 5.25 mm in present paper) helps to improve the replacement capacity of irrigation flow. At the same time, the apical pressure decreased as the working depth increased. The curvature of the root canal seriously affects the removal depth of the smear layers of the root canal. A root canal with a large curvature (especially 20° and 30°) can significantly improve the difficulty of irrigation.Conclusions(1) Moderate working depth helps to improve the displacement capacity, the ERD of the irrigation flow is generally improved at the working depths of 4.75 mm and 5.25 mm, and the apical pressure will decrease with the increase of working depth. (2) The large curvature of the root canal can significantly improve the difficulty of irrigation. The curvature of the root canal can severely influence the removal depth of the smear layer on the wall. It can be found both the span and the depth of the ESS for little curvatures (5° and 10°) root canals are higher than those for large curvatures (20° and 30°).

Soqia: A Responsive Web Geographic Information System Solution for Dynamic Spatio-Temporal Monitoring of Soil Water Status in Arboriculture

The optimization of irrigation in arboriculture holds crucial importance for effectively managing water resources in arid regions. This work introduces the development and implementation of an innovative solution named ‘Soqia’, a responsive WEB-GIS web application designed for real-time monitoring of the water status in arboriculture. This solution integrates meteorological data, remote sensing data, and ground sensor-collected data for precise irrigation management at the agricultural plot level. A range of features has been considered in the development of this WEB -GIS solution, ranging from visualizing vegetation indices to accessing current weather data, thereby contributing to more efficient irrigation management. Compared to other existing applications, ‘Soqia’ provides users with the current amount of water to irrigate, as well as an estimated amount for the next 8 days. Additionally, it offers spatio-temporal tracking of vegetation indices provided as maps and graphs. The importance of the Soqia solution at the national level is justified by the scarcity of water resources due to increasingly frequent and intense drought seasons for the past years. Low rainfall is recorded in all national agricultural areas. The implemented prototype is a first step toward the development of future innovative tools aimed at improving water management in regions facing water challenges. This prototype illustrates the potential of Web-GIS-based precision irrigation systems for the rational use of water in agriculture in general and arboriculture in particular.

An Evaluation System of the Modernization Level of Irrigation Districts with an Analysis of Obstacle Factors: A Case Study for North China

Irrigation districts are a pivotal infrastructure of agricultural water conservancy engineering. Implementing modernization will be the main task of large-scale irrigation districts for a considerable amount of time in the future. In this study, four typical large-scale irrigation districts in North China were investigated: the Renmin Shengliqu, Weishan, Shijin, and Zuncun irrigation districts. The concept of a modern irrigation district was deconstructed to establish an evaluation index system which includes four second-level indicators, twelve third-level indicators, and thirty fourth-level indicators. A hybrid approach based on AHP and OWA was used to quantify indicator weights used in group decision making. TOPSIS was introduced to measure the modernization level of the four irrigation districts. An obstacle factor diagnosis model was applied to search for key obstacle factors that will affect the modernization and improvement of the irrigation districts. The results showed that (1) the modernization levels of the Renmin Shengliqu, Weishan, Shijin, and Zuncun irrigation districts in 2020 and 2025 were 0.3916 and 0.5755, 0.3748 and 0.5396, 0.4493 and 0.6012, and 0.2343 and 0.6166, respectively. The evaluation results indicate that the four irrigation districts are still in the beginning phase (or even preparation phase) of the modernization process. (2) Eight indicators were identified as the main common obstacle factors for the four evaluated irrigation districts, including the irrigation water-use efficiency factor, the coverage proportion of information technology, the proportion of efficient water conservation irrigation areas, and so on. (3) There are two effective methods to enhance the modernization level of the four irrigation districts: improving water resource utilization efficiency and strengthening the management system with an emphasis on informatization. The present study can enrich the theoretical evaluation of irrigation districts and provide a scientific basis for the modernized construction and management of irrigation districts in China.

Simulation-Based Assessment of Subsurface Drip Irrigation Efficiency for Crops Grown in Raised Beds

This paper considers the application of a scenario simulation technique to assess subsurface drip irrigation system efficiency while using it to irrigate crops grown under raised bed technology. For simulating purposes, we use a model based on the two-dimensional Richards equation stated in terms of water head in a curvilinear domain. Solutions to problems are obtained using a finite-difference scheme with dynamic time step change. Using the data from pressure measurements obtained while growing potatoes on sandy loess soil in production conditions, we performed a calibration of the model using the particle swarm optimization algorithm. Further, the accuracy of the model was tested and average absolute errors in the range from 3.16 to 5.29 kPa were obtained. Having a calibrated model, we performed a series of simulations with different irrigation pipeline placements determining the configuration under which water losses are minimal. The simulated configuration, under which infiltration losses were minimal, was the installation of pipelines under the raised bed at the depth of 10 cm below the soil surface. The results confirm that the applied technique can be used for decision-making support while designing subsurface drip irrigation systems combined with raised bed growing technology.

Collaborative Management of Water‐Energy‐Food‐Ecosystems Nexus in Central Asia Under Uncertainty

AbstractCollaborative management of the water‐energy‐food‐ecosystems (WEFE) nexus can contribute significantly to sustainable development. However, multiple decision‐making levels with diverse preferences and multiple uncertainties in different forms pose intractable challenges to the management process. In this study, a novel optimization method named as multi‐level chance‐constrained fuzzy programming (MCFP) is developed to jointly manage the WEFE nexus. MCFP has advantages in evaluating trade‐offs among multiple competitive decision makers, solving decentralized planning problems with hierarchical structure, and tackling uncertainties expressed as randomness and vagueness. MCFP is then applied to the WEFE nexus in Central Asia, where five countries, 43 states, six water sources, and eight water users are involved over a long‐term planning horizon (2021–2050). A set of scenarios are designed to reflect decision‐making preferences based on different irrigation efficiencies, food, ecological and electricity demands as well as constraint‐violation probability and system credibility levels. The major findings are: (a) the proportion of agricultural water allocation would reduce to 45.4%–56.6% by 2050 to save more water for ensuring ecological restoration and energy supply; and (b) in order to balance water demands and support regional sustainable development, policymakers should sacrifice some of the benefits, set strict arable land limits for cereal crops, improve irrigation efficiency through adopting drip and sprinkler irrigation, and avoid the effects of the irrigation efficiency paradox. The findings are helpful for policymakers in gaining insight into the interrelationships of water, energy, food and ecosystems as well as making decisions for collaborative management of the WEFE nexus system.

Implementasi Sistem Irigasi Smart Garden IoT pada Perkebunan Stroberi

In this research, the Smart Garden IoT system is implemented to enhance the efficiency of strawberry plant management, utilizing Ds18B20 temperature sensor, soil moisture sensor, water pH sensor, and a Flowmeter. Real-time data will be transmitted to the Blynk software for analysis. The research methodology involves the installation of sensors and the use of an ESP32 microcontroller in the strawberry cultivation area. The objectives of the study include improving monitoring and control, as well as supporting timely and efficient irrigation and fertilization of strawberry plants. This smart garden system operates according to predefined time settings and is also adjusted based on soil moisture sensor readings. The watering schedule is set for morning, afternoon, and evening. However, if the soil moisture remains around 80-90%, watering will be withheld. The research conclusion supports the concept of Smart Garden as an innovative solution to enhance efficiency in plant care through IoT technology

Innovative Approaches to Sustainable Agriculture: Ensuring Food Security and Environmental Health

Sustainable agriculture has become vital for supplying the world's increasing demand for food in the future. While ensuring food supply, this technique addresses decreased biodiversity, loss of resources, and global warming. Some practices like Crop Rotation, Integrated Pest Control, and Precision Land and Water Management increase yields while preserving the environment and other resources. Precision farming and remote sensing improve soil health and crop production. Cover crops, organic farming, and efficient irrigation improve soil and save water. Sustainable agriculture requires teamwork to reach its potential. To secure food security for future generations, governments, researchers, and stakeholders must support these practices.

Enhancing Smart Irrigation Efficiency: A New WSN-Based Localization Method for Water Conservation

The shortage of water stands as a global challenge, prompting considerable focus on the management of water consumption and irrigation. The suggestion is to introduce a smart irrigation system based on wireless sensor networks (WSNs) aimed at minimizing water consumption while maintaining the quality of agricultural crops. In WSNs deployed in smart irrigation, accurately determining the locations of sensor nodes is crucial for efficient monitoring and control. However, in many cases, the exact positions of certain sensor nodes may be unknown. To address this challenge, this paper presents a new localization method for localizing unknown sensor nodes in WSN-based smart irrigation systems using estimated range measurements. The proposed method can accurately determine the positions of unknown nodes, even when they are located at a distance from anchors. It utilizes the Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) optimization algorithm to solve a nonlinear least-squares problem and minimize the error in estimating the unknown node locations. By leveraging the known positions of a subset of sensor nodes and the inexact distance measurements between pairs of nodes, the localization problem is transformed into a nonlinear optimization problem. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, extensive simulations and experiments were conducted. The results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves accurate localization of the unknown sensor nodes. Specifically, it achieves 19% and 58% improvement in estimation accuracy when compared to distance vector-hop (DV-Hop) and semidefinite relaxation-LM (SDR-LM) algorithms, respectively. Additionally, the method exhibits robustness against measurement noise and scalability for large-scale networks. Ultimately, integrating the proposed localization method into the smart irrigation system has the potential to achieve approximately 28% reduction in water consumption.

Urbanization Impacts on Rice Farming Technical Efficiency: A Comparison of Irrigated and Non-Irrigated Areas in Indonesia

By 2050, the world population is expected to double, with the majority living in urban areas. Urbanization is a result of population pressure, often emphasized in developing countries. It has various impacts on all economic sectors, among which is agriculture through irrigation, which plays an important role in the production and sustainability of farming. This paper aimed to analyze the effect of urbanization on farm performance using a sequential mixed method. The data of approximately 80,053 farmers were extracted from the Indonesian Rice Farm Household Survey (SPD) dataset. A stochastic frontier was employed to analyze technical efficiency (TE) and its determinants, which consist of farmers’ age, education level, climate change, land ownership, membership status, and pest infestation. The estimation results showed that the mean technical efficiency in both irrigation and non-irrigation rice farming was 64.7% and 66.2%, respectively. Although TE’s achievement in non-irrigated rice farming areas was greater than in irrigated ones, rice productivity in irrigated areas was greater than in non-irrigated. All technical efficiency determinants have significant effects on technical efficiency. The estimation results also showed that rice farming in urban areas tends to decrease technical efficiency.

Resilient agriculture: water management for climate change adaptation in Lower Saxony

Abstract Climate change has increased the intensity, frequency and duration of heatwaves and droughts in Europe turning water management into an even more complicated issue. Because water is a fundamental resource for agriculture, water management has to be addressed with climate change adaptation. While stakeholders in Lower Saxony are aware of adaptation measures they could implement to dampen the effects of climate change, evidence of the effectiveness of adaptation measures at a local scale is still missing. An analysis of adaptation measures using a new hydrological model was performed to test four adaptation measures suggested by stakeholders. Changing crops has the strongest effect followed by improving irrigation efficiency, humification and, finally, artificial aquifer recharge. If crops are changed, irrigation water demand and energy consumption could be reduced by up to 20.7%, costs could be reduced in 19.1%, the aquifer level could rise up to 284.85 mm and emissions could be reduced by 26.6% by the end of the century. Artificial recharge proved to be an inadequate method for the region as it does not impact the irrigation water demand, and an insufficient amount of water is available to have a substantial effect on the aquifer.

Review of Advanced Techniques for Efficient Irrigation Pipeline Routing

Review of Advanced Techniques for Efficient Irrigation Pipeline Routing

Effect of sodium hypochlorite temperature and concentration on the fracture resistance of root dentin

BackgroundSodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) is the most efficient root canal irrigant to date. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of NaOCl used at different temperatures and concentrations on the compressive strength of root dentin.Materials and methodsSeventy-two extracted human single-canaled straight roots of comparable size and length were selected and randomly divided into six groups (n = 12): Group (A) served as a control with unprepared canals. The other groups were instrumented with rotary ProTaper Universal files up to size F3. Group (B) was irrigated with 1% NaOCl at room temperature, Group (C) with 1% NaOCl heated to 70 °C, Group (D) with 5.25% NaOCl at room temperature, and Group (E) with 5.25% NaOCl heated to 70 °C. Saline was used in Group (F). The roots were sectioned into 2-mm-thick disks that underwent compression testing using a universal testing machine. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests. The significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05.ResultsA total of 255 disks were tested. The control group showed the highest compressive strength (p = 0.0112). However, this did not differ significantly from that of heated (p = 0.259) or unheated (p = 0.548) 1% NaOCl. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups of instrumented teeth.ConclusionWithin the conditions of this study, irrigation with NaOCl at different concentrations and temperatures during root canal preparation did not affect the compressive strength of root dentin. Clinical Relevance: This study demonstrates that the use of NaOCl as a root canal irrigant is not associated with a clinically relevant decrease in root compressive strength, especially when compared to saline.

Effect of Climate Change and Recent Droughts on Quantitative and Qualitative Performance of Horticultural Crops in Badghis

This study aimed to investigate the impact of climate change on horticultural crops in Badghis province, Afghanistan. Data was collected through a questionnaire completed by gardeners and experts in the horticulture department. Descriptive statistics are used to analyze the data, and the results showed that climate change had a significant negative impact on the performance of horticultural crops, including decreased yield and quality and an increase (33%) in plant pests and diseases. The study highlights the need for complete and comprehensive measures to mitigate the effects of climate change and recent droughts on horticulture in Badghis province. The majority of interviewers (51%) reported a decrease in yield and quality of their crops due to changes in temperature and rainfall patterns. In addition, many interviewers reported an increase in plant pests and diseases (54%), which they attributed to climate change. The study also found that orchards in Badghis have adopted some adaptation strategies, such as changing their planting schedules and using more efficient irrigation methods. However, these strategies are not enough to fully address the challenges posed by climate change.

Fitting a numerical model for the analysis of wet bulb dimensions by drip irrigation

Drip irrigation is globally acknowledged as the most efficient system. However, the concept of "efficiency" relies on irrigation cultural practices, local agro-climatic conditions, and soil characteristics. In Uruguay, the absence of accurate wet bulb shape prediction often leads to common over-irrigation practices. Consequently, water loss through deep percolation, groundwater contamination, reduced crop yields, higher energy expenditure, and elevated fertilizer usage introduce uncertainties about the true efficiency of drip irrigation. The primary objective of this study is to develop a methodology for estimating wet bulb dimensions and their dynamics under drip irrigation. To achieve this, an experiment was conducted using a lysimeter containing representative soil from southern Uruguay. Alfalfa was irrigated using a central dripper with varying application times and flow rates. The lysimeter was equipped with tensiometers, and moisture observations were made with a neutron probe. The collected data were used to calibrate a numerical model implemented in the Code Bright program (UPC, Barcelona, Spain). The model exhibited a good fit in the upper strata (h&lt;60cm), and revealed a deeper and thinner bulb compared to estimates found in the literature for soils of similar texture. This model, accurately computing the wet bulb's shape in heavy and stratified soils in Uruguay, allows simulations of various irrigation scenarios. Consequently, this work holds great potential for improving the efficiency of drip irrigation in the region.

Performance assessment of furrow irrigation in two different soil textures under high rainfall and field slope conditions

Furrow irrigation systems have been widely evaluated around the world. However, there is no national data indicating how efficient furrow irrigation is under Uruguayan conditions. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the performance of a system of furrow irrigation in two different soils texture. Seventeen irrigation events were analyzed in sugar-cane cultivation in northern Uruguay during 2016-17 and 2017-18 irrigation seasons. The water advance and recess curves were determined; flow rate during irrigation and runoff were monitored. The maximum furrow length studied was 100 m and the average slope was 0.24%. Application efficiencies in both types of soils were observed above 75%. These field data were compared with data simulated by the WinSRFR model, where high correlations were observed in the results of water application efficiency, distribution uniformity and runoff. These first results encourage to continue working in the efficient use of water, not only thinking about a better use of the resource but also in less loss by run-off, and therefore, less possibility of contamination and lower cost of energy and labor.

A New Method for Evaluating the Technical Efficiency of Irrigation and Drainage Networks Using LRDEA and Three-Step Monte Carlo Simulation

A New Method for Evaluating the Technical Efficiency of Irrigation and Drainage Networks Using LRDEA and Three-Step Monte Carlo Simulation