Traditional Surface Irrigation Research Articles

Optimizing Irrigation Systems for Water Efficiency and Groundwater Sustainability in the Coastal Nile Delta

This study investigates the replacement of traditional surface irrigation methods with modern irrigation systems (MIS) including horizontal sprinkler, central pivot, surface drip, and subsurface drip aimed at improving water efficiency in the Nile Delta, Egypt. The primary objectives were to determine the optimal agricultural area for implementing MIS and to assess the effects of these systems on groundwater quantity and quality in the region. To achieve this, the LINDO software was employed to optimize land allocation for each irrigation method. At the same time, the SEAWAT code was utilized to simulate saltwater intrusion (SWI) in the Nile Delta aquifer. The transition from traditional surface irrigation to MIS resulted in significant water savings, reaching 2.15 × 10^9 m³. However, groundwater modeling indicated a decrease in groundwater levels, leading to an 8 % increase in aquifer salinity due to reduced infiltration of recharge water. These findings underscore the urgent need to revise outdated irrigation practices and enhance water management strategies in the Nile Delta to mitigate salinity issues in coastal aquifers. This research's outcomes are crucial for decision-makers and stakeholders in selecting appropriate irrigation methods, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, to ensure sustainable water use and agricultural productivity.

Image Recognition for Floating Waste Monitoring in a Traditional Surface Irrigation System

In the traditional surface irrigation system of Vega Baja del Segura (Spain), large amounts of floating waste accumulate at certain points of the river, irrigation channels and drainage ditches, causing malfunctioning of the irrigation network and rising social problems related to the origins of waste. This work proposes a standardized and quick methodology to characterize the floating waste to detect changes in its amount and components. A dataset was created with 477 images of floating plastic items in different environments and was used for training an algorithm based on YOLOv5s. The mean Average Precision of the trained algorithm was 96.9%, and the detection speed was 81.7 ms. Overhead photographs were taken with an unmanned aerial vehicle at strategic points of the river and channels, and its automatic count of floating objects was compared with their manual count. Both methods showed good agreement, confirming that water bottles were the most abundant (95%) type of floating waste. The automatic count reduced the required time and eliminated human bias in image analysis of the floating waste. This procedure can be used to test the reach of corrective measures implemented by local authorities to prevent floating waste in the river.

Response of Triticum Vulgare Growth and Nitrogen Allocation to Irrigation Methods and Regimes under Subsoiling Tillage

Subsoiling tillage breaks up the shallow plow layer and thickened plow pan resulting from prolonged crop rotation, thus enhancing the soil tillage layer environment and fostering crop growth. However, these changes in tillage practices are not accompanied by corresponding advancements in irrigation technology. Therefore, this study compared drip irrigation (DI) and micro-sprinkler irrigation (MS) with three watering levels (H, M, L) based on soil water content (70%, 60%, 50% of field capacity) against traditional surface irrigation (CK, 70%FC) to find the most suitable irrigation approach for subsoiling wheat fields. This study found that adjusting irrigation methods and regimes significantly impacted wheat growth and yield. Drip irrigation boosts winter wheat grain yield, harvest index, biomass transfer amount, biomass transfer rate, nitrogen accumulation, nitrogen use efficiency, and nitrogen harvest index significantly compared to surface and micro-sprinkler methods. Drip irrigation, notably the DI-M treatment, significantly enhances winter wheat grain yield by 28.7% compared to CK. Drip irrigation produced optimal results when soil water levels decreased to 60% of the field capacity. This suggests adopting a combination of DI, with irrigation initiated at 60% of field capacity, for enhanced wheat production and resource efficiency.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A PLASTIC BOTTLE-BASED SUBSURFACE IRRIGATION SYSTEM

Several attempts have been made by researchers for an efficient and cost-effective means of applying irrigation water, since traditional Surface irrigation system is becoming unsustainable due to water shortage. Adoption of most of these systems have failed because sophistication in design and complexity in setup. The use of recycled plastic bottles (PB) is another attempt at achieving a less complex system, yet promoting reuse of spent PB. Experimental Plot was set up in Samaru-Zaria, for a Subsurface irrigation system using recycled PB perforated at the base and connected to network of pipes. Evaluation of the system was carried out to determine the orifice size, orifice depth and the type of fertilizer application with the best agronomic yield parameters in RCBD design with sixteen (16) treatments replicated three (3) times. The results show the treatment with 3mm orifice size buried to 10mm depth with inorganic fertilizer performs best. The use of PB is therefore recommended for use in subsurface system to promote low-cost, less complex yet very effective water saving irrigation system.

Assessing the feasibility of sprinkler irrigation schemes and their adaptation to future climate change in groundwater over-exploitation regions

Promoting appropriate water-saving irrigation is an important pathway to alleviate groundwater overexploitation in irrigated agriculture. Whether an alternative irrigation method is feasible relies on quantitative assessments of its impacts on crop yield and hydrological cycle, especially in the groundwater overdraft area that faces a dilemma between water scarcity and food security. Using a groundwater-module-improved SWAT (Soil & Water Assessment Tool) model, five GCMs (General Circulation Models) projections of CMIP6 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6), and a linear programming algorithm, sprinkler irrigation was simulated, evaluated, and optimized in a representative global groundwater mining location, the piedmont plain of the North China Plain. During the historical period (1993–2012), the results showed that, in general, sprinkler irrigation had advantages in benefiting crop transpiration of winter wheat and reducing percolation, hence improving water use efficiency with reference to traditional surface irrigation. Specifically, compared to traditional surface irrigation schemes, winter wheat yields increased by 12%− 14% with a 225 mm irrigation quota; they were stable with a 150 mm irrigation quota; but they decreased by 4% with a 75 mm irrigation quota. The shallow groundwater tables would decline at an average rate of 1.29 m/yr, 0.83 m/yr, and 0.35 m/yr, respectively, under sprinkler irrigation with 225 mm, 150 mm, and 75 mm irrigation quotas. Future climate changes (increased precipitation, air temperatures, and CO2 concentration) would bring effects of improving wheat yield by 6%− 7% and increasing groundwater vertical recharge by 58%− 122% in 2030–2049. The variations of predicted future shallow groundwater tables were − 0.37 m/yr, 0.01 m/yr, and 0.40 m/yr with the 225 mm, 150 mm, and 75 mm irrigation quotas, respectively, in the SSP2–4.5 scenario; and the corresponding results were − 0.45 m/yr, − 0.05 m/yr, and 0.34 m/yr in the SSP5–8.5 scenario. The optimization results showed that sprinkler irrigation could be implemented in approximately 50% of the study area to achieve shallow groundwater equilibrium and stable wheat production simultaneously in the near future. And the dominant sprinkler irrigation schedule after optimization was found to be scheme S3 (irrigation frequency for wheat was 5 times) with a limited irrigation quota of 150 mm. This study provides detailed data for planning sprinkler water-saving irrigation regimes and groundwater pumping strategies in China’s breadbasket, as well as a reference for global irrigated agriculture with over-drafted aquifers to balance groundwater conservation and grain production.

Drip irrigation reduces the toxicity of heavy metals to soybean: By moving heavy metals out of the root zone and improving physiological metabolism

Excessive heavy metal content in soil can seriously hinder plant physiological metabolism and growth. This study, with soybean, examined how drip irrigation reduced heavy metal toxicity. The drip irrigation experiments with four irrigation frequencies were conducted by controlling the lower limit of the soil matric potential (D1: −10 kPa; D2: −20 kPa; D3: −30 kPa; D4: −40 kPa). Through comparison with traditional surface irrigation, the effects of drip irrigation on heavy metal distribution, soybean growth status, physiological metabolism and transcriptome under Cd, Pb and Cr(VI) composite pollution were comprehensively analyzed. The results show that (i) The Cd, Pb and Cr(IV) in soil migrated away from the plant under drip irrigation, thereby reducing the inhibition of heavy metal stress on soybean growth at the root, among which D1 had the best improvement effect on soybean growth. (ii) Drip irrigation improved the resistance of soybean to heavy metal stress, and promoted the transport and fixation of free Cd2+, Pb2+ and Cr6+ in cells, thereby reducing the damage of oxidative stress and heavy metal ions to cell structure. (iii) Drip irrigation was conducive to the energy supply and protein stability of cell physiological metabolism, which helped the improvement of soybean physiological activity. Overall, compared with surface irrigation, drip irrigation reduced the toxicity of heavy metals to soybeans by moving heavy metals out of the root zone and enhancing physiological activity. The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for the application of drip irrigation technology in the prevention and control of heavy metal pollution, and provide a new strategy for the safe production of agriculture.

Effects of Drip Irrigation and Fertilization Frequency on Yield, Water and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Medium and Strong Gluten Wheat in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China

Drip irrigation can reduce water and fertilizer use; however, the frequency of topdressing required for drip irrigation for wheat in the Huang-Huai-Hai region is still unclear. Through two continuous wheat season field experiments, yield related traits under traditional surface irrigation (border irrigation) and three drip fertilization frequencies (DF2, DF3, DF4, that was, topdressing water and fertilizer twice, three or four times in the same way during the growth period) of three wheat cultivars (Jimai 22, Jimai 20, Shiluan 02-1) were studied. Increasing the frequency of drip irrigation fertilization could prolong the time of high-level photosynthesis, increase the dry matter distribution amount (DMDA) of stems and leaves, and add the weight of 1000 grains; it could increase the DMDA and nitrogen distribution amount (NDA) of the stems, leaves, and grains of Jimai 22, forming higher harvest index (HI) and nitrogen harvest index (NHI), but could reduce the DMDA of the grains of Jimai 20 and Shiluan 02-1, increasing NDA, reducing the harvest index but forming a higher nitrogen harvest index. The increase in drip irrigation fertilization frequency can improve protein content, increase grain number per spike, decrease spike number, improve the yield of medium gluten wheat, and improve nitrogen partial productivity and water use efficiency, while strong gluten wheat has a decrease in yield, nitrogen partial productivity, and water use efficiency. In summary, medium gluten wheat is more suitable for higher fertilization frequency in the Huang-Huai-Hai wheat region, while strong gluten wheat is the opposite.

Difference in Energy Input and Output in Agricultural Production under Surface Irrigation and Water-Saving Irrigation: A Case Study of Kiwi Fruit in Shaanxi

China’s kiwi industry has seen rising production costs and shrinking planting areas in recent years; at the same time, the lack of professional production standards leads to the input redundancy and waste of production factors in the production process of kiwifruit, which intensifies the dilemma of unsustainable agricultural production. This has brought more and more serious challenges to the sustainable development of the industry. In order to solve this problem and clarify the composition and utilization efficiency of energy in the production process of kiwifruit, this study took Chinese kiwifruit production as the research object and analyzed the energy input and output under surface irrigation and water-saving irrigation from the perspective of energy. The results show that the energy input of kiwifruit production under traditional surface irrigation was 85.4 GJ/ha, and the energy output was 59.7 GJ/ha. Among all energy input elements, mineral fertilizers accounted for the highest proportion of energy input, accounting for 48.31%. Under water-saving irrigation, the energy input and output of kiwifruit production are 72.3 GJ/ha and 62.3 GJ/ha; the highest energy input is also mineral fertilizer. The data envelopment analysis results also confirmed that there is a large redundancy in the amount of mineral fertilizer. Compared with surface irrigation, water-saving irrigation technology has effectively improved the energy ratio (from 0.70 to 0.86), energy productivity (from 0.37 kg/MJ to 0.45 kg/MJ) as well as net energy (from −25.8 GJ/ha to −9.93 GJ/ha). Thus, promoting the application of water-saving irrigation technology and increasing the proportion of fertigation during the kiwi production process are necessary measures to promote the sustainable development of China’s kiwi industry.

Literature review on Water Productivity of date palm trees in Tunisian agro systems

The sustainability of agricultural productivity is closely related to the optimal exploitation of natural resources, namely the efficient water resources management. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the adopted strategies and the applied practices and systems relies on a number of criteria and parameters of which water productivity indices represent the most relevant criteria. In this context, the present study aims to assess the water productivity for date palm cultivation in Tunisia based on an accurate literature review of the previously published scientific papers and reports related to the different studies carried out in these agro-oases regions of the country for the evaluation of the different indices of water productivity. This review represents the main baseline document highlighting in an exhaustive way the challenging features related to water productivity for date palm agro-systems. The outcome of this review indicates that (i) the cultivated date surface is expanding, covering more than 58.000 ha with a total production of 355.000 tons in 2021(ii) the distribution of irrigation water is variable and irregular. iii) The reported water supply for date palm range from 20,000 to 30,000 m3/ha while a number of scientific-based calculations estimate the crop water requirements for regular date palm production is between 10,000 and 18,000 m3/ha (iv) the efficiency of water conservation techniques is related to numerous in farm factors related to the old traditional surface irrigation systems, to the soil salinization, alkalization and permeability loss and to the overexploitation issues of water resources that reaching is growing and may impact the productivity of date palms and sustainability of the production system (v) the estimation of the biophysical water productivity based on the reported data reaching barely 0.66kg/m3. This overview highlights the need for an accurate evaluation of the ecological efficiency of the used management measures to a clear appreciation of the new strategies and policies to face the current constraints with regard to all different driving forces influencing water productivity both at the macro and micro scale.

An alternative water-fertilizer-saving management practice for wheat-maize cropping system in the North China Plain: Based on a 4-year field study

Developing an alternative water-fertilizer-saving management practice for winter wheat-summer maize double cropping system in the North China Plain (NCP) is urgent to address severe water scarcity and adverse environmental impacts. A four-year field experiment in split plot design was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplemental drip irrigation on grain yield, water use efficiency (WUE), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), nitrogen (N) loss and economic benefits, keeping three supplemental drip irrigation times (DI0, no irrigation after emergence; DI3, irrigation once at wheat jointing, once at maize seedling and once at maize jointing; DI5, irrigation once at wheat jointing, once at wheat anthesis, once at maize seedling, once at maize jointing and once at maize tasseling) in the main plots and three N fertilizer rates (N0, no N fertilizer; N60%, 60% of the local recommended N fertilizer rate, 272 kg N ha−1 yr−1; N100%, 100% of the local recommended N fertilizer rate, 453 kg N ha−1 yr−1) in the sub plots. The traditional surface irrigation regime was also conducted as control (CK) under local recommended N fertilizer at 453 kg N ha−1 yr−1. The results showed that DI5N60% achieved the highest WUE in wheat (1.93 kg m−3) and maize (3.00 kg m−3) on average, which was 3.0% and 25.3% higher compared to CK, respectively. The highest partial factor productivity from applied N (PEPN) in wheat and maize were also observed in DI5N60% (56.8 kg kg−1 and 56.3 kg kg−1, respectively) on average, which was 54.0% and 74.0% higher compared to CK, respectively. For winter wheat-summer maize double cropping system, DI5N60% can generally achieve similar crop yield and net income but reduce irrigation and N fertilizer use and N loss compared to CK. Therefore, DI5N60% was considered as an alternative water-fertilizer-saving management practice for winter wheat-summer maize double cropping system in the NCP. Moreover, the optimized combination of irrigation amount and N fertilizer rate corresponding simultaneously to higher crop yield, WUE and net income were determined by using the response surface methodology based on binary quadratic regression analysis, and the optimal irrigation amount were 165 mm and 90 mm, optimal N rates were 186 kg N ha−1 and 185 kg N ha−1 for winter wheat and summer maize, respectively.

Influence of Micro-Furrow Depth and Bottom Width on Surface Water Flow and Irrigation Performance in the North China Plain

Improving traditional surface irrigation technology and vigorously promoting water-saving surface irrigation are important ways to improve the efficiency of water resource utilization. In our study, we propose a new technology of surface irrigation, micro-furrow irrigation, which combines the advantages of furrow irrigation and border irrigation. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of micro-furrow depth and bottom width on surface water flow and irrigation performance. Field experiments were conducted from 2019 to 2020 in Zhengzhou City, northern China. This work designed three bottom widths, BW1 (18 cm), BW2 (12 cm), and BW3 (6 cm), respectively, and three depths, D1 (15 cm), D2 (10 cm), and D3 (5 cm), respectively. Moreover, border irrigation was set as control treatment (CK). Additionally, field experiments were validated and simulated using the WinSRFR 5.1 model (Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, USA). The results showed a significant negative correlation between depth and advance time and between depth and recession time. However, no significant correlation was found between bottom width and advance time, nor between bottom width and recession time. The advance times of micro-furrow irrigation were 1.23–4.77 min less than those of border irrigation. Concerning irrigation performance, compared to that of border irrigation, the application efficiency and distribution uniformity increased by 8–30% and −5–18%, respectively. However, the requirement efficiency decreased by 0–40%. Compared to that of border irrigation, the irrigation quota increased 21.61% under BW3D3 but decreased by 10.46–57.94% under other treatments. Therefore, micro-furrow irrigation can meet irrigation requirements despite low irrigation quota. Comprehensively considering the advance time, recession time, irrigation performance, and irrigation quota, we recommend a micro-furrow shape with a depth of 10 cm or 15 cm and bottom width of 6 cm.

Evapotranspiration estimation of Urmia Lake Basin using GCOM-C thermal imagery

Basin-scale monthly and annual evapotranspiration (ET) is estimated for Urmia Lake Basin by applying the Global Change Observation Mission for Climate (GCOM-C) global ETindex estimation algorithm to thermal imagery observed by the GCOM-C satellite. In total, 297 satellite images acquired during 2018-2019 were used in this study. ET estimation accuracy was examined for an area dominated by apple fields using traditional surface irrigation. The estimated ET was 15% lower than the standard crop ET, which was computed using a procedure suggested by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on a monthly timescale, and was 8% lower on an annual timescale. Comparison of estimated ET with a satellite-based ET map derived by using the Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration (METRIC) model showed a similar difference. The 8%–15% differences among the different sources of ET were small, given that a similar or wider range of uncertainty is frequently available even in ground-based ET measurements. Comparison between the estimated ET and the MODIS ET Product (MOD16) revealed a greater difference in the evaluated area of the apple fields. Given the climatic ET demands and the irrigation practices of the area, ET estimation accuracy is more likely to be higher using the dataset derived from this study than using MOD16. The GCOM-C satellite started routine surface observations in January 2018. Its contribution to agricultural water management, such as by estimating ET as presented in this study, will increase as the amount of historical data stored continues to accumulate.

A Study of the Water Requirement of the Eggplant Crop (Solanum melongena) Using the Techniques of Localized Drip Irrigation and its Comparison with the Traditional Surface Irrigation

The results showed that the total water consumptive use of the drip irrigation technique (irrigation line to planting line) was 5967 m3 ha-1, while the production approached 121.06 tons ha- \\ The total water use efficiency was 20.3 kg m-3 ha-1, and the percentage of irrigation water savings compared to the control was 42.6%. The increase in production over the control was 20%, and the yield per square meter was 12.1 kg, while the total water consumption of the drip irrigation technology (irrigation line for two cultivation lines) was 6679 m3 ha-1 with a yield of 110.78 tons ha-1. The total water use efficiency was 16.6 kg m-3 ha-1 and the percentage of irrigation water savings compared to the control was 35.4%, the increase in production compared to the control was 9%, and the yield per square meter was 11.1 kg, while the total water consumption of the (traditional surface irrigation) technology reached 10,965 m3 ha-1 with a yield of 101.22 tons ha-1. The total water use efficiency was 9.2 kg m-3 ha-1 and the yield per square meter was 10.1 kg. It was found that the drip irrigation technique (an irrigation line for a planting line) gave the highest production with the least amount of irrigation water compared to other methods, taking into account that the drip irrigation technique (a hazardous for two planting lines) was better in terms of saving in the cost of the lines.

Enhancement of Water Unit use Efficiency under Modified Surface Irrigation Conditions

This study was conducted in Assiut Governorate, Upper Egypt. The objectives of this work were to study the performance of the developed surface irrigation system and comparing it with the traditional surface irrigation system. The performance indicators were hydraulic evaluation of irrigation systems, amount of applied water, water application efficiency, filed water use efficiency and crop yield. The results revealed that the amounts of water applied for wheat crop were 1123, 1168 and 1515 m3/fed under buried pipes, lining mesqas and earthen mesqas respectively. While they were 1180, 1216 and 1521 m3/fed of maize crop for the previous mesqas respectively. It is clear that, the highest values of applied water for all crops, were found at earthen mesqas during winter as well as summer season. Average water application efficiencies were as 39.20 %, 76.70 % and 81.75 % for earthen mesqas, lining mesqas and buried pipes respectively. The productivity of wheat and maize increased 21.74 and 20.83 % under buried pipe respectively. Also, wheat and maize were 16.28 % and 15.56 % respectively under lining mesqas compared with earthen mesqas. The values of field water use efficiency (FWUE) for wheat were 3.07 kg ∕ m3, 2.78 kg ∕ m3 and 1.78 kg ∕ m3 under buried pipe, lining mesqas and traditional surface irrigation respectively. also, it was for maize, 2.85 kg ∕ m3, 2.59 kg ∕ m3 and 1.75 kg ∕ m3 under buried pipe, lining mesqas and traditional surface irrigation respectively.

Efficient IoT-Based Control for a Smart Subsurface Irrigation System to Enhance Irrigation Management of Date Palm.

Drought is the most severe problem for agricultural production, and the intensity of this problem is increasing in most cultivated areas around the world. Hence improving water productivity is the primary purpose of sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to use cloud IoT solutions to control a modern subsurface irrigation system for improving irrigation management of date palms in arid regions. To achieve this goal, we designed, constructed, and validated the performance of a fully automated controlled subsurface irrigation system (CSIS) to monitor and control the irrigation water amount remotely. The CSIS is based on an autonomous sensors network to instantly collect the climatic parameters and volumetric soil water content in the study area. Therefore, we employed the ThingSpeak cloud platform to host sensor readings, perform algorithmic analysis, instant visualize the live data, create event-based alerts to the user, and send instructions to the IoT devices. The validation of the CSIS proved that automatically irrigating date palm trees controlled by the sensor-based irrigation scheduling (S-BIS) is more efficient than the time-based irrigation scheduling (T-BIS). The S-BIS provided the date palm with the optimum irrigation water amount at the opportune time directly in the functional root zone. Generally, the S-BIS and T-BIS of CSIS reduced the applied irrigation water amount by 64.1% and 61.2%, respectively, compared with traditional surface irrigation (TSI). The total annual amount of applied irrigation water for CSIS with S-BIS method, CSIS with T-BIS method, and TSI was 21.04, 22.76, and 58.71 m3 palm−1, respectively. The water productivity at the CSIS with S-BIS (1.783 kg m−3) and T-BIS (1.44 kg m−3) methods was significantly higher compared to the TSI (0.531 kg m−3). The CSIS with the S-BIS method kept the volumetric water content in the functional root zone next to the field capacity compared to the T-BIS method. The deigned CSIS with the S-BIS method characterized by the positive impact on the irrigation water management and enhancement on fruit yield of the date palm is quite proper for date palm irrigation in the arid regions.

Improvement of Irrigation Efficiency by Developing on Farm Irrigation System

The experiments were Carried out in Biahmu Village at Al-Fayoum Governorate, Egypt during the two winter seasons of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, on wheat crop to (cv. Gemmiza 11) evaluate the traditional surface irrigation system TSIS and the improved surface irrigation system ISIS(terrace), under laser leveling with two slops (S1≈ zero% and S2 ≈ 3%). The evaluation parameters included; reduction in land loss LL, the roughness coefficient of marwa-walls, water efficiencies (i.e., water conveyance efficiencies WCE, water application efficiencies WAE and water storage efficiencies WSE), yield productivity Yp, total applied water and water required, irrigation water productivity IWP and times of water advance, recession and opportunity. The results concluded that improving traditional marwa, led to reduction in land loss by 49.46% from the area of marwa, and WCE increased by 83.17% in improved Marwa IM the compare to Traditional Marwa It was observed that on the efficiency of water added to the field irrigated by TM. The highest level of water productivity (1.79kg wheat/m3 water) was achieved in IM at a level of 3%. Advanced time T.Adv (min) decreased at 50, 50.77, 27.6, 20.75, and 17.17% and 30.9, 40.51, 22.8, 10.89 and7.05% for TL and IL by sloping to S2.

CREATION OF AUTOMATED LOW-INTENSITY IRRIGATION SYSTEMS CONTROLLED THROUGH AN INTERNET CHANNEL IN AZERBAIJAN (ASMO)

With the correct process management, low-intensity irrigation allows not only to drastically reduce water consumption for irrigation of agricultural crops, but also to provide the necessary microclimate for plants and the supply of water and fertilizers in the required amount directly to the root zone of plants, which contributes to the earlier entry of plants into the season fruiting and increased productivity while reducing water per unit of crop and reducing production costs. For this, we have developed a perfect safe technological system of automated irrigation based on IDAD with automated control of the controlled potential moisture supply of the plant, an optimized irriga-tion regime taking into account the controlled soil and agroclimatic parameters that affect the growth and develop-ment of the plant phase, while maintaining the ecological environment that contributes to obtaining a guaranteed and high-quality yield per unit area meeting the requirement of mi ovyh standards. The system of low-intensity irri-gation created by the results of the study compared to traditional surface irrigation methods is more technologically demanding and in the remote areas from settlements it is difficult to provide qualified service; to ensure their possi-ble efficiency, they require complex automation of the irrigation technological process.

Implementing Sustainable Irrigation in Water-Scarce Regions under the Impact of Climate Change

The sustainability of irrigated agriculture is threatening due to adverse climate change, given future projections that every one in four people on Earth might be suffering from extreme water scarcity by the year 2025. Pressurized irrigation systems and appropriate irrigation schedules can increase water productivity (i.e., product yield per unit volume of water consumed by the crop) and reduce the evaporative or system loss of water as opposed to traditional surface irrigation methods. However, in water-scarce countries, irrigation management frequently becomes a complex task. Deficit irrigation and the use of non-conventional water resources (e.g., wastewater, brackish groundwater) has been adopted in many cases as part of a climate change mitigation measures to tackle the water poverty issue. Protected cultivation systems such as greenhouses or screenhouses equipped with artificial intelligence systems present another sustainable option for improving water productivity and may help to alleviate water scarcity in these countries. This article presents a comprehensive review of the literature, which deals with sustainable irrigation for open-field and protected cultivation systems under the impact of climatic change in vulnerable areas, including the Mediterranean region.

Assessment of Water Balance and Traditional Surface Irrigation Practices in the Northern Nile Delta

Water balance analysis helps in managing water supply. Therefore, matching between water supply and demand is very important to overcome water shortage.This study aims at presenting comprehensive analysis to understand the nature of operating system in the traditional surface irrigation systems aiming to establish a comprehensive analysis to sustain the irrigation system, considering the problems of water supply, inequity, water quality deterioration, and poor irrigation and drainage management. Analysis in this study was done in two hubs. Firstly, study the parameters affecting water supply and demand; secondly, assessing water availability, adequacy, equity and distribution of irrigation during 24 hours’ cycle.The study area is located in Kafr El-Dawar irrigation district, El-Beheira governorate in the western part of the Nile Delta.The findings show that the differences in water balance per feddan (feddan is an Egyptian land unit equals 4206 m2) at all tertiary canals (meskas) are small; At the head of the canals, no night irrigation or drainage water reuse events during the irrigation seasons were observed; and the irrigation rotation is irregular. These findings elaborate that the location on the canal and the presence of subsurface drainage are mainly affecting the water balance in the study area.

Quantification of soil water balance components based on continuous soil moisture measurement and the Richards equation in an irrigated agricultural field of a desert oasis

Abstract. An accurate assessment of soil water balance components (SWBCs) is necessary for improving irrigation strategies in any water-limited environment. However, quantitative information on SWBCs is usually challenging to obtain, because none of the components (i.e., irrigation, drainage, and evapotranspiration) can be easily measured under actual conditions. Soil moisture is a variable that integrates the water balance components of land surface hydrology, and the evolution of soil moisture is assumed to contain the memory of antecedent hydrologic fluxes, and can thus be used to determine SWBCs from a hydrologic balance. A database of soil moisture measurements from six experimental plots with different treatments in the middle Heihe River basin of China was used to test the potential of a such a database for estimating SWBCs. We first compared the hydrophysical properties of the soils in these plots, such as vertical saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and soil water retention features, for supporting SWBC estimations. We then determined evapotranspiration and other SWBCs using a method that combined the soil water balance method and the inverse Richards equation (a model of unsaturated soil water flow based on the Richards equation). To test the accuracy of our estimation, we used both indirect methods (such as power consumption of the pumping irrigation well and published SWBCs values at nearby sites) and the water balance equation technique to verify the estimated SWBCs values, all of which showed good reliability with respect to our estimation method. Finally, the uncertainties of the proposed methods were analyzed to evaluate the systematic error of the SWBC estimation and any restrictions regarding its application. The results showed significant variances among the film-mulched plots in both the cumulative irrigation volumes (652.1–867.3 mm) and deep drainages (170.7–364.7 mm). Moreover, the un-mulched plot had remarkably higher values in both cumulative irrigation volumes (1186.5 mm) and deep drainages (651.8 mm) compared with the mulched plots. Obvious correlation existed between the volume of irrigation and that of drained water. However, the ET demands for all of the plots behaved pretty much the same, with the cumulative ET values ranging between 489.1 and 561.9 mm for the different treatments in 2016, suggesting that the superfluous irrigation amounts had limited influence on the accumulated ET throughout the growing season due to the poor water-holding capacity of the sandy soil. This work confirmed that relatively reasonable estimations of the SWBCs in coarse-textured sandy soils can be derived by using soil moisture measurements; the proposed methods provided a reliable solution over the entire growing season and showed a great potential for identifying appropriate irrigation amounts and frequencies, and thus a move toward sustainable water resources management, even under traditional surface irrigation conditions.