Water-saving Irrigation System Research Articles

Migration and Deposition Characteristics of Sand Particles on Mesh Filter Surfaces in Water-Saving Irrigation Systems: Evidence from Simulation and Experimental Verification

Migration and Deposition Characteristics of Sand Particles on Mesh Filter Surfaces in Water-Saving Irrigation Systems: Evidence from Simulation and Experimental Verification

Physical and Economic Water Productivity in Agriculture between Traditional and Water-Saving Irrigation Systems: A Case Study in Southern Italy

Water scarcity is a growing social, economic, and political issue, especially in Southern European countries that are becoming even more arid and where different crops can be cultivated only if irrigation is possible. In this context, strategies to enhance water use efficiency are regarded as critical from both an economic and an environmental standpoint. The present work aims to analyse water use efficiency and productivity of processing tomato in Apulia region of Southern Italy. Specifically, the study examines the potential enhancements in economic and physical water productivity through the simulation of the fully coupled FEST-EWB-SAFY model, a hydrological crop model that estimates the optimal water requirements for irrigation using satellite and ground data. The model’s estimates suggest that plants require significantly less water than that provided by conventional irrigation systems. The simulations also suggest that information technology, when combined with irrigation water-saving techniques, can lead to a reduction in water waste, an increase in water productivity, and lower incidence of water costs. Policy interventions should integrate water efficiency into existing regulatory measures and promote better water usage planning through the adoption of smart delivery systems aimed at supplying water only when necessary and at optimal volumes.

Response of Soil Nitrogen Components and nirK- and nirS-Type Denitrifying Bacterial Community Structures to Drip Irrigation Systems in the Semi-Arid Area of Northeast China

Denitrification is a key process in soil available nitrogen (N) loss. However, the effects of different water-saving irrigation systems on soil N components and denitrifying bacterial communities are still unclear. In this study, quantitative fluorescence PCR and Illumina MiSeq sequencing were used to investigate the effects of three main irrigation systems, conventional flooding irrigation (FP), shallow buried drip irrigation (DI), and mulched drip irrigation (MF), on the abundance, community composition, and diversity of soil nirK- and nirS-type denitrifying bacteria in the semi-arid area of Northeast China, and to clarify the driving factors of nirK- and nirS-type denitrifying bacterial community variations. The results showed that, compared with FP, MF significantly increased soil moisture, alkaline hydrolyzed nitrogen (AHN), nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N), non-acid hydrolyzed nitrogen (AIN), and amino sugar nitrogen (ASN), but significantly decreased the contents of ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and acid hydrolyzed ammonium nitrogen (AN). The irrigation system changed the relative abundance of the dominant genera of denitrifying bacteria, DI and MF significantly increased nitrate reductase (NR) and nitrite reductase (NiR) activities, and MF significantly increased the diversity of nirK- and nirS-type denitrifying bacteria but significantly decreased the richness. The community structure of nirK- and nirS-type denitrifying bacteria was significantly different among the three irrigation systems. NO3−-N was the main driving factor affecting the community structure of nirS-type denitrifying bacteria, and moisture significantly affected the community structure of nirK-type denitrifying bacteria. DI and MF significantly increased the abundance of nirK- and nirS-type denitrifying bacteria and also increased the abundance ratio of nirS/nirK genes. Therefore, although DI and MF significantly increased the abundance of denitrifying microorganisms, they did not lead to an increase in the N2O emission potential.

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.

Partitioning Evapotranspiration in a Cotton Field under Mulched Drip Irrigation Based on the Water-Carbon Fluxes Coupling in an Arid Region in Northwestern China

Measuring evapotranspiration (ET) components in cotton fields under mulched drip irrigation is needed to improve water use efficiency and promote the development of water-saving agriculture. In this study, an Eddy Covariance (EC) system was used to observe the water-carbon fluxes of cotton fields under mulched drip irrigation in an arid region during two years (2021–2022). The Underlying Water Use Efficiency (uWUE) method was used to partition the ET into transpiration (T) and evaporation (E) in order to reveal the changing characteristics of ET and its components in cotton fields under mulched drip irrigation and analyze the effects of environmental factors on each component. The results showed that the diurnal variation of ET was the same as gross primary productivity (GPP), and their course of change showed a bimodal curve at budding, blooming, and boll stages. The relationship of T at different growth stages was the same as ET, which is blooming and boll stage > budding stage > boll opening stage > seedling stage. ET and its components were mainly affected by temperature (Tair) and net radiation (Rn). This study can provide a theoretical and practical basis for the application of uWUE in cotton fields under mulched drip irrigation and a scientific basis for the rational allocation of water resources and the formulation of a scientific water-saving irrigation system for farmland in an arid region.

Evaluation of the impact of natural conditions on the sprinkler irrigation system

Abstract Natural conditions highly predict further use of the locality. Current climate change, population growth and other crises open questions of better use and design of existing and new irrigation systems. Government of Uzbekistan currently highly invest in the water-saving irrigation systems which should correspond to natural conditions of the locality. Therefore, deep study of each area of interest is necessary. Based on the available information of natural conditions of Uzbekistan, the crop production localities overlap localities with low precipitation, high temperature rise in last years and middle groundwater level. Also, part of them lays on the soils with low water holding capacity and high salinity. Especially in those areas the proper design should be done.

A Two-level clustering chain energy heterogeneous routing protocol for WSN

In view of the disadvantages of high energy consumption, short life cycle, low throughput and no application correlation in heterogeneous WSN, a two-level clustering chain routing protocol is proposed under the heterogeneous WSN of intelligent water-saving irrigation system of ecological agriculture in Hexi Gobi. The irrigation subnets are divides into clusters according to the actual layout in the wireless network and the nodes in the cluster form the chain on the basis of the minimum distance. The two-level cluster headers in reserve are selected by rate of the remaining energy of terminal nodes in cluster vs. average energy in local region. Eventually the level clusters heads and the two-level cluster headers are chosen according to the largest ratio of the remaining energy to the distance between the terminal nodes and the base station. Results in simulation show that the proposed algorithm is superior to PEGASIS and SEP in energy consumption, life cycle and throughput.

Combined traffic control of irrigation on heterogeneous field

In arid areas, such as Hungary, most climate models forecast a rise in water scarcity. Irrigated land accounts for 2% of agricultural land in Hungary, with most irrigation technology being relatively outdated. The aim of this research was to lay the foundation for a combined traffic management system for a water-saving precision irrigation system on an 85-ha field in the Tisza River basin's reference region. High-precision soil maps were created to support the water-efficient variable-rate irrigation system by selecting and selecting areas for different agrotechnical implementations and precision farming zones.

A risk-based stochastic model for supporting resources allocation of agricultural water-energy-food system under uncertainty

The interactive water-energy relationship is a major restriction on food production in agricultural irrigation systems. Applying water-saving irrigation systems can further intensify the interrelationship between water and electricity and trigger a water-energy joint risk. Currently, there are no approaches capable of effectively assessing the various uncertainties and water-energy joint risks in irrigation districts. In this study, a novel mathematical programming method termed copula-based interval two-stage stochastic mixed-integer programming (CITSMIP) is proposed. CITSMIP quantifies water-energy joint risks in food production and provides an optimal resource allocation plan and water-saving irrigation application schemes under different joint risk levels. CITSMIP was applied to solve an irrigation resource management problem in northwest China. The results show that under a certain water-energy joint risk, planting sunflowers would be the first choice for water-saving irrigation applications. As water-saving applications have become increasingly common over time, the water-saving volume is expected to increase to [74.65, 84.46] × 107 m3 by 2035. Moreover, under a certain joint risk, compared with the water risk, fluctuations in energy risk would have a greater impact on the total benefit of the system and the total consumption of resources. Compared with single water risk or energy risk management, the joint risk management results would have a lower degree of uncertainty and higher lower-bound benefits. Establishing CITSMIP can provide valuable insights into informing stakeholders to allocate resources and maximize benefits under water-energy joint risk.

Machine Learning Approaches to Estimate Flow Rate of Drip Irrigation Emitter Based on Structure Parameters and Pressure

The agricultural water-saving irrigation systems need to be adapted to local conditions, and irrigation emitters with different flow rates need to be designed to meet actual needs. In this study, machine learning approaches were used to predict the flow rate of the labyrinth emitters. The structural parameters of the emitter [number of channel units (N), channel unit length (L), channel width (W), tooth height (H) and channel depth (D)] and working pressure (P) were considered as independent variables. The applied machine learning models included k-nearest neighbor (KNN), multi-layer perceptron (MLP), support vector machine (SVM) and radial basis function artificial neural network (RBF-ANN). The accuracy of the machine learning model was evaluated by the mean square error (MSE) and coefficient of determination (R 2). The results show that the MSE and R2 of the RBF-ANN model were higher than the corresponding parameters of the other three models, indicating the RBF-ANN model can predict the flow rate of the labyrinth emitter more accurately. The research provides a reference for the rapid design of emitters with different flow rate. It is helpful to realize the automation of agricultural irrigation, and then realize the construction of a smart agricultural irrigation system.

Silica Application Facilitates Vegetative Growth of Winter Squash (<i>Cucurbita maxima</i> L.) Under Water-Saving Irrigation

Silicon (Si) is used to alleviate abiotic stress in plants. Applying siliceous fertilizer in combination with regulated deficit irrigation may reduce water consumption during plant vegetative growth period. In this study, winter squash ‘East Elite’ was irrigated with 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mM SiO₂ under a field capacity—that is, the water content of 60% (C60, water-saving irrigation). The SiO₂ treatments promoted plant growth including stem diameter, plant height and leaf number; however, the plant growth under water-saving irrigation was slightly (but significantly) lower than that under regular irrigation (C₈₀). Silicon application in the water-saving irrigation can increase the accumulation of fresh and dry weight in the aboveground and underground of plant, but there is no significant difference between the treatments with different concentrations of silicon. Silicon application treatments was significantly higher chlorophyll content (SPAD) than C₆₀, and followed by C₈₀. The SiO₂ in the plants increased with increasing SiO₂ treatment concentration; however, the difference was nonsignificant. The 1.0 and 1.5 mM treatments increased the leaf transpiration rate and stomatal conductance. The growth of the plants treated with 1.5 mM SiO₂ was greater than that of the plants left untreated. The 1.5 mM SiO₂ treatment increased the activity of leaf catalase and peroxidase and reduced the leaf malondialdehyde content of the mild water stressed plants. Irrigation with a SiO₂ solution in a water-saving irrigation system can stabilize plant growth and increase water use efficiency.

Design of Intelligent Water-Saving Irrigation System Based on Internet of Things

This paper studies the design of water-saving irrigation system based on Internet of things. The structural model of the water-saving irrigation system was established, and the hardware and software of the control system were designed, with emphasis on the design and coverage calculation of the sensor nodes in the wireless sensor network. The wireless network and control system are tested, including network coverage, network connection, optimal communication distance and accuracy of data transmission. The experimental results show that the data transmitted by the wireless sensor is accurate and reliable, and the software and hardware of the automatic control system can work normally. The system can carry out intelligent irrigation timely and accurately.

Sustainable Agriculture Development in Northwest China Under the Impacts of Global Climate Change.

Northwest China has one of the most vulnerable agricultural systems in the context of global climate change. We argue that sustainable agriculture development in this region requires a systematic approach toward climate change adaptation, and propose a schematic framework for strategic thinking. We first briefly review the impacts of climate change on various agricultural environmental factors, including light, temperature, water, and atmosphere, and explores the effects of climate change on agricultural practices, such as disaster response, pests and weeds control, fertilizer application, and species selection. The study shows that climate change has increased extreme climate disasters such as drought and heat waves, and has expanded the scope and severity of pests and weeds, which in turn requires a series of changes in farming practices. These effects have profound impacts on farmland management, as well as the sustainability of the agricultural system. Based on the findings, the authors argue that the key adaptation strategies should include: (1) optimizing the geographic distribution of agriculture, (2) cultivating new crop varieties that can better adapt to the changing environment, (3) adjusting cropping timing and structure, (4) developing water-saving irrigation systems, (5) improving capacities of disaster prevention and mitigation at both household and government levels, and (6) strengthening the sciences, technology, and human resources to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.

Photovoltaic Direct Drive Water-saving irrigation System and Its Optimization Design Method

Photovoltaic irrigation has been widely used in many areas without conventional energy sources. In order to solve the problem of unstable operation and poor irrigation uniformity caused by the diurnal variation of solar radiation, a photovoltaic direct-drive water-saving irrigation system with automatic regulation was proposed. By using automatic control technology and the method of zonal rotation irrigation, all the electric energy generated by solar panels can be converted into irrigation energy under different light intensities, so that the water-saving irrigation equipment can work stably in different regions and the irrigation uniformity is ensured in different regions. According to the characteristics of solar energy resources and photovoltaic water-pumping units, the optimum design method of photovoltaic water-saving irrigation system is put forward. The minimum capacity of solar panels can meet the irrigation demand of a certain area, which can guide the engineering design of solar water-saving irrigation, greatly improve the engineering quality and energy utilization rate. It has the advantages of simple design, low cost, stable operation and energy-saving ring.

Precise soil water control using a negative pressure irrigation system to improve the water productivity of greenhouse watermelon

A negative pressure irrigation system (NPIS) was tested in 2016 and 2018 to determine the optimum soil water control conditions to improve water productivity (WP) and fruit quality for greenhouse-grown watermelon. Four levels of negative water pressure (-5, -10, -15 and -20 kPa) were imposed continuously to a clay-made emitter buried 5 cm under the soil surface during three major stages of greenhouse-grown watermelon (I-VE: vine extension, 32 days; II-FF: flowering and fruit setting, 16 days; III-FM: fruit expansion to maturity, 28 days), which created soil water conditions around the emitter being 96%, 80%, 72% and 63% of field capacity, respectively. Except for the testing stages with the four levels of water treatments, the water supply during other stages was all set with a constant -10 kPa water pressure. A traditional furrow irrigation treatment was included to assess the water-saving effects of the NPIS. The irrigation timing used for the furrow irrigation treatment was decided based on the soil water contents corresponding to the -15 kPa treatment under NPIS. The results indicated that with an increase in the negative pressure imposed on the emitters, the average daily evapotranspiration linearly decreased for all three stages, with the largest decrease occurring during III-FM, but the watermelon yield decreased more with the decline in the water supply during vine extension due to the after-effects of the reduced vine growth. Water stress improved watermelon quality by increasing sugar contents during II-FF and reduced acid contents during III-FM. Moderate water stress resulted in the highest water productivity (WP) as well as protein and total soluble solid contents in the melon during all three stages. Comparing the NPIS with furrow irrigation, the water use of the former was 18.3–31.2% less, the yield was 6.2–12.0% higher, and the WP was improved by 36.6–53.8%. The results indicated that NPIS is a water-saving irrigation system, and the water pressure of NPIS can be set at -5 to -10 kPa for vine extension and fruit expansion to maturity stages; and -10 to -15 kPa for flowering and fruit setting stage to achieve good quality, high WP and relatively stable yield for greenhouse-grown melon.

Variations of Soil Salinity and Cotton Growth under Six-Years Mulched Drip Irrigation

The lowering of salt content in the field, especially in arid areas, after consecutive application of mulched drip irrigation (MDI) is of vital importance for sustainable cotton plantation. To elucidate the effects of long-term MDI on soil properties and cotton growth, this paper systematically monitored the soil salinity, ion concentrations and the yield of cotton in the field using MDI consecutively for six years in a typical oasis in Xinjiang, China. The results showed that MDI could significantly change salt distribution in the cotton field. During the six years tested, the soil salt content using MDI declined fast at first, and then the decline rate gradually decreased. In the 1st and 2nd year, the average salt content within 0–100 cm soil layer was larger than 20 g kg−1, which belonging to the saline soil. Then the salt content decreased to 10–20 g kg−1 in the 3rd and 4th year, and the cotton field declined to heavily saline soil. After 5 years of MDI, the soil turned to non-salinized. The Cl− and SO42− equivalence ratio (CSER) also decreased with the increase of application years of MDI. Saline-alkaline land developed from chloride-sulphate solonchak (0.2 < CSER < 1) into sulphate solonchak (CSER < 0.2) after 6 years of MDI. The survival rate of the cotton increased from 1.48% (1 year of MDI) to 76.3% (6 years of MDI), and the yield increased from 72.43 kg ha−1 to 4515.48 kg ha−1. When the average CSER, SAR and the soil salinity in 0–140 cm soil layer decreased to 0.60, 0.98 (mol kg−1)0.5 and 6.25 g kg−1, farmers can achieve a balance between income and expenditure. Moreover, when CSER, SAR, and the soil salinity continuously decreased to 0.44, 0.69 (mol kg−1)0.5 and 0.77 g kg−1, the cotton yield will exceed the average production level of cotton in Xinjiang. Under the current irrigation schedule in the oasis irrigation area, the soil salinity and groundwater level after applying MDI could be conducive to cotton growth. However, this situation had also caused a waste of nearly 200 mm of water resources. Therefore, authors suggested that further research on water-saving irrigation systems suitable for different soil conditions should be carried out, and also the differential quota management in production practice should be adopted.

Irrigation decision method for winter wheat growth period in a supplementary irrigation area based on a support vector machine algorithm

In supplementary irrigation areas, it is very important to formulate an irrigation plan based on the previous precipitation. However, because of the difficulty of accurately predicting the weather, most studies on irrigation decision making have recommended irrigation schemes under different historical weather years. In this study, a water-saving irrigation system for winter wheat based on the DSSAT model and a genetic algorithm was optimized for different historical years (1970–2017). Accordingly, a decision-making method for determining whether to irrigate in the growth stage of winter wheat was developed using a support vector machine algorithm based on the amount of precipitation in the early stage of winter wheat and the amount of irrigation. The results indicated that the decision-making accuracy in the wintering period, regreening period, and jointing period were 89.4%, 95.7%, and 93.6%, respectively. Thus, the proposed method can effectively determine the irrigation schemes corresponding to different growth stages of winter wheat and facilitate optimal decision making for water-saving irrigation in the winter wheat season in supplementary irrigation areas.

Effects of Irrigation and Potassium Fertilizer Applications on Jujube Production

Highlights Moderate water deficit will help reduce agricultural investment. Application of potassium fertilizer can alleviate the effect of water deficit on fruit trees. Reasonable ratio of water and fertilizer is helpful to improve economic benefits. Abstract . The jujube planting industry is a key agricultural industry in Xinjiang, China. With an arid climate and limited water resources, Xinjiang must implement more efficient water-saving irrigation systems to guarantee the sustainable development of jujube planting industry. A two-factor, three-level test was adopted to explore how regulated deficit irrigation and different potassium fertilizer levels affected the growth and yield of jujube under drip irrigation. The results of analysis of variance showed that water deficit significantly affected photosynthetic characteristics, growth parameters, evapotranspiration, and yield. The effect of K-application level was focused on fruit volume and yield. However, when the ratio of water to fertilizer is unbalanced (150% K-application + severe water deficit), the growth of jujube trees be inhibited, and the fruit volume and economic benefits reduced by 7% and 11%, respectively. Means comparison indicated that growth parameters, evaporation, and yield under minor water deficit was lower than that under the adequate irrigation by 7%, 13%, and 6%, respectively; and economic performance was higher by 12%. Severe water deficit reduced growth parameters and economic benefits by 33% and 55%, respectively. Thus, minor water deficit irrigation significantly inhibited luxury transpiration and growth redundancy, improved water-use efficiency and increased economic performance. Severer water deficit may damage trees and negatively affect the jujube industry. With economic benefit analysis, 150% K-application with adequate irrigation and minor water deficit, 100% K-application with adequate irrigation and minor water deficit, 50% K-application with minor water deficit all achieve high economic benefits (14074~17261 RmB ha-1). However, when taking water restrictions, the environmental and economic costs of fertilizer, and the long-term effects of tree development into account, application of 100% K-application with minor water deficit (irrigation, 75% ETc; fertilizer, 200 kg ha-1 compound fertilizer+360 kg ha-1 potassium fertilizer) is recommended. Keywords: Deficit irrigation, Economic benefit, Potassium fertilizer, Yield.

An Intelligent Water-Saving Irrigation System

With the rapid growth of the world’s population, the shortage of freshwater resources becomes increasingly serious. Farmland irrigation would not survive without fresh water which comes from river nearby. The low irrigation efficiency of the existing irrigation system needs to be tackled for efficient and effective usage of freshwater with low-cost. It is recognised that the water-saving irrigation technologies, such as the drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, micro-irrigation, furrow irrigation in horizontal direction, plastic film mulching, ditch irrigation technology, etc. should be strongly promoted in order to develop water-saving agriculture. However all these measures require cutting-edge technologies and heavy investment, which poses a big problem particularly for the developing countries. On the other hand, if water and nutrients can be applied directly to the crop at root level, the positive effects on yield and water savings can be achieved, thereby increasing the irrigation performance. The water-yield relationship has been investigated using different methods of limited water applications and programs. Therefore, designing and fabricating technological irrigation system of low cost with maximising yield that can reasonably use water for agriculture is an urgent issue to today’s world. The intelligent irrigation system provides a potential solution to solve the water shortage problems. In this study, an intelligent water-saving irrigation system is designed using Solidworks and some parts of the system are fabricated using a home-made fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D Printer. The intelligent irrigation for different plants is successfully achieved and the irrigation efficiency is significantly improved. The employment of the home-made 3D printer not only substantially reduces the manufacture costs, but also makes it possible to fabricate any “ad hoc” irrigation system.

Irrigation remote control system based on LoRa intelligence

In order to realize automatic remote monitoring and intelligent management of intelligent irrigation system, aiming at the existing problems of water-saving irrigation system, an intelligent irrigation system based on wireless remote control was designed by using LoRa wireless communication technology to realize low power consumption and low loss monitoring technology. This paper introduces the way and system architecture of ad hoc network in detail, and the establishment of irrigation mathematical model and irrigation algorithm in different periods of cotton field, which not only improves the utilization rate of water resources, but also realizes the intelligence of irrigation system, and promotes the transformation from traditional agriculture to intelligent agriculture.