Effects of Irrigation and Field Management Practices within Water Resources Systems

Year 2020, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 77 - 108, 17.01.2020

Mehmet Can Güçlü Abebe Demissie Chukalla Pieter Van Oel

https://doi.org/10.31807/tjwsm.584862

Abstract

World
population is prospected to increase to 9.8 billion people in 2050 and global
food and water demands can also be presumed to rise concurrently. Regarding
these future demands and considering climate change and depletion in water
sources; new approaches, management strategies, and models are needed. In this
study, the AquaCrop model, which may simplify the complexities of the
real-system assessments, is used as an analytical tool to predict the effects
of different management practices within winter wheat, spring wheat, winter
barley, and maize in a specific location (middle Guadiana sub-catchment,
Spain). The primary drivers from the model were determined as actual
evapotranspiration (ET_a), yield (Y), and water productivity (WP). Model
runs were executed within three different management strategies; which are irrigation
technologies, irrigation strategies, and mulching practices. Thereafter, the
yield gaps (Y_g) and water productivity gap (WP_g) were analyzed,
and water scarcity/shortage degrees were compared. The results of this study
showed that the AquaCrop model is a sophisticated model to estimate ET_a,
Y, and WP parameters. Yield productions in deficit irrigation were mostly more
than supplementary irrigation. Full irrigation showed the highest yield within
non-limited water conditions; however, some adverse effects of the full
irrigation strategy such as salinity should not be ignored. Mulching practices positively
affected the ET_a reduction. Full irrigation and no mulching scenario
showed the worst impacts on the water resources system. Supplementary
irrigation and synthetic mulching practices depicted the least surface water
resource deterioration. Deficit irrigation and synthetic mulching practices
resulted in remarkable water savings with fewer yield losses compared to the
scenario with the highest yield production levels.

Keywords

AquaCrop model, management practice, water productivity, yield gap

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