Improving water resources management using different irrigation strategies and water qualities: Field and modelling study

M. Afzal, A. Battilani, D. Solimando and R. Ragab

Agricultural Water Management, 2016, vol. 176, issue C, 40-54

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two different irrigation strategies, regulated deficit irrigation, RDI and partial root drying, PRD using surface freshwater (SW) and brackish treated waste water (TWW) for maize and potato crops. The SALTMED model has been applied using the field measurements of two cropping seasons 2013 and 2014 at the Canale Emiliano Romagnolo, CER’s experimental farm located in Mezzolara di Budrio (Bologna, Italy). In 2013, PRD irrigated potato received 17% less irrigation water than RDI but produced nearly the same yield as under RDI. The water productivity, on average, was 11% higher for PRD compared with RDI. For maize 2014 season, the PRD strategy received almost 15% less irrigation water, but produced a yield only 6% lower than that of RDI and gave equal water productivity to RDI. Given that the two strategies received the same amount of rainfall the results favour the PRD over RDI. Had the site not received above average rainfall (258mm in 2013 and 259mm during the 2014 growing seasons), PRD might have produced higher yield and water productivity than RDI.

Keywords: SALTMED model; Regulated deficit irrigation; RDI; Partial root-zone drying PRD; Soil moisture; Soil salinity; Irrigation; Potato; Maize; Yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377416301676
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:176:y:2016:i:c:p:40-54

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2016.05.005

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Water Management is currently edited by B.E. Clothier, W. Dierickx, J. Oster and D. Wichelns

More articles in Agricultural Water Management from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().