Adaptation strategies for deficit irrigation management under extreme climate conditions

Kelechi Igwe, Ikenna Onyekwelu and Vaishali Sharda

Agricultural Water Management, 2025, vol. 313, issue C

Abstract: Crop production in arid and semi-arid regions faces increasing threats from severe weather conditions during the growing season. Irrigation, while critical for mitigating the negative impacts of these conditions, requires data-driven scheduling approaches to optimize productivity and curb excessive withdrawal of limited groundwater resources. This study utilizes the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) - Crop Environment Resource Synthesis (CERES) Maize model to evaluate maize yield, water savings, and irrigation water productivity under two irrigation scheduling methods: a conventional soil-moisture-based method and a crop evapotranspiration-based (ETc-based) method in Finney County, Southwestern Kansas, United States. Heat and water stress scenarios were induced by increasing the growing season maximum temperatures by 1 °C, 2 °C, and 4 °C, and extending the duration of dry periods by one day during critical growth stages. Twelve ETc-based treatments, comprising of varying ETc requirement thresholds needed to trigger irrigation (15 mm, 20 mm, 25 mm, and 30 mm), and ETc replacement levels (50 %, 75 %, and 100 %), were simulated over 30 years (1991–2020). The ETc-based treatments were compared to a soil moisture-based strategy which automatically applied a fixed irrigation amount whenever the plant available water in the soil dropped to 50 %. Results indicate that applying 75 % of the required ETc at a 30 mm threshold is the most effective strategy. This approach limited yield losses to 10 %, enhanced water savings by 25 %, and irrigation water productivity by 12 % (mean growing season ETc = 736 mm) when compared to the conventional soil-moisture-based method (mean-growing season ETc = 838 mm) under normal and extreme weather conditions. These findings highlight the potential of ETc-based irrigation to conserve water resources, ensuring more sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture.

Keywords: Evapotranspiration; Irrigation scheduling; Extreme events; Crop modeling; Water productivity; Water stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:313:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425002203

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109506

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