Impact of Drought and Groundwater Quality on Agriculture in a Semi-Arid Zone of Mexico

German Santacruz- De León, Janete Moran-Ramírez () and José Alfredo Ramos-Leal ()
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German Santacruz- De León: Water and Society Program, College of San Luis C. A. (COLSAN), Parque de Macul 155, Colinas del Parque, San Luis Potosí 78294, Mexico
Janete Moran-Ramírez: Cátedras CONACYT, UNAM, Institute of Geophysics, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Mexico City 04150, Mexico
José Alfredo Ramos-Leal: Applied Geosciences Division, Potosin Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, C. A. (IPICYT), Camino a la Presa San José #2055, Lomas 4ª. Seccion, San Luis Potosí 78216, Mexico

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: This paper analyzes the behavior of drought in the face of the impact of climate change and groundwater quality and its implications for agricultural production in a semi-arid area of northeastern Mexico. The pluviometric information of two stations from 1961 to 2020 was analyzed, and the Standardized Precipitation Index was applied in the spring–summer period (SPI-6). Twenty-five samples from the Ahualulco aquifer were collected and analyzed, to which quality indices for agricultural use were applied. The results show that in the last 20 years there have been mild to moderate droughts, which have considerably affected rainfed farmers. The area under irrigation is affected by salinity conditions as the water goes from medium to high conductivities and low to medium sodicity, which indicates a medium sodicity risk but an excessive salinity risk.

Keywords: aquifer; water quality index; dry season; salinity; rainfed agriculture; agricultural irrigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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