Identifying Irrigation Strategies for Improved Agricultural Water Productivity in Irrigated Maize Production through Crop Simulation Modelling

Geneille E. Greaves and Yu-Min Wang
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Geneille E. Greaves: Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, 1 Shuefu Rd., Pingtung 912, Taiwan
Yu-Min Wang: Department of Civil Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, 1 Shuefu Rd., Pingtung 912, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Identifying irrigation strategies that improve agricultural water use efficiency (WUE) have a pivotal role to play in sustainable water development. In this study, the AquaCrop model was used to examine the impact of different irrigation scheduling options on yields to identify viable strategies to enhance WUE for irrigated maize. Two scheduling scenarios at water application depths ranging from 20 to 50 mm were investigated: schedules based on allowable depletion of total available water (TAW) in the root zone and interval schedules based on irrigating at predefined daily intervals. For both scenarios, simulated yields, seasonal water applied and percent percolation loss were within the range of 9.16 to 10.22 ton/ha, 180 to 950 mm and 0–61%, respectively. The WUE in terms of water applied (WUE Irr ) and crop evapotranspiration (WUE ET ) ranged from 1.07 to 5.48 kg/m 3 and 2.42 to 4.42 kg/m 3 , respectively. The results revealed that depletion levels of 40–50% TAW at water depths of 20–40 mm could be used to obtain high WUE without significant yield penalty. Moreover, a good balance between yield, improved WUE ET and percolation reduction was observed at water depths of 30–40 mm for daily intervals with water applied during the vegetative-reproductive stage of 7–5, 10–5 and 10–7. The identified strategies can contribute to the development of best management practices for water conservation.

Keywords: water use efficiency; AquaCrop; irrigation schedules; maize; water conservation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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