IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v170y2016icp81-90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Agronomic concepts in water footprint assessment: A case of study in a fertirrigated melon crop under semiarid conditions

Author

Listed:
  • Castellanos, M.T.
  • Cartagena, M.C.
  • Requejo, M.I.
  • Arce, A.
  • Cabello, M.J.
  • Ribas, F.
  • Tarquis, A.M.

Abstract

This paper compares the assessment of previous methodologies to calculate blue and gray water footprint and includes agronomic concepts that reflect the semiarid scenarios of fertirrigated crops with low water quality. We describe how we have employed these methodologies in a three-year field experiment. The latter involves a fertirrigated melon crop under mineral fertilization, using eleven different N rates ranging from 11 to 393kgha−1N in semiarid conditions, where irrigation is necessary to maintain production. We found that the different methodologies do not consider the scenario where green water footprint is zero, because the effective rainfall is negligible, and the irrigation water has high salt content, requiring the application of larger volumes of water to avoid salt accumulation in the soil and consequent loss yield. We propose modifications to the calculation of water footprint to consider this scenario. In our calculation the blue water footprint includes: (i) the extra consumption of irrigation water that the farmer has to apply to compensate the lack of uniformity in drips discharge; (ii) the water requirement to consider percolation losses and salts leaching, which depends on the salt tolerance of the crop, soil and quality of irrigation water, needed to ensure the fruit yield. With respect to gray water footprint, all N sources susceptible to being lost were considered, the N fertilizer rate and N content in the irrigation water and in the soil (mineral N and mineralized N during the crop period). Therefore, besides considering all these parameters, our proposal takes into account the drained water, given with a water balance, and the nitrates amount below the roots and susceptible to being washed. The methodologies of previous studies underestimate the water footprint resulted in our experiment. With the new considerations proposed, the treatments with the optimum N dose obtained a total water footprint between 127.8 and 151.7m3t−1. Higher values than those were presented in the treatments with the least N dose (145.7 and 158.4m3t−1), although the highest values of water footprint were obtained in treatments with a N excess (226.0 and 355.0m3t−1).

Suggested Citation

  • Castellanos, M.T. & Cartagena, M.C. & Requejo, M.I. & Arce, A. & Cabello, M.J. & Ribas, F. & Tarquis, A.M., 2016. "Agronomic concepts in water footprint assessment: A case of study in a fertirrigated melon crop under semiarid conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 81-90.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:170:y:2016:i:c:p:81-90
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2016.01.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377416300282
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2016.01.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moreno, F. & Cayuela, J. A. & Fernandez, J. E. & Fernandez-Boy, E. & Murillo, J. M. & Cabrera, F., 1996. "Water balance and nitrate leaching in an irrigated maize crop in SW Spain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 71-83, November.
    2. Maite Aldaya & Pedro Martínez-Santos & M. Llamas, 2010. "Incorporating the Water Footprint and Virtual Water into Policy: Reflections from the Mancha Occidental Region, Spain," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(5), pages 941-958, March.
    3. Hoekstra, A.Y., 2009. "Human appropriation of natural capital: A comparison of ecological footprint and water footprint analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1963-1974, May.
    4. Ortega, J.F. & de Juan, J.A. & Tarjuelo, J.M., 2005. "Improving water management: The irrigation advisory service of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 77(1-3), pages 37-58, August.
    5. Morillo, J. García & Martín, M. & Camacho, E. & Díaz, J.A. Rodríguez & Montesinos, P., 2015. "Toward precision irrigation for intensive strawberry cultivation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 43-51.
    6. Fernandez, J. E. & Moreno, F. & Murillo, J. M. & Cayuela, J. A. & Fernandez-Boy, E. & Cabrera, F., 1996. "Water use and yield of maize with two levels of nitrogen fertilization in SW Spain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 215-233, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ján Jobbágy & Koloman Krištof, 2018. "Evaluation of the coefficient of uniformity and non-uniformity of irrigation for wide-range irrigators in various field conditions," Research in Agricultural Engineering, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 64(2), pages 55-62.
    2. Eros Borsato & Marco Martello & Francesco Marinello & Lucia Bortolini, 2019. "Environmental and Economic Sustainability Assessment for Two Different Sprinkler and A Drip Irrigation Systems: A Case Study on Maize Cropping," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Tomaz, Alexandra & Palma, José Ferro & Ramos, Tiago & Costa, Maria Natividade & Rosa, Elizabete & Santos, Marta & Boteta, Luís & Dôres, José & Patanita, Manuel, 2021. "Yield, technological quality and water footprints of wheat under Mediterranean climate conditions: A field experiment to evaluate the effects of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization strategies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    4. Roudbari, Maziyar Vaez & Dehnavi, Ali & Jamshidi, Shervin & Yazdani, Mohamadreza, 2023. "A multi-pollutant pilot study to evaluate the grey water footprint of irrigated paddy rice," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    5. Jin, Zhaoqiang & Liao, Wanjie & Mu, Yixue & Li, Yusheng & Nie, Lixiao, 2023. "Integrated assessment of water footprint and energy production efficiency in different rice-rape rotation systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    6. Daxue KAN & Weichiao HUANG, 2019. "Empirical Study of the Impact of Outward Foreign Direct Investment on Water Footprint Benefit in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-16, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gavilan, Pedro & Higueras, José L. & Lozano, David & Ruiz, Natividad, 2024. "The Riego Berry mobile application: A powerful tool to improve on-farm irrigation performance in berry crops," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    2. Fernandez, J. E. & Slawinski, C. & Moreno, F. & Walczak, R. T. & Vanclooster, M., 2002. "Simulating the fate of water in a soil-crop system of a semi-arid Mediterranean area with the WAVE 2.1 and the EURO-ACCESS-II models," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 113-129, July.
    3. Castellanos, M.T. & Tarquis, A.M. & Ribas, F. & Cabello, M.J. & Arce, A. & Cartagena, M.C., 2013. "Nitrogen fertigation: An integrated agronomic and environmental study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 46-55.
    4. Ángel De Miguel & Malaak Kallache & Eloy García-Calvo, 2015. "The Water Footprint of Agriculture in Duero River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-22, May.
    5. P. Oel & A. Hoekstra, 2012. "Towards Quantification of the Water Footprint of Paper: A First Estimate of its Consumptive Component," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(3), pages 733-749, February.
    6. Fernandez, J. E. & Moreno, F. & Murillo, J. M. & Cuevas, M. V. & Kohler, F., 2001. "Evaluating the effectiveness of a hydrophobic polymer for conserving water and reducing weed infection in a sandy loam soil," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 29-51, October.
    7. Ignacio Cazcarro & Rosa Duarte & Miguel Martín-Retortillo & Vicente Pinilla & Ana Serrano, 2015. "How Sustainable is the Increase in the Water Footprint of the Spanish Agricultural Sector? A Provincial Analysis between 1955 and 2005–2010," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-26, April.
    8. Zwart, Sander J. & Bastiaanssen, Wim G. M., 2004. "Review of measured crop water productivity values for irrigated wheat, rice, cotton and maize," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 115-133, September.
    9. Mosquera-Losada, María Rosa & Rodríguez-Rigueiro, Francico Javier & Santiago-Freijanes, José Javier & Rigueiro-Rodríguez, Antonio & Silva-Losada, Pablo & Pantera, Anastasia & Fernández-Lorenzo, Juan L, 2022. "European agroforestry policy promotion in arable Mediterranean areas," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Abrahao, R. & Causapé, J. & García-Garizábal, I. & Merchán, D., 2011. "Implementing irrigation: Salt and nitrate exported from the Lerma basin (Spain)," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 105-112.
    11. Ngouajio, Mathieu & Wang, Guangyao & Goldy, Ronald, 2007. "Withholding of drip irrigation between transplanting and flowering increases the yield of field-grown tomato under plastic mulch," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 285-291, February.
    12. Pardo, J.J. & Martínez-Romero, A. & Léllis, B.C. & Tarjuelo, J.M. & Domínguez, A., 2020. "Effect of the optimized regulated deficit irrigation methodology on water use in barley under semiarid conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    13. Arjen Y. Hoekstra, 2017. "Water Footprint Assessment: Evolvement of a New Research Field," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(10), pages 3061-3081, August.
    14. Li, Wenlong & Han, Xiaozhuo & Zhang, Yanyu & Li, Zizhen, 2007. "Effects of elevated CO2 concentration, irrigation and nitrogenous fertilizer application on the growth and yield of spring wheat in semi-arid areas," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 106-114, January.
    15. Fuyuan Wang & Kaiyong Wang, 2017. "Assessing the Effect of Eco-City Practices on Urban Sustainability Using an Extended Ecological Footprint Model: A Case Study in Xi’an, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, September.
    16. María Jesús Beltrán & Esther Velázquez, 2011. "Del metabolismo social al metabolismo hídrico," Documentos de Trabajo de la Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España 01_2011, Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España.
    17. Jared B. Fitzgerald & Daniel Auerbach, 2016. "The Political Economy of the Water Footprint: A Cross-National Analysis of Ecologically Unequal Exchange," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-16, December.
    18. Okadera, Tomohiro & Geng, Yong & Fujita, Tsuyoshi & Dong, Huijuan & Liu, Zhu & Yoshida, Noboru & Kanazawa, Takaaki, 2015. "Evaluating the water footprint of the energy supply of Liaoning Province, China: A regional input–output analysis approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 148-157.
    19. Guo, Huaming & Li, Guanghe & Zhang, Dayi & Zhang, Xu & Lu, Chang'ai, 2006. "Effects of water table and fertilization management on nitrogen loading to groundwater," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 82(1-2), pages 86-98, April.
    20. Tomaz, Alexandra & Palma, José Ferro & Ramos, Tiago & Costa, Maria Natividade & Rosa, Elizabete & Santos, Marta & Boteta, Luís & Dôres, José & Patanita, Manuel, 2021. "Yield, technological quality and water footprints of wheat under Mediterranean climate conditions: A field experiment to evaluate the effects of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization strategies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:170:y:2016:i:c:p:81-90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.