IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v272y2022ics0378377422003845.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Automated real-time irrigation analytics inform diversity in regional irrigator behavior and water withdrawal and use characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Irmak, Suat
  • Brar, Dilshad
  • Kukal, Meetpal S.
  • Odhiambo, Lameck
  • Djaman, Koffi

Abstract

Effective agricultural water management requires accurate, continuous, and transparent accounting of water use in irrigated agroecosystems, especially in water-limited regions where moratoriums may be imposed. Advances in sensor technologies, networking, and data analytics can aid in fulfilling this task by automatically collecting, analyzing and reporting real-time data to infer irrigators’ practices and behaviors, crop water requirements, water applications and use. In this research, an automated irrigation water withdrawal and water use monitoring and data collection system was deployed to monitor actual irrigation dynamics for 31 commercial and large-scale agricultural production fields for three consecutive years. Production scale fields (representing a total of 1050 ha) included center pivot (P), gravity (surface/furrow) (G) and subsurface drip-irrigated (S) fields. On average, irrigation was initiated 40–70 days after planting (DAP) and terminated by 120–140 DAP. The proportion of irrigation systems operating simultaneously and peak water abstraction were highest (70–90 %) during July and August. Mean depth of water applied across all fields was 243, 264 and 284 mm in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Site-specific monitoring of precipitation, soil moisture, and evaporative demand and a soil-water balance model resulted in mean seasonal irrigation requirement estimates of 394, 242 and 184 mm, in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively; for maize; and 307, 163 and 219 mm in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively, for soybean. Despite reduction of calculated mean irrigation requirement in 2014 and 2015 by 40–50 %, actual irrigation applications by producers did not change considerably and irrigation applied exceeded irrigation water requirements in 80 % of the fields, suggesting needs for irrigation water management technology implementation and associated educational programs in the region. Some fields showed irrigation applications exceeding the mean annual allocated (moratorium) irrigation depth (305 mm), implying that irrigation decisions are still largely driven by non-scientific and/or technical methods. While substantial farm-to-farm heterogeneity makes it challenging to robustly benchmarking regional water footprint and irrigator behavior, it also creates an opportunity for developing and implementing methodologies and strategies for real-time monitoring of farm-level irrigation dynamics. New advances in technologies with telemetry capabilities as well as internet of things (IoTs) can be leveraged to effectively create databases, track and compare water usage to better plan, allocate, distribute, monitor and manage limited water resources for enhancing agricultural productivity. These processes can also be used for education and demonstration for irrigation professionals to enhance adoption of such technologies. This research has the potential for technology and strategy transfer for advanced water management to other regions in the United States and globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Irmak, Suat & Brar, Dilshad & Kukal, Meetpal S. & Odhiambo, Lameck & Djaman, Koffi, 2022. "Automated real-time irrigation analytics inform diversity in regional irrigator behavior and water withdrawal and use characteristics," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:272:y:2022:i:c:s0378377422003845
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2022.107837
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377422003845
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2022.107837?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. Magliulo, V. & d'Andria, R. & Rana, G., 2003. "Use of the modified atmometer to estimate reference evapotranspiration in Mediterranean environments," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-14, November.
    2. Gordon, Line J. & Finlayson, C. Max & Falkenmark, Malin, 2010. "Managing water in agriculture for food production and other ecosystem services," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 512-519, April.
    3. Irmak, Suat & Kukal, Meetpal S. & Mohammed, Ali T. & Djaman, Koffi, 2019. "Disk-till vs. no-till maize evapotranspiration, microclimate, grain yield, production functions and water productivity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 177-195.
    4. Li, Sien & Kang, Shaozhong & Li, Fusheng & Zhang, Lu, 2008. "Evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of spring maize with plastic mulch using eddy covariance in northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1214-1222, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Feng, Yu & Gong, Daozhi & Mei, Xurong & Hao, Weiping & Tang, Dahua & Cui, Ningbo, 2017. "Energy balance and partitioning in partial plastic mulched and non-mulched maize fields on the Loess Plateau of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 193-206.
    2. Gustavo Castilho Beruski & Luis Miguel Schiebelbein & André Belmont Pereira, 2020. "Maize Yield Components as Affected by Plant Population, Planting Date and Soil Coverings in Brazil," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, November.
    3. Smith, Helen F. & Sullivan, Caroline A., 2014. "Ecosystem services within agricultural landscapes—Farmers' perceptions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 72-80.
    4. Li, Sien & Kang, Shaozhong & Zhang, Lu & Du, Taisheng & Tong, Ling & Ding, Risheng & Guo, Weihua & Zhao, Peng & Chen, Xia & Xiao, Huan, 2015. "Ecosystem water use efficiency for a sparse vineyard in arid northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 24-33.
    5. Lankford, B. & Makin, Ian & Matthews, N. & McCornick, Peter G. & Noble, A. & Shah, Tushaar, "undated". "A compact to revitalise large-scale irrigation systems using a leadership-partnership-ownership 'Theory of Change'," Papers published in Journals (Open Access) H047459, International Water Management Institute.
    6. Gavilán, P. & Castillo-Llanque, F., 2009. "Estimating reference evapotranspiration with atmometers in a semiarid environment," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 465-472, March.
    7. Hanjra, Munir A. & Qureshi, M. Ejaz, 2010. "Global water crisis and future food security in an era of climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 365-377, October.
    8. Junwei Liu & Vinay Kumar Gadi & Ankit Garg & Suriya Prakash Ganesan & Anasua GuhaRay, 2019. "A Novel Approach to Interpret Soil Moisture Content for Economical Monitoring of Urban Landscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-17, October.
    9. Gong, Daozhi & Mei, Xurong & Hao, Weiping & Wang, Hanbo & Caylor, Kelly K., 2017. "Comparison of ET partitioning and crop coefficients between partial plastic mulched and non-mulched maize fields," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 23-34.
    10. Simoncini, Riccardo & Ring, Irene & Sandström, Camilla & Albert, Christian & Kasymov, Ulan & Arlettaz, Raphael, 2019. "Constraints and opportunities for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy: Insights from the IPBES assessment for Europe and Central Asia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Ding, Risheng & Kang, Shaozhong & Li, Fusheng & Zhang, Yanqun & Tong, Ling & Sun, Qingyu, 2010. "Evaluating eddy covariance method by large-scale weighing lysimeter in a maize field of northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 87-95, December.
    12. Shuping Zhang & Xuehui Sun & Kun Zhang & Xiaozheng Zhang & Renqing Wang & Jian Liu & Shuping Zhang, 2021. "An Attempt To Identify Cultural Ecosystem Services And Related Land Use Types In Rural Areas Under Urbanization," Environment & Ecosystem Science (EES), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 121-128, September.
    13. Jacqueline M. Vadjunec & Amy E. Frazier & Peter Kedron & Todd Fagin & Yun Zhao, 2018. "A Land Systems Science Framework for Bridging Land System Architecture and Landscape Ecology: A Case Study from the Southern High Plains," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-20, February.
    14. Sandra Ricart & Anna Ribas & David Pavón, 2016. "Qualifying irrigation system sustainability by means of stakeholder perceptions and concerns: lessons from the Segarra‐Garrigues Canal, Spain," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(1-2), pages 77-90, February.
    15. Yaofeng Yang & Yajuan Chen & Zhenrong Yu & Pengyao Li & Xuedong Li, 2020. "How Does Improve Farmers’ Attitudes toward Ecosystem Services to Support Sustainable Development of Agriculture? Based on Environmental Kuznets Curve Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-16, October.
    16. Kukal, M.S. & Irmak, S., 2020. "Impact of irrigation on interannual variability in United States agricultural productivity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    17. Lee, Seung Oh & Jung, Younghun, 2018. "Efficiency of water use and its implications for a water-food nexus in the Aral Sea Basin," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 80-90.
    18. Zheng, Jing & Fan, Junliang & Zhang, Fucang & Zhuang, Qianlai, 2021. "Evapotranspiration partitioning and water productivity of rainfed maize under contrasting mulching conditions in Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    19. Reddy, A. Amarender & Bhattacharya, Anindita & Reddy, S. Venku & Ricart, Sandra, 2021. "Farmers’ Distress Index: An Approach for an Action Plan to Reduce Vulnerability in the Drylands of India," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(11), pages 1-1.
    20. Alberto, Ma. Carmelita R. & Quilty, James R. & Buresh, Roland J. & Wassmann, Reiner & Haidar, Sam & Correa, Teodoro Q. & Sandro, Joseph M., 2014. "Actual evapotranspiration and dual crop coefficients for dry-seeded rice and hybrid maize grown with overhead sprinkler irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 1-12.

    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:272:y:2022:i:c:s0378377422003845. 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.