Efficient water utilization practices - Dry Farming Principles and Practices, Crop Production | Crop Production Notes- Agricultural Engineering PDF Download

Globally, agriculture is the largest user of water1 and also uses 85% of the water withdrawn in the MENA region. Additionally, water use in agriculture is often highly inefficient with only a fraction of the water diverted for agriculture effectively used for plant growth, with the rest drained or lost via evapotranspiration. 

With population growth and rising affluence, the need for food and thus agricultural water for irrigation is increasing. At the same time the quantity of water with a sufficient quality is declining. There is also an increasing demand to shift more of the water used in agriculture to higher-value urban and industrial uses. Thus, producing more with less is the only option.

Water efficiency in agriculture has been extensively researched for many years. Universally applicable solutions are however difficult to come by, particularly due to different contexts and high specificity of agricultural practices. But efficiency gains are often possible through suitable crop selection, proper irrigation scheduling, effective irrigation techniques, and using alternative sources of water for irrigation. It should be noted that increasing water efficiency often provides benefits that go far beyond reduced water use. 

Improving Irrigation practices can:
• Reduce water and pumping costs
• Reduce costs for fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals
• Maintain a higher soil quality
• Increase crop yields − by as much as 100%.

IMPROVING WATER EFFICIENCY IN IRRIGATION Irrigation is necessary when plants cannot satisfy all their water needs through natural precipitation – this practice is also called deficit irrigation. Therefore, an ideal irrigation effort aims to cover the deficit between a crop’s optimal water needs and what it can take up through natural means. Because arid, semi-arid, and desert climatic conditions prevail in the Arab region, irrigation is indispensible.

Climatic conditions, soil type and structure, plant type, and the irrigation techniques applied are among the main factors that influence the efficiency and effectiveness of irrigation practices. For a given location and climatic and soil conditions, the efficiency of water irrigation practices can be improved by making the right decisions regarding: 

• Crop type 
• Irrigation scheduling 
• Irrigation method 
• Soil enhancement measures 
• Source of water