Behind the efficiency of border irrigation: Lesson learned in Northern Italy

Masseroni, Daniele; Gangi, Fabiola; Galli, Andrea; Ceriani, R.; Gaetani, Carlo Iapige De; Gandolfi, Claudio

doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2022.107717

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…As pointed out by Masseroni et al (2017), surface irrigation practices, still largely adopted in the world for watering row crops, cannot be completely replaced by modern pressure systems since they give important and positive externalities in terms of ecosystem services to the surrounding environment and landscape. However, increasing the e ciency of surface irrigations (such as border irrigation), is desirable and needed in light of the effect of climate change is having on the availability of water resources for irrigation (Chen et al, 2013;Masseroni et al, 2022).…”

Section: Results From the Eld Campaignmentioning

confidence: 99%

ArduHydro: A Low-Cost Device for Water Level Measurement and Monitoring

Galli

Peruzzi

Gangi

et al. 2022

Preprint

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ArduHydro is a low-cost device for water level measurement and monitoring designed for a short and long-term employment in controlled and outdoor environments. It measures water level through an ultrasonic sensor and elaborates the signals through an Arduino micro controller. The small size of this device, the low energy required for its operation, its robustness and accuracy make ArduHydro properly versatile for different applications in the field for water control and management. This article describes the design, the components, the costs, and the performance of ArduHydro. Performance was assessed with a laboratory test inside a hydraulic circuit constituted by an open channel flume and comparing ArduHydro measurements with those obtained with a traditional ultrasonic sensor. An example of ArduHydro application for detecting the wavefront evolution during a surface irrigation is presented as well. The results revealed that ArduHydro measurements were on average very consistent with those obtained by the traditional ultrasonic sensor in all different flow conditions (i.e. different flowrate and water depth) demonstrating its reliability and accuracy in the measuring water level. The application of ArduHydro during a surface watering of an agricultural field allowed to obtain important spatio-temporal information about the water depth along the longitudinal direction of the field, paying the way for a real comprehension of the dynamics of wavefront evolution in a real-world case study.

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Section: Results From the Eld Campaignmentioning

confidence: 99%

ArduHydro: A Low-Cost Device for Water Level Measurement and Monitoring

Galli

Peruzzi

Gangi

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…The level of the groundwater table was about 5 m from the ground surface, thus the potential interactions of the capillary fringe with the infiltration process can be neglected. Additional information about the study domain is reported by Masseroni et al (2022), whereas specific information regarding the monitored field is summarized in Table 1.…”

Section: Field Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The watering time of each strip of the experimental field was measured using a chronometer during the irrigation event. Additional information on the measurement campaigns is reported in Masseroni et al (2022).…”

Section: Flow Rate and Irrigation Event Durationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the farmer's experience guides the land preparation before the irrigation season, especially in terms of slope and strip width. Masseroni et al (2022) found that the correct implementation of these "geometrical variables" plays a fundamental role for increasing the efficiency of water usage of border irrigation practice. It follows that, efficient border irrigation systems require proper design and management which can be addressed by using specialized modeling tools (Alavi et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High-Resolution 2D Modelling for Simulating and Improving the Management of Border Irrigation

Costabile

Costanzo

Gangi³

et al. 2022

SSRN Journal

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“…The sensors were installed just before the beginning of the irrigation intervention and removed right after the water depth across the eld was completely depleted. In Field A, the water level sensors were installed at 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 50, 75, 105, 140 and 175 m from the head of the eld; in Field B they were located at 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 85, 100 m. More information on the instrumentations and monitoring procedures adopted in both experimental elds can be found inMasseroni et al (2022) andCostabile et al (2023).…”

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confidence: 99%

Assessing the Water Savings Potential of Optimized Surface Irrigation Management in Northern Italy

Masseroni

Gangi

Ghilardelli

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The effects of climate change on water availability affect the performance of surface irrigation, which is the oldest and most common method of water application to row crops worldwide. A paradigm shift towards strategies aimed at increasing flexibility of irrigation scheduling and improving the design and management of field layouts and irrigation practices should be explored to promote water savings at the farm scale. In this study, we investigate how adopting a more flexible irrigation scheduling and optimizing irrigation management variables and field layout it is possible to increase the efficiency of border irrigation and thus achieve water savings and improve quality of crop production. The analysis of the actual performance of border irrigation was carried out on two maize fields located in the Padana Plain (Northern Italy) in two years characterized by different rainfall patterns (i.e. 2021 and 2022). Based on this information, continuous monitoring of soil moisture status combined with the AquaCrop-OS agro-hydrological model was used to manage flexible irrigation scheduling over the experimental fields. While the optimization of irrigation management (flowrate per unit width and cutoff time) and field geometries (border width and slope) was studied using WinSRFR 5.1 USDA software, which was properly calibrated by measures of waterfront advance and recession. The results show that with flexible irrigation scheduling and proper irrigation management and field layout, significant water savings can be achieved. Specifically, in the case study, seasonal water savings of about 10% were obtained just by scheduling irrigation based on actual crop water needs in a very dry agricultural season, while water savings reached up to 60% in a wetter season. On average, an additional 7% of water savings was achieved over the agricultural season when the irrigation duration was correctly applied to each border of the experimental plots, while approximately 20% of water was saved when the border width was correctly designed based on inflow availability. These results provide useful information for improving the management of border irrigation in practice, both under current conditions and in the face of increasing freshwater scarcity in the future.

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Behind the efficiency of border irrigation: Lesson learned in Northern Italy

Cited by 8 publications

References 16 publications

ArduHydro: A Low-Cost Device for Water Level Measurement and Monitoring

ArduHydro: A Low-Cost Device for Water Level Measurement and Monitoring

High-Resolution 2D Modelling for Simulating and Improving the Management of Border Irrigation

Assessing the Water Savings Potential of Optimized Surface Irrigation Management in Northern Italy

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