Crop Modeling Application to Improve Irrigation Efficiency in Year-Round Vegetable Production in the Texas Winter Garden Region

Abstract

Given a rising demand for quality assurance, rather than solely yield, supplemental irrigation plays an important role to ensure the viability and profitability of vegetable crops from unpredictable changes in weather. However, under drought conditions, agricultural irrigation is often given low priority for water allocation. This reduced water availability for agriculture calls for techniques with greater irrigation efficiency, that do not compromise crop quality and yield, and that provide economic benefit for producers. This study developed vegetable growing models for eight different vegetable crops (bush bean, green bean, cabbage, peppermint, spearmint, yellow straight neck squash, zucchini, and bell pepper) based on data from several years of field research. The ALMANAC model accurately simulated yields and water use efficiency (WUE) of all eight vegetables. The developed vegetable models were used to evaluate the effects of various irrigation regimes on vegetable growth and production in several locations in the Winter Garden Region of Texas, under variable weather conditions. Based on our simulation results from 960 scenarios, optimal irrigation amounts that produce high yield as well as reasonable economic profit to producers were determined for each vegetable crop. Overall, yields for all vegetables increased as irrigation amounts increased. However, irrigation amounts did not have a sustainable impact on vegetable yield at high irrigation treatments, and the WUEs of most vegetables were not significantly different among various irrigation regimes. When vegetable yields were compared with water cost, the rate decreased as irrigation amounts increased. Thus, producers will not receive economic benefits when vegetable irrigation water demand is too high.

Trends in Irrigated Crop Production in Ethiopia During the Period of Sustainable Development Goals

“…Globally, irrigation has been shown to contribute to all the components of food security. Irrigation was reported to promote food security by increasing crop productivity (food availability) [43], boosting farmer incomes (access to food) [44] encouraging dietary diversity (food utilization) [45], and ensuring year-round crop production (stable food supply) [46,47]. This holds for Ethiopia too, where irrigation was witnessed to contribute to food security by increasing crop production, reducing the risk of crop failure, and generating higher and year-round farm and nonfarm employment [48].…”

Using Aerial Thermal Imagery to Evaluate Water Status in Vitis vinifera cv. Loureiro

“…In this scenario, grape quality and wine production [ 4 , 5 ] and the overall cycle of vines [ 6 , 7 ] will be affected by low soil water availability [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]. Strategies to achieve the full potential of a vineyard should include frequent monitoring of vine water status [ 7 ] and estimates of cultural evapotranspiration [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] to adopt the best irrigation practices.…”

Understanding the Mechanism of Urbanization Affect Agricultural Water Efficiency: Evidence from China

“…Additionally, urbanization has resulted in a shift in food consumption patterns, with an increase in the consumption of cash crops such as vegetables [27,28]. Growing cash crops such as vegetables requires more modern management and may use less water, lowering production costs [29,30].…”