Improving Water Use Efficiency under Deficit Irrigation in the Jordan Valley

Abstract

The Jordan Valley is the prime irrigated agricultural area in Jordan which suffers shortage of water putting severe limitation on water allocation to farmers. To alleviate the problem, deficit irrigation was proposed for some vegetables such as bell pepper. Two field experiments in two growing seasons were conducted using bell pepper (Capsicum Annuum L.) to assess the effect of deficit irrigation on yield, water use efficiency (WUE), and water productivity (WP). The treatments were three irrigation levels: 100% (T1), 80% (T2), and 60% (T3) of the calculated crop evapotranspiration (ETc) using class A pan method. A cost–benefit analysis was carried out to determine the best economically suitable season for crop growth. The yields in both seasons were higher under T1, but there was no difference in WUE and WP between T1 and T2. The yield, WUE, and WP for T3 were significantly lower than for T1 and T2. Therefore, it is recommended to irrigate at 80% of ET. The best results were obtained for the total gross margin and the net present value in the winter season. Using deficit irrigation reduces water usage without significant yield loss, meanwhile maintaining relatively high WUE and supporting the sustainability of agriculture in the Jordan Valley.

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

“…Since ALMANAC simulated the dry yields, moisture contents were multiplied to the yields, and the results were divided by the amount of water that was transpired by the plants during the growing season. In general, the simulated WUEs were moderately close to the values in range of the measured WUE reported by [8][9][10][11][12][13] (Table 4). Among all eight vegetables, cabbage had the highest WUE, while zucchini had the lowest WUE.…”

Water use indicators and economic analysis for on-farm irrigation decision: A case study of a super high density olive tree orchard

“…It has been widely reported that, when water for irrigation is either scarce or expensive, well-managed deficit irrigation improves both water productivity and the farmer net income, as compared to full irrigation (English, 1990;Fereres and Soriano, 2007;Geerts and Raes, 2009;Ruiz-Sanchez et al, 2010;Alcon et al, 2014;Shammout et al, 2018). The farmer must identify the most suitable options for irrigation and then carry out a proper study to assess which one is the best for the orchard conditions and the chosen production target.…”

Implementation of Simple Strategies to Improve Wellfield Management in Arid Regions: The Case Study of Wadi Al Arab Wellfield, Jordan

“…Among the reasons for water scarcity in Jordan are climate change [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], population growth [36], geopolitical location as a downstream country, and refugee influxes due to political instability in the region [37]. In Jordan, water scarcity poses serious challenges for the wellbeing, security and economic development of the country [38]. Although proper wellfield management cannot solve all complex social, environmental and economic issues related to water scarcity, it can help in reducing groundwater pumping costs, saving energy [39] and granting a more constant and reliable supply of water to the population [40].…”