Simulating Soil Water Content,Evapotranspiration, and Yield of Variably Irrigated Grain Sorghum Using AquaCrop

Use of models to simulate crop production has become important in optimizing irrigation management in arid and semiarid regions. However, applicability and performance of these models differ across regions, due to differences in environmental and management factors. The AquaCrop model was used to simulate soil water content (SWC), evapotranspiration (ET), and yield for grain sorghum under different irrigation regimes and dryland conditions at two sites in Central and Southern High Plains. Prediction error (P_e), estimated as the difference between simulated and measured divided by measured, for SWC ranged from ?17% to 4% in fully irrigated, ?3% to ?10% in limited irrigated, and ?16% to 25% in dryland treatments. The P_e within ±4%, ?5%, and ?17% to 24% were attained for seasonal ET under fully irrigated, limited irrigated, and dryland conditions, respectively. P_e values for grain yield were within those previously reported and ranged from ?10% to 12%, ?12% to 7%, and 9% to 17% for fully irrigated, limited irrigated and dryland conditions, respectively. Overall performance of the AquaCrop model showed it could be used as an effective tool for evaluating the impacts of variable crop and irrigation managements on the production of grain sorghum in the study area. Finally, the application of the model in the study area revealed planting date has a significant impact on sorghum yield and irrigation requirements, but the impact of planting density was negligible. Editor's note : This paper is part of the featured series on Optimizing Ogallala Aquifer Water Use to Sustain Food Systems. See the February 2019 issue for the introduction and background to the series.     

Yield and Water Productivity of Winter Wheat under Various Irrigation Capacities

The Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator model validated in a prior study for winter wheat was used to simulate yield, aboveground crop biomass (BM), transpiration (T), and evapotranspiration under four irrigation capacities (ICs) (0, 1.7, 2.5, and 5 mm/day) with two nitrogen (N) application rates (N1, 94 kg N/ha; N2, 160 kg N/ha) to (1) understand the performance of winter wheat under different ICs and (2) develop crop water production function under various ICs and N rates. Evaluation was based on yield, aboveground crop BM, transpiration productivity (TP), crop water productivity (WP), and irrigation WP (IWP). Simulation results showed winter wheat yield increased with increase in N application rate and IC. However, the rate of yield increase gradually reduced with additional irrigation beyond 2.5 mm/day. A 5 mm/day IC required a total of 190 mm irrigation and produced a 5%–16% yield advantage over 2.5 mm/day. This indicates it is possible to reduce groundwater use for wheat by 50% incurring only 5%–16% yield loss relative to 5 mm/day. The TP and IWP for grain were slightly higher under IC of 1.7 mm/day (15.2–16.1 kg/ha/mm and 0.98–1.6 kg/m³) when compared to 5 mm/day (14.7–15.5 kg/ha/mm and 0.6–1.06 kg/m³), respectively. Since TP and IWPs are relatively higher under lower ICs, winter wheat could be a suitable crop under lower ICs in the region. Relationship between yield–T and yield–ET was linear with a slope of 15–16 and 9.5–10 kg/ha/mm, respectively. Editor's note : This paper is part of the featured series on Optimizing Ogallala Aquifer Water Use to Sustain Food Systems. See the February 2019 issue for the introduction and background to the series.     

Case Study Comparing Multiple Irrigated Land Datasets in Arizona and Colorado,USA

While there are currently a number of irrigated land datasets available for the western United States (U.S.), there is uncertainty regarding in how they relate to each other. To help understand the characteristics of available irrigated datasets, we compared (1) the Cropland Data Layer (CDL), (2) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Irrigated Agriculture Dataset (IAD), (3) Digitized Irrigated Land (DIL), and (4) Consumptive Use for Irrigation (CUI) data in Arizona and Colorado, U.S. These datasets were derived from multiple sources at various spatial resolutions and temporal scales. We found spatial and temporal trends among all of them. The datasets showed decreases in irrigated land area in Arizona during the 2000–2010 time period. The change ranges and ratios were similar in all Arizona datasets. Irrigated land in Colorado decreased in DIL and CUI but increased in IAD and CDL. The agreement within the same type of dataset during different time periods was from 60% to 80% (R² from 0.35 to 0.72) in Arizona and from 50% to 80% (R² from 0.23 to 0.68) in Colorado. DIL had the highest agreement (80%) in both states. The agreement among different datasets acquired at approximately the same time frame ranged from 51% to 63% (R² from 0.14 to 0.31) in Arizona and from 47% to 69% (R² from 0.32 to 0.40) in Colorado. The results from this study support a greater understanding of the multiresolution and multitemporal nature of these datasets for various applications.     

Multi‐strainer model concept for conjunctive pumping of saline and non‐saline groundwater from coastal aquifers

The current paper discusses the multi‐strainer technique developed to augment usable water by the combined use of saline and non‐saline aquifers in locations where a freshwater aquifer is underlain or overlain by a saline water aquifer. The multi‐strainer technique evaluates design criteria for the formulation of multi‐strainer schemes to supply water at an acceptable salinity limit by combined use of the saline and non‐saline aquifers. The design ratio of discharges can be maintained by adjusting the strainers’ lengths in the saline and non‐saline aquifers. The multi‐strainer scheme has been applied in the coastal aquifers of Bangladesh and found to be effective at lowering the water salinity concentrations to acceptable levels, thus increasing the availability of water for sustainable use. The multi‐strainer scheme should be designed based on the thickness of the aquifer layers to be screened, the salinity concentrations of the screened layers, and the level of salinity concentration to be maintained.     

POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURAL WATER USE IN THE SOUTHEAST U.S.1

ABSTRACT: Climate change has the potential to have dramatic effects on the agricultural sector nationally and internationally as documented in many research papers. This paper reports on research that was focused on a specific crop growing area to demonstrate how farm managers might respond to climate-induced yield changes and the implications of these responses for agricultural water use. The Hadley model was used to generate climate scenarios for important agricultural areas of Georgia in 2030 and 2090. Linked crop response models indicated generally positive yield changes, as increased temperatures were associated with increased precipitation and CO2. Using a farm management model, differences in climate-induced yield impacts among crops led to changes in crop mix and associated water use; non-irrigated cropland received greater benefit since irrigated land was already receiving adequate moisture. Model results suggest that farm managers will increase cropping intensity by decreasing fallowing and increasing double cropping; corn acreage decreased dramatically, peanuts decreased moderately and cotton and winter wheat increased. Water use on currently irrigated cropland fell. The potential for increased water use through conversion of agriculturally important, but currently non-irrigated, growing areas is substantial.     

不同灌溉方式冬小麦农田生态系统碳平衡研究

全球气候变暖趋势明显,陆地生态系统碳循环的研究成为目前的研究热点,而农田生态系统是陆地生态系统的重要组成部分,由于农田生态系统是受人类强烈调节与控制的复合系统,其碳循环受各类农作措施的影响极大。新疆地处干旱区,水分条件是农田碳循环的最重要限制因子。为此,分析不同灌溉方式对冬小麦（Triticum aestivuml）农田生态系统碳平衡的影响,从而提出有利于新疆冬小麦生产的固碳减排的灌溉方式。试验于2012—2013年在伊宁县科技示范园冬小麦试验田进行,选择伊农18冬小麦品种为供试材料,确定滴灌和漫灌为两个试验主因子并设置小区。试验自冬小麦返青开始至完全成熟结束,期间平均每7天采1次样,其中用典型样株法采集小麦植株,分根、茎、叶等不同器官单独烘干测定植株固碳量;用静态钠石灰吸收法测定冬小麦土壤呼吸;收集整理已发表国内外文献中的各类碳排放参数确定本研究中所需参数;采用王小彬的碳平衡计算方法分析不同灌溉方式农田生态系统碳平衡,据此对滴灌和漫灌两种灌溉方式的冬麦农田作物生物量固碳、土壤碳排放量和作物生产过程中物质投入的间接碳排放量,以及两种灌溉方式下冬麦农田生态系统净碳值进行分析。试验结果表明：滴灌条件下冬麦农田生态系统小麦的固碳量、土壤碳排放总量分别比漫灌小麦的高出15.38%和11.43%,冬小麦穗是差异形成的主要原因;而农业生产资料排碳总量比漫灌少排3.88%;但无论是滴灌还是漫灌,耗电碳排放量均占农业生产资料碳排放总量的59%以上,是农业生产资料碳排放的第一大来源。两种灌溉方式下冬小麦田生态系统的净碳值均呈现出固碳并存在显著差异（p〈0.01）,且滴灌冬麦农田生态系统净碳值比漫灌高25.39%。因此,新疆冬小麦生产中采用滴灌方式更有利于农田生态系统的固碳,     

Pesticide in the Mississippi River floodplain and its possible linkage to colon cancer risk in the US

Result of this study shows that elevated colorectal cancer risk in Mississippi River floodplain of the United States is likely linked to historically high pesticide application. Mississippi River basin produces about 80% of major US crops and has about two-thirds of US pesticides used for agriculture. Historically, heavy pesticide application and agricultural irrigation were reported to result in high pesticide residues in surface water, fish and wells of Mississippi embayment. Risk ratio of colorectal cancer incidence in 86 counties of Mississippi River floodplain was about 29% higher than that of other counties in the 48 contiguous states. Risk ratio of colon cancer mortality in 63 counties of Mississippi embayment was 33% higher than that of other counties in the 48 states between 1999 and 2016. Risk ratios of colorectal cancer incidence and colon cancer mortality in Mississippi River floodplain are higher after smoking and diabetes factors were filtered off. Previous studies have linked exposure to pesticide with type-II diabetes and the latter was linked to increasing colon cancer risk by about 27%. Result here suggests that pesticide may be an independent risk factor directly associated with elevated colon cancer risk in Mississippi River floodplain.     

微咸水膜下滴灌对白僵土盐碱地水盐特性及油葵生长的影响

为了解滴灌条件下不同微咸水矿化度及覆膜与否对盐碱地土壤水盐特性及油葵生长的影响,在宁夏平罗西大滩盐碱地进行不同灌水矿化度(0.2、1、2、3 g/L)膜下滴灌田间试验.结果表明,地膜覆盖比不覆盖处理土壤含水量高约2%,盐分表聚减缓,油葵株高、产量及其构成均高于不覆膜处理,产量最高增幅达82.5%;不同矿化度微咸水之间比较发现,利用矿化度为1 g/L的微咸水进行灌溉时,下层土壤含水量较高,微咸水滴灌不但没有为上层土壤带去过多盐分,反而由于土壤有一定的渗透性能,灌水将土壤上层盐分逐渐淋洗至下层.膜下滴灌微咸水矿化度为1 g/L时,油葵产量最大.因此在适宜条件、合理措施下,微咸水覆膜滴灌技术可以促进作物生长,确保作物产量,在淡水缺乏而微咸水较为丰富的盐碱地地区应积极推广利用.     

污水灌溉区土壤肥力及酶活性特征研究

通过野外调查和采样分析,研究了石家庄栾城县不同污水灌溉时间（0-52a）和不同层位（0-100cm）耕地土壤肥力及酶活性的分布特征。研究结果表明：与清灌对照点相比,污水灌溉区表层（0-20cm）土壤有机质含量、全氮含量、全磷含量、蔗糖酶活性、脲酶活性和磷酸酶活性、亚表层（20-40cm）蔗糖酶活性、磷酸酶活性和下层（40-60cm）蔗糖酶活性均相对较高,而下层有机质含量、全氮含量和底层（60-100cm）全氮含量均相对较低。4层土壤阳离子交换量和过氧化氢酶活性较对照点均无明显的变化规律。表层土壤全氮含量、蔗糖酶活性和磷酸酶活性、亚表层有机质含量、蔗糖酶活性和磷酸酶活性、下层蔗糖酶活性与污灌时间之间均存在显著相关性沪〈0．05）。上述特征反映了土壤肥力及酶活性对污灌的响应具有明显的层位效应和非同步性,而这些响应是由于污水中的营养物质输入土壤后引发微生物活性提高的“激发效应”所致。     

天然沸石对农田退水中氨氮的去除

利用静态吸附实验研究了沸石颗粒大小、氨氮初始浓度、接触时间及Na+离子浓度等因素对天然白银沸石去除模拟黄灌区农田退水中氨氮(NH4+-N)效果的影响,同时研究了吸附等温线特征,并考察了其吸附机理.研究结果表明,沸石颗粒大小、接触时间及NH4+和Na+初始浓度对NH4+-N交换容量都会产生一定影响;根据复相关系数(R2),NH4+-N的吸附等温线更符合三参数等温线模型;而对于两参数等温线模型,Langmuir模型比Freundlich模型能更好地描述NH4+-N在天然沸石上的离子交换过程;NH4+-N吸附实验数据与Elovich模型拟合最好(R2≥0.9766).研究结果表明了天然白银沸石是一种适合NH4+-N去除的离子交换剂,可用于黄灌区农田退水中NH4+-N的去除.