Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10596;

https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410596 (registering DOI)

Published by CVUT:

Nina Noreika 1, Tailin Li 1,David Zumr 1,Josef Krasa 1,Tomas Dostal 1 and Raghavan Srinivasan 2

1 Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, 16000 Prague, Czech Republic
2 Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA

Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 2021,  182,  106038, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2021.106038

Partner publication (IAS-CSIC & UCO):

Tomás R. Tenreiro^a Margarita García-Vila^b José A. Gómez^a José A. Jiménez-Berni^a Elías Fereres^ab

^aInstitute for Sustainable Agriculture (CSIC), 14004 Córdoba, Spain

^bDepartment of Agronomy, University of Córdoba, 14014 Córdoba, Spain

Abstract

Partner Publication (ARO & CAU):

JianchuShi^abc XunWu^dMoZhang^abc XiaoyuWang^abc QiangZuo^abc XiaoguangWu^e HongfeiZhang^e AlonBen-Gal^f

^aCollege of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China

^bKey Laboratory of Plant-Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100193, China

^cKey Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (North China), Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, China

^dCollege of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China

^eLand Management Center of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Hohhot 010020, China

^fSoil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat Research Center, Mobile post Negev 85280, Israel

Highlights

• A coupled soil water transport and crop growth model is established and validated.
• Relationships between irrigation scheduling and results are numerically quantified.
• Numerical simulation is reliable for optimizing smart irrigation schedule.
• Regulated deficit irrigation is superior in improving water use efficiency.
• Irrigation scheduling is optimized according to actual water conditions.

Abstract

Knowledge-driven “smart” irrigation proposes to achieve explicitly targeted crop yield and/or irrigation water use efficiency (WUE). A coupled crop growth and soil water transport model was established and applied to schedule irrigation for drip-irrigated and film-mulched maize through numerical simulation. By designing various scenarios with either a constant or variable threshold of plant water deficit index (PWDI) to initiate irrigation, the quantitative relationship between PWDI threshold and the corresponding yield and WUE was investigated with acceptable errors between the measured and simulated values (R² > 0.85). The model allowed determination of PWDI thresholds designed to reach specific combinations of yield and WUE to consider actual conditions such as availability and cost of water resources. Regulated deficit irrigation with a variable threshold, considering variability of physiological response to water stress, was superior to a constant PWDI threshold in improving WUE. A constant PWDI threshold of 0.54 and 45 threshold combinations among various growth stages were suggested to obtain same relative values of yield and WUE. Numerical simulation has the potential to provide reliable dynamic information regarding soil water and crop growth, necessary for smart irrigation scheduling, due to its ability in integrating the effects of environmental conditions and economic considerations and, as such, should be further studied to enhance simulation accuracy and subsequently to optimize irrigation scheduling under complex situations.

Barlin Orlando Olivares, Miguel Araya-Alman, Cesar Acevedo-Opazo, Juan Carlos Rey, Paulo Canete-Salinas, Franca Gianni Kurina, Monica Balzarini, Deyanira Lobo, Juan A. Navas-Cortes, Blanca B. Landa and Jose Alfonso Gomez.

European Journal of Agronomy, 123 (2021) 126198

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2020.126198

Published by CEBAS-CSIC:

Ignacio Buesa^ab José M. Mirás-Avalos^bc José M. De Paz^a Fernando Visconti^a Felipe Sanz^ab Antonio Yeves^ab Diego Guerra^ab Diego S. Intrigliolo^ab

^aInstituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA). Centro Desarrollo Agricultura Sostenible (CEDAS), Unidad asociada al CSIC “Riego en la agricultura mediterránea”, Apartado Ofcial, 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain

^bDept. Riego. Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS-CSIC), Campus Universitario de Espinardo, PO Box 164, 30100 Murcia, Spain

^cUnidad de Suelos y Riegos (asociada a EEAD-CSIC). Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), 50059, Montañana, Zaragoza, Spain

Abstract

Environmental Modelling and Software 131 (2020) 104770
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2020.104770

Published by CEBAS-CSIC:

J.M. Ramírez-Cuesta a,*, R.G. Allen b, D.S. Intrigliolo a, A. Kilic c, C.W. Robison b, R. Trezza b, C. Santos d, I.J. Lorite d

a Dpto. Riego, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS-CSIC), P.O. Box 164, 30100, Murcia, Spain

b University of Idaho, Kimberly Research Center, Kimberly, ID, 83341, USA

c University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583-0973, USA

d IFAPA, Centro “Alameda del Obispo”, Alameda del Obispo s/n, Post office box: 3092, 14080, Cordoba, Spain

Abstract

Catena 190: 104511 (2020)

Access at: https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/206694

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2020.104511

Publication by IAS – CSIC:

Lizardo Reyna-Bowen a,b, Pilar Fernandez-Rebollo b, Jesús Fernández-Habas b, José A. Gómez a

aInstitute for Sustainable Agriculture, IAS, CSIC, Avenida Menéndez Pidal S/N, 14004 Córdoba, Spain

bDepartment of Forestry Engineering, University of Córdoba, University Campus of Rabanales, Madrid-Cádiz Road Km. 396, 14014 Córdoba, Spain

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the effect on SOC concentration, stock and fractions in a dehesa divided into two areas ofsimilar soil type but different soil management. Thefirst area was a pastured dehesa (P) with young Holm oaks,planted in 1995 (70 trees ha−1, 12 m × 12 m) and, since 2000, grazed by sheep (3 sheep ha−1) with an averageperiod of grazing of six months a year. Prior to this it was managed in the same way as the second adjacent area.The second area was a cropped dehesa (C) with widely spaced mature Holm oak (14 trees in a 12-ha dehesa), onwhich a mixture of vetch and oats was cultivated every three years and tilled with a chisel plough. After 22 yearsboth dehesas showed similar SOC stock distribution amongst areas with different soil management, with ap-proximately 40 t ha−1in the top 100 cm of the soil. The P dehesa only showed higher SOC stock than the Cdehesa on the surface 0–2 cm (5.86 ± 0.56 t ha-1vs3.24 ± 0.37 t ha−1). The influence of the trees, increasingSOC concentration and content when compared to the area outside the canopy projection, was only detectedunder the mature trees in the C dehesa. In the area outside the tree canopy, both systems showed a similardistribution of soil organic carbon among their different fractions, with the unprotected fraction being thedominant one, followed by the physically and chemically protected fractions. In the C dehesa, the mature trees’presence significantly modified the distribution of soil organic carbon in their surroundings, increasing therelevance of the unprotected fraction. The distribution of soil organic carbon in the unprotected and physicallyand chemically protected fractions were strongly correlated to the overall organic carbon concentration in thesoil, indicating the rapid response of these three fractions to management, with the biochemically protectedfraction showing no correlation, suggesting a high resilience to the changes in carbon budget.

Agricultural Water Management 230 (2020) 105979

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2019.105979

Published by CAU and ARO:

Jianchu Shi a, Xun Wu b, Xiaoyu Wang a, Mo Zhang a, Le Han a, Wenjing Zhang a, Wen Liu a, Qiang Zuo a,*, Xiaoguang Wu c, Hongfei Zhang c, Alon Ben-Gal d
a College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Plant-Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, and Key Laboratory of Arable
Land Conservation (North China), Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, China
b College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
c Land Management Center of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Hohhot 010020, China
d Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat Research Center, Mobile Post Negev 85280, Israel

ABSTRACT

Plant water deficit index (PWDI) represents the extent of water stress by relating soil moisture to the ability of a plant to take up water including consideration of the relative distribution of soil water to roots. However, for a smart irrigation decision support system, we are challenged in determining reliable thresholds of PWDI to initiate irrigation events to achieve predetermined yield and/or water use efficiency (WUE) targets. Taking drip irrigated maize and sprinkler irrigated alfalfa as examples, field experiments were conducted to investigate the
choice and effects of PWDI thresholds. The results indicated that, with increasing PWDI thresholds, irrigation times and quantity of water, as well as crop transpiration, growth, and yield, were all significantly limited while WUE was enhanced except under extremely stressed conditions. To disconnect the unpredictable effects of other factors, yield and WUE were normalized to their corresponding potential values. Within the experimentally determined range of PWDI, relative yield and WUE were described with linear functions for maize, and linear
and quadratic functions for alfalfa, allowing identification of the most efficient threshold value according to the objective parameter of choice. The method described can be adopted in smart irrigation decision support systems with consideration of spatial variability and after further verification and improvement under more complicated situations with various crop types and varieties, environmental conditions, cultivation modes, and wider or dynamic PWDI thresholds allowing regulated deficit irrigation.

Agricultural Water Management 240 (2020) 106293

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106293

Publication by CAU and ARO:

Xun Wu a, Qiang Zuo b, Jianchu Shi b,*, Lichun Wang c, Xuzhang Xue c, Alon Ben-Gal d
a College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
b College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Plant-Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Arable Land
Conservation (North China), Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, China
c National Research Center of Intelligent Equipment for Agriculture, Beijing 100097, China
d Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat Research Center, mobile post Negev 85280, Israel

ABSTRACT

During wetting-drying cycles, divergence is often found between the immediately improved soil water conditions after re-watering and the recovery of plant water status from stress, which ensues only gradually. Such an apparent hysteresis effect of water stress (HEWS) is usually neglected in simulating root-water-uptake (RWU) by empirical models. To consider HEWS in the empirical macroscopic RWU model of Feddes, a water stress recovery coefficient (δ) was introduced based on two lysimetric experiments under greenhouse and field conditions for
winter wheat. The integrated effects of historical water stress events were investigated by assuming that the normalized influence weight of each past stress event declines with the increase of time interval before simulation as an exponential function of attenuation rate. Although δ could be described by an exponential function of an integrative index representing the general historical stress extent (R2 = 0.65, P < 0.001), with an attenuation rate smaller than 0.13, it is challenging to establish such a function practically. An attenuation rate close to zero means HEWS is mainly dominated by the water stress on the previous day, validated by a significant relationship between the relative transpiration or stomatal conductance on the day after irrigation and the water stress extent on the day before irrigation. Therefore, a simplification, substituting the integrative index in the exponential function with the stress extent on the previous day, was proposed for estimating δ. Compared to the traditional RWU model, the revised model considering HEWS was more successful in simulating relative transpiration and soil water dynamics. Root mean square error of relative transpiration was reduced by 65.9 % and of soil water by 30 % in the greenhouse experiment and by 7.4 % and 12.5 %, respectively, in the field experiment.