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Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Use and Scarcity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 January 2022) | Viewed by 40083

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Dr. Alejandro Galindo

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Department of Agroforestry Science, University of Seville, Ctra. Utrera Km 1, 41013 Seville, Spain
Interests: irrigation management; deficit irrigation; climate change; plant ecophysiology; water stress; water relations; water footprint; water use efficiency; water productivity; water saving; droughts and water scarcity; plant nutrition; evapotranspiration and plant modelling
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Dear Colleagues,

Freshwater is the most essential resource for the survival of all organisms, including humans. Only 2.5% of the planet’s capital stock is freshwater, and most of it is stored in glaciers and deep groundwater, only a small amount being easily available. All of this, combined with increasing anthropogenic pressure, is turning water scarcity into a widespread concern in many parts of the world. Further, climate change is expected to disrupt hydrological regimes and the availability of water.

In this sense, agriculture is the largest freshwater user. Additionally, its continued growth is increasing the severity of water scarcity and the frequency of imbalance situations between water supply and demand occurring in agrosystems around the world, which are facing growing pressure to reduce water use. These facts highlight the need to maximize crop water productivity. Moreover, among the tools that growers can use to achieve this goal, there should be more precise irrigation strategies and scheduling procedures that will protect water resources and their integrity for their future use.

Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to gather innovative and novel approaches in management or modeling deficit irrigation strategies, as well as research on tools and mechanisms involved in the response of crops to water stress.

All types of manuscripts (original research, reviews, etc.) are welcome.

Dr. Alejandro Galindo
Guest Editor

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Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

irrigation management
deficit irrigation
water stress
water relations
water use efficiency
water productivity
water saving
crop model
evapotranspiration

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2766 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water Stress Thresholds and Evaluation of Coefficient Ks for Perennial Ryegrass in Tropical Conditions

by César Augusto Terán-Chaves, Alberto García-Prats and Sonia Mercedes Polo-Murcia

Water 2022, 14(11), 1696; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14111696 - 25 May 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2917

Abstract

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is the predominant forage crop in the equatorial highland zones of Colombia due to its high nutritional value and versatility to produce both milk and meat. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the relative depletion of usable soil water and the Ks values of canopy expansion and closure stomatal of perennial ryegrass, as well as to identify the threshold values of water stress. The experiment was carried out in pots under a controlled environment condition. These pots were arranged in a completely randomized manner. The experiment consisted of five treatments—including control treatment—of water deficits in the soil that progressively increased the depletion level as the crop cycle developed. This generated a wide range of conditions in the growth stages. For each treatment, four repetitions were performed Biomass production was significantly affected by water stress. The results show that the upper and lower thresholds of Ks were 0.28 and 1.3 of the depletion level (p) of the total available water (TAW) in the soil for the expansion of the canopy (CE), and 0.25 and 1.1 p of the TAW for stomatal closure (gs). Quadratic functions were fitted for both the CE (R² = 0.72) and CS (R² = 0.73); moreover, the Ks function of FAO-AquaCrop with positive shape factor (sf) was as follows: sf = 11, RMSE 0.22 for CE, and sf = 4.3, RMSE 0.19 for gs. Our results indicate that ryegrass is moderately sensitive to water stress. The differences found between the Ks function of FAO and the experimental data call for the need to use modeling with parameters adapted for each case. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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20 pages, 3800 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Water Supply on Physiological Response and Phytonutrient Composition of Chili Peppers

by Stella Agyemang Duah, Clarice Silva e Souza, Zsuzsa Nagy, Zoltán Pék, András Neményi, Hussein G. Daood, Szergej Vinogradov and Lajos Helyes

Water 2021, 13(9), 1284; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091284 - 01 May 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3297

Abstract

Water supply is a primary contributor to the growth and phytonutrient composition in chili peppers. Several physiological stress factors can influence phytonutrients in chili peppers, resulting in their differential synthesis. Maintaining the right and exact amount of water through a drip system can promote an effective fruit set and crop quality. Four pepper cultivars (‘Hetényi Parázs’; HET, ‘Unikal’; UNIK, ‘Unijol’; UNIJ and ‘Habanero’; HAB) were investigated under different water supply treatments: RF or rain-fed, DI or deficit irrigation, and OWS or optimum water supply. The two-year experiment was carried out in May 2018 and 2019 under open field conditions. Physiological parameters (relative chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence, and canopy temperature) were measured during the growth stage and phytonutrients (vitamin C, capsaicinoids and carotenoids) analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) at harvest in September. The study revealed that, due to higher precipitation and rainfall interruption, increased water supply affected physiological response and phytonutrients in the cultivars. HAB under OWS had a lower response during the growth period when compared to HET, UNIK, and UNIJ. As water supply increased, measured individual carotenoid concentration increased in some cultivars. On the other hand, as water supply decreased, vitamin C and capsaicinoids concentration increased. Even though cultivars responded to the water supply treatments differently, HET exhibited a more uniform and stable composition in all treatments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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17 pages, 5728 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Water Footprint, Blue Water Scarcity, and Economic Water Productivity of Irrigated Crops in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan

by Tariq Khan, Hamideh Nouri, Martijn J. Booij, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Hizbullah Khan and Ihsan Ullah

Water 2021, 13(9), 1249; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091249 - 29 Apr 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5234

Abstract

Pakistan possesses the fourth largest irrigation network in the world, serving 20.2 million hectares of cultivated land. With an increasing irrigated area, Pakistan is short of freshwater resources and faces severe water scarcity and food security challenges. This is the first comprehensive study on the water footprint (WF) of crop production in Peshawar Basin. WF is defined as the volume of freshwater required to produce goods and services. In this study, we assessed the blue and green water footprints (WFs) and annual blue and green water consumption of major crops (maize, rice, tobacco, wheat, barley, sugarcane, and sugar beet) in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan. The Global Water Footprint Assessment Standard (GWFAS) and AquaCrop model were used to model the daily WF of each crop from 1986 to 2015. In addition, the blue water scarcity, in the context of available surface water, and economic water productivity (EWP) of these crops were assessed. The 30 year average blue and green WFs of major crops revealed that maize had the highest blue and green WFs (7077 and 2744 m³/ton, respectively) and sugarcane had the lowest blue and green WFs (174 and 45 m³/ton, respectively). The average annual consumption of blue water by major crops in the basin was 1.9 billion m³, where 67% was used for sugarcane and maize, covering 48% of the cropland. The average annual consumption of green water was 1.0 billion m³, where 68% was used for wheat and sugarcane, covering 67% of the cropland. The WFs of all crops exceeded the global average. The results showed that annually the basin is supplied with 30 billion m³ of freshwater. Annually, 3 billion m³ of freshwater leaves the basin unutilized. The average annual blue water consumption by major crops is 31% of the total available surface water (6 billion m³) in the basin. Tobacco and sugar beet had the highest blue and green EWP while wheat and maize had the lowest. The findings of this study can help the water management authorities in formulating a comprehensive policy for efficient utilization of available water resources in Peshawar Basin. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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16 pages, 3736 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Irrigation and Nitrogen Application Rates on Protein and Amino Acid Content of Sunflower Seed Kernels

by Liang Feng, Weiping Li, Qingxiao Shi, Sha Zhao, Yunfeng Hao, Hanjiang Liu and Haibin Shi

Water 2021, 13(1), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13010078 - 31 Dec 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2513

Abstract

Sunflower seeds are rich in oil and protein. In a two-year field experiment in Hetao district, Inner Mongolia, we evaluated the effects of irrigation and N fertilizer on protein and amino acid content of sunflower seeds (Kang Di T562 variety). Irrigation water and N fertilizer were applied at the bud to blossom stage and at three levels: water at 90, 45, and 0 mm; N fertilizer at 104, 52, and 0 kg hm⁻². There were nine treatments with three replicates for a total of 27 plots arranged randomly in blocks. In combination with environmental conditions, water, nitrogen, and the interaction between the two had significant effects on total protein, total amino acids, total ammonia, and key amino acids: glutamic acid, arginine, aspartic acid, glycine, and valine. Application of N fertilizer at the bud stage promoted protein synthesis in seed kernels at the ripening stage. We found a significant positive correlation between N fertilizer and the five main amino acids. With increasing irrigation, total amino acid content and the content of each of the key amino acids individually first increased but then decreased. Overall, a water deficit improved protein content in seed kernels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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14 pages, 877 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Different Irrigation Methods on Environmental Factors, Rice Production, and Water Use Efficiency

by Shuxuan Zhang, Ghulam Rasool, Xiangping Guo, Liang Sen and Kewen Cao

Water 2020, 12(8), 2239; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12082239 - 09 Aug 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3997

Abstract

Rice is one of the most important food crops in China and is also the largest user of agricultural water. Experiments were conducted for two consecutive years at two locations of Jiangsu province to study the effect of four irrigation methods with four replications (shallow water irrigation (FSI), wet-shallow irrigation (WSI), controlled irrigation (CI), and rain-catching and controlled irrigation (RCCI)) on drainage, rainwater utilization rate, pollutant load of N and P, irrigation water, grain yield, and water use efficiency. The results show that FSI treatment used the largest irrigation amount, which is significantly higher than the other three irrigation methods, but the southern part of Jiangsu province especially Nanjing and riverside areas are relatively rich in water resources. It can be seen from our findings that FSI and RCCI are the best irrigation methods in Nanjing area to get a higher yield. However, the yield of CI treatment varies greatly; the annual and seasonal yield changes of CI treatment are higher than those of other treatments; and the risk of yield reduction is greater. Thus, considering water saving and high efficiency, RCCI is a better irrigation strategy than FSI. Combined with the following analysis, it can be seen that RCCI irrigation treatment has less nitrogen and phosphorus pollution load with no significant difference in yield in Lianshui and in 2017 in Nanjing area. Therefore, RCCI is more suitable for irrigation in Lianshui and similar areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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15 pages, 2139 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hay Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Alfalfa under Different Irrigation and Fungicide Regimes in a Semiarid Climate

by Koffi Djaman, Daniel Smeal, Komlan Koudahe and Samuel Allen

Water 2020, 12(6), 1721; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12061721 - 16 Jun 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4277

Abstract

Alfalfa is one of the most nutritive and high-yielding forage legumes planted in rotation with cereal crops across the United States. Under semiarid and arid climates with limited water resources, sustainable management of the available resources is required. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different irrigation regimes and fungicide applications on alfalfa in the high desert region of the Colorado Plateau of the U.S. Field experiments were conducted during the 2012–2014 period. Alfalfa was planted in fall 2012, uniformly irrigated for crop establishment and subjected to seven different irrigation regimes after the first cut in spring 2013. Alfalfa was treated by fungicide application and was harvested at 10% blooming. The maximum amounts of applied water were 350, 300, 208, and 312 mm, respectively, during the first, second, third, and fourth regrowth cycles in 2013, and 373, 282, 198, and 246 mm in 2014 for the respective regrowth cycles in 2014; the seasonal applied irrigation amount varied from 711 to 1171 mm in 2013 and from 328 to 1100 mm in 2014. The results showed non-significant effect of fungicide application on the forage yield. Alfalfa forage yield was significantly affected by the irrigation regimes and showed a third order polynomial relationship with the applied irrigation amounts during each regrowth cycle and on seasonal scale. Forage yield decreased from the first cut to the fourth cut and the annual forage varied from 10.6 to 25.7 Mg/ha for the treated alfalfa and from 11.5 to 25.6 Mg/ha for the non-treated alfalfa. Forage yield at each cut accounted for 39.6, 24.2, 17.6, and 18.6% of the 2013 season forage yield and 31.4, 23.8, 21.6, and 23.2% of the 2014 season forage yield, for the first, second, third, and fourth cut, respectively. Alfalfa water use efficiency varied from 0.06 to 3.3 kg/m³. The relationships developed in this study could be used by forage growers, crop consultants, and project managers for decision making and planning to improve the productivity of water under the semiarid and arid climate of New Mexico and the surrounding regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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14 pages, 1213 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimation of Yield Response Factor for Each Growth Stage under Local Conditions Using AquaCrop-OS

by Mathias Kuschel-Otárola, Niels Schütze, Eduardo Holzapfel, Alex Godoy-Faúndez, Oleksandr Mialyk and Diego Rivera

Water 2020, 12(4), 1080; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12041080 - 10 Apr 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4164

Abstract

We propose a methodology to estimate the yield response factor (i.e., the slope of the water-yield function) under local conditions for a given crop, weather, sowing date, and management at each growth stage using AquaCrop-OS. The methodology was applied to three crops (maize, sugar beet, and wheat) and four soil types (clay loam, loam, silty clay loam, and silty loam), considering three levels of bulk density: low, medium, and high. Yields are estimated for different weather and management scenarios using a problem-specific algorithm for optimal irrigation scheduling with limited water supply (GET-OPTIS). Our results show a good agreement between benchmarking (mathematical approach) and benchmark (estimated by AquaCrop-OS) using the Normalised Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE), allowing us to estimate reliable yield response factors (

K y

) under local conditions and to dispose of the typical simple mathematical approach, which estimates the yield reduction as a result of water scarcity at each growth stage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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11 pages, 547 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Criteria for HydroSOS Quality Index. Application to Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Processed Table Olives

by Paola Sánchez-Bravo, Jacinta Collado-González, Mireia Corell, Luis Noguera-Artiaga, Alejandro Galindo, Esther Sendra, Francisca Hernández, María José Martín-Palomo and Ángel Antonio Carbonell-Barrachina

Water 2020, 12(2), 555; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020555 - 17 Feb 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3438

Abstract

Water, especially in arid and semiarid regions, is increasingly a disputed commodity among different productive sectors; the pressure for a more sustainable use of water in agriculture will grow. The main strategy to cope with water scarcity is the use of improved, innovative, and precise deficit irrigation management practices which are able to minimize the impact on fruit yield and quality. The aim of this paper was to develop a certification index or hydroSOS quality index for extra virgin olive oil and processed table olives. The hydrosSOS fruits and vegetables are those cultivated under regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). Different indicators in three quality areas ((i) fatty acids, (ii) phenolic compounds, and (iii) sensory attributes) were identified as showing characteristic or typical responses under RDI conditions. Marks or scores were assigned to each one of these indicators to calculate the proposed index. It can be concluded that an extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) or processed table olives are hydroSOStainable foods, if they meet 2 conditions: (i) fulfill the conditions established in the hydroSOS “irrigation” index, and (ii) fulfill the requirements of the hydroSOS “quality” index. HydroSOS quality index will be specific to each crop and variety and will depend on functional and sensory factors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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13 pages, 2401 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Water Deficit on Morphoagronomic and Physiological Traits of Common Bean Genotypes with Contrasting Drought Tolerance

by Leonardo Godoy Androcioli, Douglas Mariani Zeffa, Daniel Soares Alves, Juarez Pires Tomaz and Vânia Moda-Cirino

Water 2020, 12(1), 217; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010217 - 13 Jan 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3706

Abstract

Water deficit is considered one of the most limiting factors of the common bean. Understanding the adaptation mechanisms of the crop to this stress is fundamental for the development of drought-tolerant cultivars. In this sense, the objective of this study was to analyze the influence of water deficit on physiological and morphoagronomic traits of common bean genotypes with contrasting drought tolerance, aiming to identify mechanisms associated with tolerance to water deficit. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse, arranged in a randomized complete block 4 × 2 factorial design, consisting of four common bean genotypes under two water regimes (with and without water stress), with six replications. The morphoagronomic and physiological traits of four cultivars, two drought-tolerant (IAPAR 81 and BAT 477) and two drought-sensitive (IAC Tybatã and BRS Pontal), were measured for 0, 4, 8, and 12 days, under water deficit, initiated in the phenological stage R5. Water-deficit induced physiological changes in the plants, altering the evaluated morphoagronomic traits. The drought tolerance of cultivar BAT 477 is not only a direct result of the low influence of water deficit on its yield components, but also a consequence of the participation of multiple adaptive physiological mechanisms, such as higher intrinsic water use efficiency, net photosynthesis rate, transpiration, carboxylation efficiency, stomatal conductance, and intracellular concentration of CO₂ under water deficit conditions. On the other hand, cultivar IAPAR 81 can be considered drought-tolerant for short water-deficit periods only, since after the eighth day of water deficit, the physiological activities decline drastically. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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Review

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23 pages, 4425 KiB

Open AccessReview

Water Allocation and Integrative Management of Precision Irrigation: A Systematic Review

by Zhongwei Liang, Xiaochu Liu, Jianbin Xiong and Jinrui Xiao

Water 2020, 12(11), 3135; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113135 - 09 Nov 2020

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4686

Abstract

Precision irrigation, defined as an efficient water allocation technique characterized by the optimal management and best collaboration of various factors of the irrigation process, attracts considerable attention in agricultural production and crop cultivation. This paper reviews the latest research developments in water allocation mechanism and integrative management effectiveness of precision irrigation, and highlights how irrigation water allocation and integrative management contribute to the high-efficiency performance of precision irrigation techniques; the irrigation models, irrigation infrastructure, and management strategies currently being used are emphasized. Thereafter, the future development prospects in water allocation and integrative management could be systematically analyzed and subsequently explored. Some frontier techniques such as data-oriented irrigation management, performance-proven water allocation, and cloud-based irrigation control are among the critical technologies capable of building a sustainable, integrative, and evolutionary irrigation system while providing the higher quality and efficiency needed for a full application of precision irrigation. This review could be used as an effective reference to study the complicated correlations between precision irrigation and its constructive influences in different environmental conditions, and to facilitate the practical promotion of irrigation productivity with higher accuracy and increased reliability of returns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Water Stress and Deficit Irrigation)

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