Irrigation water use efficiency

Sur les marges arides du Croissant fertile, la Badiya syrienne, domaine de steppe aride, a été occupée par l’Homme depuis le
néolithique. Mais l’expansion maximale du peuplement et de la mise
en valeur correspond à la période byzantine, avec une prise en compte exceptionnelle des contraintes d’aridité spécifiques à la région. Est alors développé un réseau complexe de qanats (galeries drainantes souterraines) vouées pour l’essentiel à l’irrigation. La réoccupation de la région à l’époque contemporaine se fondera sur ce réseau antique qui en assurera la prospérité jusqu’à l’introduction des pompes à moteur. Celles-ci, exploitant les mêmes ressources en eau que les qanats, sonneront le glas de ces dernières tout en permettant une meilleure rentabilisation de la ressource.

This is a Pilot Project to use Canadian Eco Siphon Hydro Power Stations on existing irrigation canals in Sri Lanka.  This technology is in use in Canada very successfully for over 25 years and the engineers of the Canadian technology provider visited a number of potential sites in Sri Lanka and decided to do the Project at this location on the Elahera EMYE (Elahera Miinneriya Yodha Ela) Intake, in the Polonnaruwa District in Elahera Divisional Secretariat division.

A field study on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L., cv.) was carried out from 2005 to 2008 in the Çukurova Region, Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey. Treatments were designated as I100 full irrigation; DI70, DI50 and DI00 which received 70, 50, and 0% of the irrigation water amount applied in the I100 treatment. The irrigation water amount to be applied to the plots

Within the framework of its implementation, PDIDAS plans to develop irrigation infrastructure for 2,555 ha of secondary irrigation and 832 ha of tertiary irrigation in the
Lac De Guiers and Ngalam areas in the regions of Saint-Louis and Louga. The Californian irrigation system is the model adopted in this area. This system is easy to set up
and low cost. However, there are other irrigation systems that could optimize the use of
water resources, such as drip and sprinkler systems. Our final year project comes within
this context and aims to make a comparative study for the design and dimensioning of
drip, sprinkler and Californian irrigation systems for the Ngnith perimeter in the Lac De
Guiers area. To carry out this work : (i) basic data (climatic, pedological, topographical,
on crops and on water resources) of the site were collected and processed, (ii) the technical
design and the sizing of the different networks were carried out, (iii) an evaluation of the
development cost of each system was made, (iv) the potential environmental and social
impacts were identified as well as the measures that can mitigate them. The results show
that the water demand is highest for the California system with an irrigation flow rate
of 630m3/ha, followed by the sprinkler system at 590m3/ha, then the drip system which
is the most economical with 490m3/ha. The delivery and primary pipes have the same
diameters of 630 mm and 500 mm respectively for all three networks. But the secondary
pipes have smaller diameters in the drip system (between 160 mm and 315 mm), followed
by the sprinkler system (between 160 mm and 355 mm) and larger in the Californian
system (between 315 mm and 400 mm). The drip system allows the watering of 110 plots
in 4.5 hours with a total flow rate of 1650 m3/h, the sprinkler system can water 95 plots
in 4.5 hours with 1602 m3/h, while the Californian system with 1620 m3/h allows the
watering of 60 plots in 3.5 hours. For energy consumption, the sprinkler system requires
more energy with 152 solar panels to operate the photovoltaic generator against 134 for
the Californian, while the drip system needs only 46 solar panels. As for the development
cost, it is higher for the drip system with 7,974,412 FCFA/ha slightly exceeding that of the
sprinkler system with 7,850,085 FCFA/ha, and the Californian is considerably less expensive with 6,038,395 FCFA/ha. The social and environmental impacts are more perceptible
with the californian system, which provides more direct employment during the exploitation but promotes land loss, pollutions and the development of diseases such as malaria.

This study was conducted to determine the influence of irrigation regimes on yield of two tomato cultivars – TY-DANA and GS12. Experimental treatments were three irrigation intervals (2, 4, and 6 days), and three irrigation quantities (50%, 75%, and 100% of pan evaporation [Ep]). The total yield increased with increasing amount of irrigation water for both cultivars. The total yield increased about 10% and 17% for 100% of Ep treatment compared with 50% Ep treatment for TY-DANA and GS12 cultivars, respectively. The 100% Ep treatment showed the lowest irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) (16.7 and 10.4 kg m−3), while 50% Ep showed the maximum IWUE (23.9 and 17 kg m−3) for TY-DANA and GS12 cultivars, respectively. The average fruit weight for 100% Ep treatment was usually higher than the other treatments. Generally, yield decreased using 50% Ep, however, the benefits of increasing IWUE and saving around 50% of irrigation water will help to grow crops in more areas and in managing the limited water resources in arid environments.

his work was conducted for two successive seasons (2015/2016) on Shemlaly 15 years old olive trees (Olea europaea L.) cultivated under semi-arid conditions of Egypt (sandy soil at spacing of 4x5 m) at a private orchard located in Cairo–Alexandria desert road, The tested trees were almost uniform in growth vigor, healthy, subjected to drip irrigation and received the same culturel practices adapted in the region such as fertilization, irrigation, pruning, and hoeing as well as pest management. The main objective of the present research is to investigate the effect of water regimes and fertilization with urea (over than the rates recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture) on Oleuropein content of leaves and pruning residues The treatments were T1 : control (farmer " s conventional technique of irrigation and fertilization), T2 (75% of ETc by drip + 1% urea), T3 (75% of ETc by drip + 2% urea) T4 (75% of ETc by bubbler + 1% urea), T5 (75% of ETc by bubbler + 2% urea), T6 (60 % of ETc by drip + 1% urea), T7 (60% of ETc by drip + 2% urea), T8 (60% of ETc by bubbler + 1% urea), T9 (60% of ETc by bubbler + 2% urea) and two level of urea (1 and 2kg/100 liter) were injected through the irrigation system during March over than the fertilization rates recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture. Oleuropein content of The leaves and pruning residues were measured at flowering phenological stage.

Water is the prime mover in agricultural development in rainfed agriculture. For better use of water in agriculture in water-limited environments, efforts are needed from different research disciplines; agronomists, plant breeders, plant physiologists, plant biotechnologists, water engineers and others, to develop new approaches in water use. Among different approaches water productivity or water use efficiency (WUE) is an efficient approach.Water use efficiency can be increased by two ways, either by increasing yield or by saving water. Water use efficiency is affected by a number of factors like climatic conditions, edaphic factors, nature of plant and agronomic practices. There are various techniques to increase water use efficiency in the rainfed ecosystem. Many options to improve water use efficiency are available and the target is to produce more biomass with minimum possible amount of water.

A total of five borehole samples were collected from five towns in Owerri metropolis, South-eastern Nigeria and subjected to physio-chemical analysis using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and other standard equipment with the aim of characterizing and analysing the groundwater quality indicators. These quality indicators are namely: pH, temperature, total hardness, turbidity, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, dissolved oxygen, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, HCO3-, SO42-, Cl-, NO3-, Fe2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, and Cr2+. With the aid of geochemical diagrams acquired using Aquachem 2014.2, we classified the groundwater samples into their respective hydrogeochemical facies, identified their relative similarity and demonstrated the irrigability of the groundwater. The results showed that the groundwater quality indicators occur in the groundwater in amounts that fall within their respective permissible limits as set by World Health Organization (WHO) Drinking Water Standard, and therefore ascertained the groundwater portable and suitable for drinking. The pH of the groundwater has a mean value of 6.7 with a standard deviation of 0.26. The relative abundance of the majority of cations follows this sequence - Na+ > Ca2+ > K+ > Mg2+, while that of the anions follow this sequence - HCO3- > Cl- > SO42- > NO3-. Heavy metals constituents of the groundwater follow this order of relative abundance - Zn2+ > Fe2+ > Mn2+ > Cu2+ > Cr2+ > Pb2+. Three hydrogeochemical facies were identified in the area and they are: the Na+—Cl- water type, the Mixed Ca2+-Na+-HCO3- water type and the Ca2+-Mg2+-HCO3- water type. Great similarities were identified between the geochemical composition of the samples and they are all evidently suitable for irrigation purposes. The TDS level and concentration of Ca2+, Mg2+ and Cl- demonstrated the freshness and softness of the groundwater, with no laxative effects. From series of computations and plots, silicate weathering and seawater intrusion were deduced to be the dominant factors controlling the groundwater chemistry, though there is evidence of poor rock dissolution – immature water-rock equilibrium.

The modern method of producing bulb crops uses proper soil cover for weed control and a sufficient amount of irrigation water to increase onion productivity under drip irrigation. The trial was conducted at Dokki Farm, which belongs to CLAC, Agricultural Research Center, El-Giza Governorate, Egypt, during two growing winter seasons in 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. This study looked at the effects of three irrigation levels (50, 75, and 100 percent of irrigation requirement (equal 1571, 2357, and 3143 m 3 water per feddan, respectively as average two seasons)) and four soil cover treatments (black polyethylene, white polyethylene, rice straw mulch, and control (bare soil) on onion crop growth and production over two seasons. Regardless of mulch type, all soil cover treatments increased soil temperatures compared with control. The application of 100% from irrigation requirement (IR) resulted in a significant increase of the plant length, number of leaves per plant, and fresh revealed that polyethylene mulch, especially black colour, is the most appropriate for producing onion. The soil cover affected the N, P, and K contents of onion plants. The 100% IR and black polyethylene cover gave the highest values of net income, for onion. The irrigation level is 100 % (3143 m 3 water/feddan as average of two seasons) and black polyethylene is the best condition for high crop yield and quality. While the best conditions for water use sufficiency were obtained under irrigation level 50 % and black mulch.

This is a Pilot Project to use Canadian Eco Siphon Hydro Power Stations on existing irrigation canals in Sri Lanka.  This technology is in use in Canada very successfully for over 25 years and the engineers of the Canadian technology provider visited a number of potential sites in Sri Lanka and decided to do the Pilot Project at this location on the Ulhitiya Canal Branch 2 (Drop 1), in the Ampara District in Dehiattakandiya Divisional Secretariat division. 

The project aims to promote development of clean and renewable energy sources for public utilization using innovative and patented Canadian Eco Siphon Hydro Technology. The proposed hydroelectric plant will consist of Eco Siphon Hydro Power Station, Power House and the Transmission line. The Project involves no new water diversion or water storage and does not modify the timing of water diversion or storage within the canal in any way.

https://www.academia.edu/Papers/UploadAbstract
The wetland of the Lakes Koronia and Volvi is of international importance, supporting high numbers of wintering migratory waterbirds. Although protected under the Ramsar Convention, pollution levels have increased enormously in the last two decades, damaging the natural environment. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate changes in the waterbird species populations recorded in the mid-winter counts since 1968 in the Ramsar Wetland of the Lakes Koronia and Volvi, in Northern Greece.
Data regarding waterbird populations were collected from the Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS) and individual ornithologists who carried out the mid-winter counts. Data regarding environmental factors and pollution were collected from the Environmental Sector of the Ministry of Northern Greece and the Master Plan for the recovery of Lake Koronia. Data regarding fish populations were collected from the Fishing Directorate of the Prefecture of Thessaloniki. Data was presented in tables and graphs and analysis was performed to assess differences between waterbird populations and time. Individual species and groups of species of waterbirds were analyzed, as well as the total number of waterbirds. Fish populations vs. time and fish populations vs. fish-eating waterbirds were correlated. Variables characterizing pollution, climate and water use for irrigation vs. time, were analyzed. Data was not always sufficient for statistical analysis because of unavailability.
In 2002, Lake Koronia completely dried out with the result that large numbers of fish and waterbird deaths were documented. Wintering waterbirds populations also declined following this incident. After 2003, rainfall increased and the lake was regenerated. High numbers of waterbirds reappeared in the mid-winter counts of 2005. The fact that during the last few years Lake Koronia has again attracted a constant presence of pelicans, grebes and herons, is a good sign that the lake’s ecological status may be improving.
Lake Volvi has not been affected as much by pollution and drought. The area surrounding the lake is less densely inhabited, there are no industries and farmland irrigation occurs at a much lower level than Lake Koronia. However, fish species populations were gradually declining. Several duck species and coot are regularly counted in Lake Volvi, contributing significantly to the total waterbird counts. These species counts have dramatically declined in Lake Volvi since 1997. An occasional increase in wintering waterbirds observed in 2002 in Lake Volvi was due to fish-eating birds, mainly grebes. This is unlikely to be because of local factors, but more likely as a consequence of changes taking place elsewhere in Europe. The reasons leading to the above changes remain unclear, based on the present available data. Correlation of waterbird counts in Volvi and Koronia, with data from other Greek wetlands, would lead to useful conclusions and is one of several priorities for future analysis.

The problem of water resources is aggravating as a result of accelerated urbanization, population growth, industrial and agricultural development. In addition to these factors, climate changes represent a substantial risk because it affects considerably both water resources and crops. Globally, agriculture is the largest consumer of water, accounting for approximately 70% of all freshwater. Farmers in many arid and semiarid areas are forced to find solutions to irrigate their crops, so they often must use treated, untreated or undiluted wastewater which is cheaper than other water sources. Increasing water needs (for drinking, food and irrigation) make the use of effluents (treated wastewater) an effective solution to solve the problem of water scarcity, to save significant quantities of drinking water, to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers (nutrients in the wastewater can replace conventional fertilizers), thereby protecting the environment and improving crop yield.

Considerable area of land is becoming unproductive every year because of salinity and sodicity in lowlands of Ethiopia. For sound land use and irrigation water management, it is a paramount important to know the chemical composition of soils and irrigation water. Therefore, the study was aimed to evaluate the physicochemical properties of soils and irrigation water of Tendaho sugarcane production farm, located in northeastern rift valley of Ethiopia. Depth wise soil samples from 4 different locations and 1 irrigation water sample from 2 sub-samples (from delivery head and the influent river) were collected. The result of the particle size analysis indicates that majority of the soils were heavily textured. The pH of the soil in all parts of the study area ranged from 7.8 to 8.6. Electrical conductivity readings of most of the studied soil profiles were high. Exchangeable sodium percentage values showed actual sodium toxicity problem (ESP>15) in the first profile and potential sodium toxicity (ESP>1) in the remaining profiles. On the other hand, the irrigation water has a low sodicity hazard; however, pH (7.65) and EC (0.654 dS/m) values clearly indicated that it is moderately alkaline and saline. Hence, coupled with water and soil analysis results, there will be a potential danger of sodicity and actual salinity development in the intended irrigation scheme. Thus, selection of crop type and proper irrigation methods should be designed for sustainability of soil productivity in the study area.

The measurement of water in soil on a potential, gravimetric or volumetric basis is considered, with studies concentrating on the measurement of water by dielectric and neutron moderation
methods. The ability of the time-domain reflectometry technique to measure water content simultaneously at different spatial locations is an important advantage of the technique. The
reported apparent dielectric by the TRASE® time-domain reflectometer and Pyelab time domain reflectometry systems is sensitive to change in extension cable length. In some soil,
e.g. a commercial sand, the response to increasing extension length of extension cable is linear.

For other soil a linear response occurs for certain lengths of cable at different moisture contents. A single model accounting for clay content, extension cable length, time-domain reflectometry system, probe type and inherent moisture conditions explained 62.2 % of variation from the control (0 m extension) cable. The extension cable causes a decrease in the
returning electromagnetic-wave energy; leading to a decline in the slope used in automatic end-point determination. Calibration for each probe installation when the soil is saturated, and
at small water contents is recommended.

The ability of time-domain reflectometry, frequency-domain and neutron moderation techniques in measuring soil water content in a Brown Chromosol is examined. An in situ calibration, across a limited range of water contents, for the neutron moderation method is more sensitive to changing soil water content than the factory supplied “universal” calibration.
Comparison of the EnviroSCAN® frequency-domain system and the NMM count ratio indicates the frequency-domain technique is more sensitive to change in soil water conditions.
The EnviroSCAN® system is well suited to continuous profile-based measurement of soil water content. Results with the time-domain reflectometry technique were disappointing,
indicating the limited applicability of time-domain reflectometry in profile based soil water content measurement in heavy-textured soil, or soil with a large electrical conductivity. The
method of auguring to a known depth and placement of the time-domain reflectometry probe into undisturbed soil is not recommended.

A time-domain reflectometry system is adapted for in situ measurement of water in an iron ore stockpile. The laboratory calibration for water content of the processed iron ore compares
favourably to a field calibration. In the field study, the 28 m extension cable used to connect the probes to the time-domain reflectometry affected the end-point determination of the time domain reflectometry system. To account for this, 0.197 should be subtracted from the
reported apparent dielectric before calculation of volumetric moisture content.

Innovations in precision irrigation technologies are growing even more crucial as growers face water scarcity due to drought, aquifer depletion, and water allocations. On the other hand, adequate monitoring of fertilization and pest control both on individual farms and on a larger scale is crucial for the health of waterways. Ultimately, when farmers use pesticides and fertilizers more efficiently and accurately, they are improving water and air quality in the process. Precision agriculture can reduce excess water use by relying on remote sensors to measure exactly how much water is being used by crops, instead of inferring their potential need from weather variables.

Mounding often occurs beneath engineering structures designed to infiltrate reuse water. AQTESOLV software and a spreadsheet solution for Hantush, together with soil moisture water balance (SWAGMAN farm model), were used for quantitatively predicting the height and extent of groundwater mounding underground to assess the groundwater-flow simulations of infiltration from a hypothetical irrigation site. Horizontal and vertical permeability, aquifer thickness, specific yield, and basin geometry are among the aquifer and recharge properties inputs. For 2.2 ha sites, the maximum heights of the simulated groundwater mound ranges up to 0.29 m. The maximum areal extent of groundwater mounding measured from the edge of the infiltration basins of 0.24 m ranges from 0 to 75 m. Additionally, the simulated height and extent of the groundwater mounding associated with a hypothetical irrigation infiltration basin for 2.2 ha development may be applicable to sites of different sizes, using the recharge rate estimated from the SWAGMAN farm model. For example, for a 2.2 ha site with a 0.0002 m/day recharge rate, the irrigation infiltration basin design capacity (and associated groundwater mound) would be the same as for a 1.1 ha site with a 0.0004 m/day recharge rate if the physical characteristics of the aquifer are unchanged. The study claimed that the present modelling approach overcomes the complications of solving the Hantush equation for transient flow. The approach utilised in this study can be applied for other purposes such as measuring the feasibility of infiltrating water, attenuation zone, risk mitigation essential for decision-makers and planning regulators in terms of environmental effects and water use efficiency.

This report describes a study on evaluating on-farm irrigation efficiencies in ISIIMM Egypt's sites. The objectives of the present study are: (1) to have a clear knowledge of the present situation of irrigation systems in the project sites (Fayoum, Behera, and Menia) and (2) to estimate the efficiency of the existing irrigation systems.

Egypt has vast land resources, but only a fixed fresh water share from the Nile. The current population is estimated at about 72 million, and the average per capita share of water in Egypt is about 800 m3 per year, and is expected to fall to less than 600 m3 per capita by the year 2025. This is well below the 1000 m3 per capita which is considered as “water poverty limit”. Consequently, water could be a severe constraint to Egypt’s economic development and food self-sufficiency. This has stimulated programs to improve efficiency in the irrigation sector which uses about 85% of the available resource. Increasing water productivity becomes a vital issue where more food should be produced out of less water. This theme poses enormous challenges to allocate existing supplies, encourage more efficient water use and promote conservation of irrigation water.

Three different operation efficiencies were assessed in this study. The first one applies to the ability to accomplish the irrigation process without using more water than necessary. The second is the return to use. This indicates how much food and/or fiber a cubic meter of water can produce. The third is the diesel pump efficiency. This indicates how efficiently the diesel pump utilizes and converts the fuel consumed to useful energy for pumping water.

The national Irrigation Improvement Project (IIP) of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) has improved the mesqas of the study area in the three regions and formed a Water Users Associations (WUAs) as well. The water delivery was converted from rotational basis to continuous flow in Menia and Fayoum. However, in Behera, water for rice irrigation in summer is provided to farmers on a rotation basis consisting of 4 days “on” and 6 days “off” (4/6 rotation). The non-rice rotation for the winter crops is 5 days “on” and 10 days “off” (5/10 rotation). The normal duration of the rice water rotation is from May 1 to October 15, and that for the non-rice rotation is from October 15 to April 30.
The means of Data collection in this work is limited to interviews and questionnaires in addition to simple measurements that do not require instrumentation and take only the length and time dimensions such as estimating discharge in open mesqa using the float method. Data required were derived from field survey of 10 percent of the total project domain area of 22041 feddans. This included 137 farmer questionnaires distributed among three regions: Behera; Fayoum; and Menia. In order to account for water availability along the mesqa a 3-questionnaires was made for each selected WUA (head, middle, and tail of mesqa). Detailed analysis was conducted through the farmer questionnaires, covering the various crops, irrigation time, and frequency commonly used in order to determine the irrigation efficiency. The amount of water applied for each crop was determined using the data on irrigation time, number of irrigations during season, pre-irrigation time, number of pumps and valves or gates operating at the same time and valve or gate discharge. Water use efficiency or water productivity, which indicates how much food and/or fiber a cubic meter of water can produce, was evaluated. The pump efficiency was determined through the collected data. These data included: pump fuel consumption, pump discharge, and vertical height from water source to the end of pump discharge pipe. In addition to the farmers' questionnaires, 25 WUAs questionnaires were also implemented to collect data specifically related to the WUA and mesqa technical data as diesel pump performance and mesqa specifications.
Although the land leveling is important for surface irrigation, the only region that has laser land leveling is Fayoum except few cases in Behera and Menia. Generally, subsurface drainage was installed in the study area except few cases in Behera and Menia. However, 68% of farmers in Fayoum stated that the subsurface drainage is not working due to lack of maintenance.

Pump efficiency in the study area was quite low as the global average reached 49% for102 cases. However, the average pump efficiency in Behera and Menia were 53.4% and 42.3%, respectively, corresponding to a diesel pump fuel consumption of 1.59 l/h and 1.37 l/h. The mixture of two types of pump capacities found in Menia (35 l/s-private pumps with 60 l/s-WUA' pumps) was the reason why the fuel consumption is lower in Menia than Behera where the high capacity pumps found belong to the WUAs only.

The rainfall in Behera region has a positive direct effect on reducing the number of irrigations by 3 irrigations for winter crops except rice compared to Fayoum and Menia.

The effect of location on-mesqa on irrigation time, applied water, and yields for all crops in all regions, shows no significant difference between locations on-mesqa, indicating good level of water equity. The water equity achieved between farmers along the mesqa could be attributed to the smaller number of valves or gates operating at the same time due to the change from multi-lifting point to a single-lifting point as a result of mesqa improvement.

The irrigation application efficiency (AE) is used herein to indicate whether farmers irrigate with the required amount of water for the crop or not. It is a ratio between the crop consumptive use and the applied amount of water. The average of application efficiencies for rice, cotton, maize, wheat, beans, and berseen are 50, 91, 87, 67, 72, and 56 respectively. Irrigation application efficiency is an indicator of water losses and the potential of applying water conservation measures. For example, in this survey, the consumptive use for rice is about 4542 m3/fd, which compared to a water application of 9084 m3/fd means a system irrigation efficiency of about 50%. This level of efficiency is rather low, which indicates an additional potential for water conservation through better management at the farm level. Farmers stated that they irrigate rice every 5 days which indicate that they irrigate illegitimately twice every rotation period of 10-days. This means that the actual applied water is twice as much as the required water, which confirms the 50% application efficiency.

Water leakage through broken alfalfa valves in pipeline mesqa is considered one of the major sources of water losses. In the study area, 164 valves and gates out of 448 (36.6%) were leaking out. The percent of leaking valves or gates are 27.7%, 40.6%, and 40% for Behera, Fayoum, and menia. This percent of number of leaking valves to total number of valves could be used as indicator to reflect the percent of water losses.

Water use efficiency or water productivity, defined in technical terms as kg of output per m3 of water, is the highest for wheat (0.99 kg / m3), followed by beans (0.75 kg / m3), maize (0.62 kg / m3), then cotton (0.47 kg / m3), and finally rice (0.4 kg / m3), indicating that water yields more output in wheat production compared to the other crops. No significant difference (1% level of significance) was found between regions except for cotton and wheat.

Different non-linear relations were found between yield and WUE for every crop. The relationship between wheat grain yield and WUE is a non-linear increase in WUE with increase in yield peaking around 18 Ardab / fd. However, the increase in WUE slows down after about 15 Ardab / fd. The other crops (rice, maize, beans, berseem) followed almost the same trend as wheat.

It is concluded that mesqa improvement caused water equity along mesqa. The water equity made no significant difference in crop yield, applied irrigation water, irrigation application efficiency, and water use efficiency between head, middle and tail of mesqa.
It is recommended that the pump operator should be trained to keep record of Diesel pump fuel and oil consumptions as well as daily operating hours.

Irrigation scheduling based on the daily historical crop evapotranspiration (ETh) data was theoretically and experimentally assessed for the major soil-grown greenhouse horticultural crops on the Almería coast in order to improve irrigation efficiency. Overall, the simulated seasonal ETh values for different crop cycles from 41 greenhouses were not significantly different from the corresponding values of real-time crop evapotranspiration (ETc). Additionally, for the main greenhouse crops on the Almería coast, the simulated values of the maximum cumulative soil water deficit in each of the 15 consecutive growth cycles (1988–2002) were determined using simple soil-water balances comparing daily ETh and ETc values to schedule irrigation. In most cases, no soil-water deficits affecting greenhouse crop productivity were detected, but the few cases found led us to also assess experimentally the use of ETh for irrigation scheduling of greenhouse horticultural crops. The response of five greenhouse crops to water applications scheduled with daily estimates of ETh and ETc was evaluated in a typical enarenado soil. In tomato, fruit yield did not differ statistically between irrigation treatments, but the spring green bean irrigated using the ETh data presented lower yield than that irrigated using the ETc data. In the remaining experiments, the irrigation-management method based on ETh data was modified to consider the standard deviation of the inter-annual greenhouse reference ET. No differences between irrigation treatments were found for productivity of pepper, zucchini and melon crops.

Celery plants were grown in ten liter black plastic containers filled with sand substrate then mixed with three levels of aqua gel-polymer. Three levels of irrigation water were applied by using drip irrigation for each aquagel-polymer treatment. The experiment was carried out at the Protected Cultivation Experimental Farm in Dokki, Giza, Egypt to determine celery growth and yield under different studied treatments. Various levels of aquagel-polymer as well as irrigation water levels were applied in a factorial design with three replicates. Plant samples were collected six weeks after transplanting in order to analyze nutrient concentration. The results showed that plant height, number of leaves per plant, and dry weight were increased with rising irrigation water levels. The smallest celery yields were obtained in the lowest irrigation level at 50%. Control treatment (without aquagel-polymer) gave the lowest vegetative characters and yield during the two seasons. During both studied seasons, the highest vegetative characters and yields were obtained by applying 100% irrigation level combined with 2% of aquagel-polymer, followed by 100% irrigation level combined with 1% of gel-polymer. Water Use Efficiency (WUE) decreased with increasing irrigation levels. Meanwhile, using 2% of aquagel-polymer gave the highest WUE during both seasons. The plant analysis revealed that using aquagel-polymer led to an increase of nutrient content in celery leaf compared to the control treatment.

Jordan is extremely water-scarce with just 170 cubic meters per capita per year to meet domestic, industrial, agricultural, tourism, and environmental demands for water. Given the natural climatological conditions, demographic pressure, and transboundary nature of water resources, all renewable water resources of suitable quality are being exploited and some non-renewable aquifers are being depleted. The heavy exploitation of water resources