Author: Xiaolin QuPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Crops
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Book Description
The Water Requirement and Profitability Analysis of Major Crops in the Texas Panhandle Area Using Alternative Irrigation Management Approaches Including Evapotranspiration and Weather Information
Author: Xiaolin QuEssays on Producer Profitability, Strategies, and Attitudes for Water Conservation in the Texas High Plains
Author: MariKate CrouchPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Crops and water
Languages : en
Pages : 160
Book Description
Water is a vital resource for agricultural crop production in the Texas Panhandle and greater Texas High Plains Area. This semi-arid region relies almost solely on the Ogallala Aquifer as the primary source of water. Three studies were conducted to evaluated producer profitability, water management strategies, and producers' attitudes towards water conservation for the region. Study one focuses on the top 26 counties, known as the Texas Panhandle. Producers in the area are evaluating new strategies to diversify their operations. Vegetable and vegetable seed production are examined for potential impacts on producers' profitability. Analyzing the feasibility of specialty high-value crops will allow producers to make informed decision regarding the addition of vegetables and vegetable seed to their operations. Yields, costs, and revenue from high tunnel productions systems are compared to the standard open field systems. The study suggests high tunnels produce higher yields, but require a higher initial investment cost. With the support of the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service's High Tunnel Initiative program, producers can decrease their initial investment costs to increase overall profit. Agricultural production dominates water use in the area and is projected to account for 92 percent of total water use by 2020. Since agriculture is such an essential sector of the regional economy, prolonging irrigation capability through improvements in crop production methods is warranted. The area of concern and evaluation in study two consists of Texas' northernmost 21 counties where groundwater withdrawal rates continue to exceed the aquifer's recharge rate, resulting in less available irrigation resources. Within the region, seven counties in the Panhandle Water Planning Area of Texas are projected to incur water shortages in the 2020-2070 planning horizon. A regional analysis evaluating several agricultural water conservation strategies and combinations to address the decline of water use in the region is presented. The analysis examines potential water savings and implementation costs associated with the alternative strategies to provide useful information to stakeholders such as producers, groundwater conservation districts, and regional water planning groups. Study number three evaluates the counties within the greater Texas High Plains. Twenty producers were surveyed to obtain information on their water conservation management practices and attitude towards such efforts. Results indicated producers are implementing multiple irrigation technologies and management practices. Respondents were all concerned with the future water availability in the area. This study provided researchers feedback to reassess the survey for future studies.
Water Use in Crop Production
Author: M.b. KirkhamPublisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9781560220688
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 416
Book Description
Make the best use of available water for your crops! Water Use in Crop Production explores innovative methods that determine how much water certain crops need, in certain climates, in order to ensure adequate plant growth and help eliminate water waste. Through this informative book, agronomists, growers, researchers, and graduate students will find methods and techniques for effective water management that will save money and conserve water. Water Use in Crop Production will enable you enhance crop quality and quantity and save one of the earth's most important resource. Comprehensive and thorough, this essential book combines two vital needs, food and water, and examines what must be done in order to keep up with the ever-growing human population. Explaining conservation techniques used in Argentina, Australia, Israel, Morocco, New Zealand, the Philippines, Spain, and the United States, Water Use in Crop Production will help you achieve this goal as it discusses water management measures including: avoiding excessive deep percolation reducing runoff lessening water evaporation through methods such as reducing the capillary water flow to the surface of the soil determining the rates at which water is demanded and can be supplied in a specific area to create a plan for limiting water loss studying the root structure of plants to calculate how much water they need using deficit irrigation to help plants save water for future use evaluating citrus water use through the Penman-Monteith model Containing charts, tables, and examples of the concepts it discusses, this book is the culmination of the latest studies on water storage. Water Use in Crop Production provides you with reliable strategies and methods that will help you lessen water expenditures and improve the vitality of crops anywhere in the world.
Enhancing Producer Profitability with Vegetable Production in the Texas High Plains
Author: Mandi Lynn BoychukPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cash crops
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
In the Ogallala Aquifer, the Texas High Plains' primary water source, withdrawals continue to exceed the aquifer's limited recharge. Producers are compensating with water-conserving production techniques such as transitioning to more efficient irrigation technology, implementing conservation tillage practices, reducing the amount of irrigation applied, and alternating the crops they plant. Given the current condition of the semi-arid region, alternative production methods are necessary to enhance farm profitability. One alternative being considered by producers is the production of high-value crops. High-value crops, including vegetables, can increase overall producer profitability. Initial project experiments have demonstrated the potential for viable vegetable production; however, no studies exist to prove the economic viability of these crops in the Texas High Plains. This study analyzes the economic feasibility of producing high-value vegetables so producers may make an informed decision regarding the incorporation of vegetable production into their existing operation. This information will benefit not only producers faced with declining water availability but also small landowners considering more productive uses of their land. Tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, and sweet corn were produced in an open field at the USDA-ARS CPRL/Texas A&M AgriLife Vegetable Production Lab in Bushland, Texas using surface drip irrigation both with and without the use of black plastic mulch. Field production data including water use, labor hours, input costs, and yields were collected through personal communication with research faculty. Additional data were collected from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension crop budgets, the United States Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Marketing Service, the United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, and a review of existing vegetable production literature. These data were compiled to create enterprise budgets including revenue, variable costs, fixed costs, and total profit for each vegetable with mulch and without mulch under surface drip irrigation, on a per-acre basis. Economic data for traditionally irrigated corn, cotton, and wheat were obtained from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension crop budgets. Several economic measures, including return on investment, profit per acre-inch of irrigation water applied, and breakeven prices were analyzed to provide producers with the information needed to make decisions. In addition, sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate how changes in crop prices and labor hours would affect producer profit. An online survey was distributed to producers implementing vegetable production within the study region to identify current management practices. Innovative production systems such as high tunnel systems and greenhouses offer several benefits to these producers, specifically protection from the harsh environment. Additionally, survey respondents provided information regarding higher revenue possibilities that exist through other marketing outlets including farmer's markets, local grocery stores, and restaurants. Implementing vegetable production in an existing enterprise is an alternative that can help increase or maintain overall producer profits, especially for producers faced with declining water availability. Despite the high investment and high labor costs, the results indicate vegetable production in the Texas High Plains has great profit potential. It is important to note that conservative estimates of revenue were utilized in this study. In addition, because specialty crops are not eligible for Agricultural Risk Loss Coverage, Price Loss Coverage, or Marketing Assistance Loan programs, producers should consider the risk associated with field production and methods to reduce the risk. Further research should be conducted to evaluate the economic feasibility of vegetable production in high tunnel systems and the use of other locally-grown fruits and vegetables to enhance farm profitability.
Author: Actual Crop Water Use in Project Countries
Author: Robina WahajPublisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Agricultural production
Languages : en
Pages : 62
Book Description
This report aims to synthesize the results of a crop water use study conducted by country teams of the GEF/World Bank project, Regional Climate, Water, and Agriculture: Impacts on and Adaptation of Agro-ecological Systems in Africa. It also presents the results of the second phase of the study based on climate change scenarios, conducted by the South Africa country team. The actual evapotranspiration of five commonly grown crops-maize, millet, sorghum, groundnuts, and beans-in two selected districts were analyzed by six country teams. In addition, two country teams also analyzed other crops grown in the districts. The regional analysis shows that the actual yield of the different crops-specifically of maize and groundnuts-improves with an increase in actual evapotranspiration, although the gap remains wide between actual and potential yield and actual and maximum evapotranspiration, especially for the rainfed crops. This highlights the importance of improved water management if agriculture is to play an important role as a source of food security and better livelihoods. The report highlights the vulnerability of maize to water stress and the increased risks to the viability of rainfed farming systems based on this crop. The results of the second phase of analysis show that a 2°C increase in the temperature and a doubling of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere will shorten the growing period of maize, which will result in decreased crop water requirement and use. The authors recommend extending this type of analysis to other crops as well as to other countries to develop a clearer picture of the changing pattern in crop water use of the major crops grown in the project countries.
Determining Consumptive Use and Irrigation Water Requirements
Author: Harry French BlaneyPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Evaporation (Meteorology)
Languages : en
Pages : 70
Book Description
Consumptive Use of Water by Major Crops in Texas
Author: Louis L. McDanielsPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Evapotranspiration
Languages : en
Pages : 64
Book Description
Estimating Irrigation Water Use in the Humid Eastern United States
Author: Sara B. LevinPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781500275471
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Accurate accounting of irrigation water use is an important part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Use Information Program and the WaterSMART initiative to help maintain sustainable water resources in the Nation. Irrigation water use in the humid eastern United States is not well characterized because of inadequate reporting and wide variability associated with climate, soils, crops, and farming practices. To better understand irrigation water use in the eastern United States, two types of predictive models were developed and compared by using metered irrigation water-use data for corn, cotton, peanut, and soybean crops in Georgia and turf farms in Rhode Island. Reliable metered irrigation data were limited to these areas. The first predictive model that was developed uses logistic regression to predict the occurrence of irrigation on the basis of antecedent climate conditions. Logistic regression equations were developed for corn, cotton, peanut, and soybean crops by using weekly irrigation water-use data from 36 metered sites in Georgia in 2009 and 2010 and turf farms in Rhode Island from 2000 to 2004. For the weeks when irrigation was predicted to take place, the irrigation water-use volume was estimated by multiplying the average metered irrigation application rate by the irrigated acreage for a given crop. The second predictive model that was developed is a crop-water-demand model that uses a daily soil water balance to estimate the water needs of a crop on a given day based on climate, soil, and plant properties. Crop-water-demand models were developed independently of reported irrigation water-use practices and relied on knowledge of plant properties that are available in the literature. Both modeling approaches require accurate accounting of irrigated area and crop type to estimate total irrigation water use.
Guidelines for Predicting Crop Water Requirements
Author: J. DoorenbosPublisher:
ISBN: 9789251002797
Category : Crops
Languages : en
Pages : 144
Book Description
This publication is intended to provide guidance in determining crop water requirements and their application in planning, design and operation of irrigation projects; Part I.1 presents suggested methods to derive crop water requirements. The use of four well-known methods for determining such requirements is defined to obtain reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo), which denotes the level of evapotranspiration for different set of climatic data. To derive the evapotranspiration for a specific crop, relationships between crop evapotranspiration (ETcrop) and reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo) are given in Part I.2 for different crops, stages of growth, length of growing season and prevailing climatic conditions. The effect of local conditions on crop water requirements is given in Part I.3; this includes local variation in climate, advection, soil water availability and agronomic and irrigation methods and practices. Calculation procedures are presented together with examples. A detailed discussion on selection and calibration of the presented methodologies together with the data sources is given in Appendix II. A computer programme on applying the different methods is given in Appendix III. Part II discusses the application of crop water requirements data in irrigation project planning, design and operation. Part II. 1 deals with deriving the field water balance, which in turn forms the basis for predicting seasonal and peak irrigation supplies for general planning purposes. Attention is given to irrigation efficiency and water requirements for cultural practices and leaching of salts. In Part II. 2 methods are presented to arrived at field and scheme supply schedules with emphasis towards the field water balance and field irrigation management. Criteria are given for operating the canal system using different methods of water delivery, and for subsequent design parameters of the system. Suggestions are made in Part II. 3 on refinement of field and project supply schedules once the project is in operation. The presented guidelines are based on measured data and experience obtained covering a wide range of conditions. Local practical, technical, social and economic considerations will, however, affect the planning criteria selected. Therefore caution and a critical attitude should still be taken when applying the presented methodology.