Measuring On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency with Chloride Tracing under Deficit Irrigation
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 6
Abstract
Water is a limited resource in agricultural production in arid climates. Under such conditions, high irrigation efficiency can be obtained either through implementation of efficient irrigation systems such as drip or sprinkler systems or through the age-old practice of deficit irrigation with gravity systems. The method used to increase irrigation efficiency is often dictated by economic and/or social factors. In either case, the effectiveness of water management at the farm level needs to be evaluated by measuring irrigation efficiency. The objective of this study was to evaluate the irrigation efficiencies for three crops in Southern New Mexico using the chloride technique. The chloride technique is a simple method in which the natural chloride in the irrigation water is used as a tracer to estimate the leaching fraction and the irrigation efficiency at the farm level. Soil samples were collected from various fields in 15 cm increments to a depth of 180 cm at the end of the irrigation season. The samples were analyzed for moisture and chloride content. In addition to the chloride technique, on-farm irrigation efficiencies were measured using applied water, yield, and water production functions. Water production functions and yields were used to estimate total evapotranspiration while flow measurements were used to calculate the amount of applied water. The results showed that high irrigation efficiency can be accomplished using deficit irrigation. Irrigation efficiency values ranged from 83 to 98%. Irrigation efficiencies using the chloride technique were compared with efficiencies estimated from direct flow measurements. The differences between the two methods ranged from 2 to 11.4%. The results showed that even though the chloride technique is subject to sampling errors and simplified theoretical assumptions, it can be used to estimate on-farm irrigation efficiency with considerable accuracy.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Al-Jamal, M. S. (1995). “Nitrogen pollution caused by poor irrigation management and fertilizer practices.” MS thesis, New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, N.M.
Al-Jamal, M. S., Sammis, T. W., and Jones, T. (1997). “Nitrogen and chloride concentration in deep soil cores related to fertilization.” Agric. Water Manage., 34, 1–16.
Alkhateeri, N. S. (2001). “Using chloride technique to estimate irrigation efficiency.” MS thesis, New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, N.M.
Bower, C. A., and Wilcox, L. V. (1965). “Methods of soil analysis, Part 2.” Soluble salts, C. A. Black, ed., American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wis., 933–951.
Cortez, J. D. (1999). “Evaluation of irrigation efficiency and nitrogen leaching in southern New Mexico.” MS thesis, New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, N.M.
Genereux, D. P., Wood, S. J., and Pringle, C. M. (2002). “Chemical tracing of interbasin groundwater transfer in the lowland rainforest of Costa Rica.” J. Hydrol., 258(1/4), 163–178.
Hargreaves, G. H., and Samani, Z. A. (1984). “Economic considerations of deficit irrigation.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng. 110(4), 343–358.
Jensen, M. E. (1981). “Design and operation of farm irrigation systems.” Monograph No. 3, American Society of Agricultural Engineers.
Kallsen, C. E., Gregory, E. J., and Sammis, T. W. (1981). “Water-use production functions of selected crops in Northwestern New Mexico, Phase 1.” New Mexico Water Resource Research Institute, Las Cruces, N.M.
Karr, J. D., Showers, W. J., Gilliam, J. W., and Andres, A. S. (2001). “Tracing nitrate transport and environmental impact from intensive swine farming using delta nitrogen-15.” J. Environ. Qual., 30(4), 1163–1175.
Miyamoto, S. (1983). “Consumptive water use of irrigated pecans.” J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 108(5), 676–681.
Olson, R. A. (1978. “An approach to measuring leaching of nitrate from freely drained irrigated fields.” Nitrogen in the environment, D. R. Nielson and J. G. McDonald, eds., Vol. 1, Academic, New York, 257–265.
Pratt, P. F., Lund, L. J., and Rible, J. M., and (1978). “An approach to measuring leaching of nitrate from freely drained irrigated fields.” D. R. Nielson and J. G. MacDonald, eds., Nitrogen in the environment, Academic, New York, 223–265.
Sammis, T. W. (1981). “Yield of alfalfa and cotton as influenced by irrigation.” Agron. J. 73, 323–329.
Sinclair, T. R. (1998). “Historical changes in harvest index and crop nitrogen accumulation.” Crop Sci., 38(3), 638–643.
Stewart, B. A. (1978). “An approach to measuring leaching of nitrate from freely drained irrigated fields.” Nitrogen in environment, D. R. Nielsen and J. G. MacDonald, eds., Vol. I, Academic, New York, 267–273.
Vengosh, A., and Pankratov, I. (1998). “Chloride/bromide and chloride/fluoride ratios of domestic sewage effluents and associated contaminated ground water.” Ground Water, 36(5), 815–824.
Wierenga, P. J. (1983). “Yield and quality of trickle irrigated chile.” Bulletin No. 703. Agricultural Experiment Station, New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, N.M., 1–16.
Willardson, L. S., Allen, R. G., and Frederiksen, H. D. (1994). “Elimination of irrigation efficiencies.” Proc., 13th Technical Conf., United States Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, Denver.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 6 • December 2005
Pages: 555 - 559
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 28, 2003
Accepted: Oct 29, 2004
Published online: Dec 1, 2005
Published in print: Dec 2005
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.