Groundwater research and management: integrating science into management decisions. Proceedings of IWMI-ITP-NIH International Workshop on "Creating Synergy Between Groundwater Research and Management in South and Southeast Asia," Roorkee, India, 8-9 February 2005

Groundwater management / Governance / Groundwater development / Artificial recharge / Water quality / Aquifers / Groundwater irrigation / Water balance / Simulation models / Watershed management / Water harvesting / Decision making / South East Asia / Bangladesh / China / India / Nepal / Pakistan / Syria

Methodological framework to develop life cycle thinking assessment on 4CE-MED systems

open7siData 31/12/2020Cereal crops are relevant in many Mediterranean farming systems; however, there is a lack of alternatives. Conservation agriculture (CA) entails principles and benefits that could increase crop diversification while aiding in the reduction of soil erosion and nitrogen leaching. Camelina is well suited to CA systems, proven to be appropriate for commercial growing; therefore, the 4CE-MED project aims at developing Mediterranean innovative, diversified and resilient farming systems not competing for land with actual food chain by growing camelina as a cash cover crop or double crop. Particularly, Work Package 4 (WP4) will assess the sustainability of the local tailor-made 4CE-MED systems through a robust, consistent, and science-based analytical framework. In consequence, this deliverable aims to develop a dedicated methodological framework to perform a life cycle thinking assessment on innovative oilseed Mediterranean crops. The framework proposes an assessment based on primary data from other WPs and relevant literature or secondary data, through a Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) approach composed by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Environmental Life Cycle Costing (E-LCC), and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). WP4 will select 3 countries and trials to compare the sustainability performance of current situations with the introduction of 4CE-MED crops. The cases will belong to three major camelina cropping models presented in the project: Model A introduces Camelina to replace fallow in winter cereal sole-cropping systems, in marginal areas with very dry climate, Model B considers Camelina as a double-cropping cultivation in autumn, to precede typical Mediterranean summer crops, and Model C uses Camelina as a double-cropping in late spring/early summer in colder areas to follow winter pulses (e.g. pea) or cereals harvested as fodder. The selected cases would have followed the experimental protocol presented in WP2 and will be closely linked to a Data Collection Protocol (Deliverable 4.2) to obtain first an inventory of inputs and outputs of each case. A literature review was also conducted for this deliverable, which allowed to observe there is limited LCA, E-LCC and S-LCA studies of the Camelina crop in Mediterranean regions. Most of the information found is referred to the application of Camelina as biofuel, while some articles even highlighted that camelina is not used as food. The definition of a goal and scope, defined in this framework expects to conduct a cradle-to-farm gate assessment with functionality based mostly on yield will be considered in culture succession is preferred. Functional unit is expected to be mass based, with derivations towards the environmental, economic and social impact categories of interest. The environmental dimension will refer to midpoint categories, with a consistent use as in most of the studies of Global Warming Potential, Eutrophication Potential and Terrestrial acidification Potential. Regarding the economic dimension, cost categories, income and net margin will be observed, and the social dimension will include impact categories that range from endpoint to midpoint categories, where human rights, working conditions and community are to be addressed.openLaura Brenes-Peralta, Edoardo Desiderio, Coraline Dessienne, Sylvain Marsac, Sripada M. Udupa, Adberrahmane Hannachi, Matteo VittuariLaura Brenes-Peralta, Edoardo Desiderio, Coraline Dessienne, Sylvain Marsac, Sripada M. Udupa, Adberrahmane Hannachi, Matteo Vittuar

A Global Systematic Review of Improving Crop Model Estimations by Assimilating Remote Sensing Data: Implications for Small-Scale Agricultural Systems

There is a growing effort to use access to remote sensing data (RS) in conjunction with crop model simulation capability to improve the accuracy of crop growth and yield estimates. This is critical for sustainable agricultural management and food security, especially in farming communities with limited resources and data. Therefore, the objective of this study was to provide a systematic review of research on data assimilation and summarize how its application varies by country, crop, and farming systems. In addition, we highlight the implications of using process-based crop models (PBCMs) and data assimilation in small-scale farming systems. Using a strict search term, we searched the Scopus and Web of Science databases and found 497 potential publications. After screening for relevance using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 123 publications were included in the final review. Our results show increasing global interest in RS data assimilation approaches; however, 81% of the studies were from countries with relatively high levels of agricultural production, technology, and innovation. There is increasing development of crop models, availability of RS data sources, and characterization of crop parameters assimilated into PBCMs. Most studies used recalibration or updating methods to mainly incorporate remotely sensed leaf area index from MODIS or Landsat into the WOrld FOod STudies (WOFOST) model to improve yield estimates for staple crops in large-scale and irrigated farming systems. However, these methods cannot compensate for the uncertainties in RS data and crop models. We concluded that further research on data assimilation using newly available high-resolution RS datasets, such as Sentinel-2, should be conducted to significantly improve simulations of rare crops and small-scale rainfed farming systems. This is critical for informing local crop management decisions to improve policy and food security assessments

Soil water balance models for determining crop water and irrigation requirements and irrigation scheduling focusing on the FAO56 method and the dual Kc approach

This study reviews soil water balance (SWB) model approaches to determine crop irrigation requirements and scheduling irrigation adopting the FAO56 method. The Kc-ETo approach is discussed with consideration of baseline concepts namely standard vs. actual Kc concepts, as well as single and dual Kc approaches. Requirements for accurate SWB and appropriate parameterization and calibration are introduced. The one-step vs. the two-step computational approaches is discussed before the review of the FAO56 method to compute and partition crop evapotranspiration and related soil water balance. A brief review on transient state models is also included. Baseline information is concluded with a discussion on yields prediction and performance indicators related to water productivity. The study is continued with an overview on models development and use after publication of FAO24, essentially single Kc models, followed by a review on models following FAO56, particularly adopting the dual Kc approach. Features of dual Kc modeling approaches are analyzed through a few applications of the SWB model SIMDualKc, mainly for derivation of basal and single Kc, extending the basal Kc approach to relay intercrop cultivation, assessing alternative planting dates, determining beneficial and nonbeneficial uses of water by an irrigated crop, and assessing the groundwater contribution to crop ET in the presence of a shallow water table. The review finally discusses the challenges placed to SWB modeling for real time irrigation scheduling, particularly the new modeling approaches for large scale multi-users application, use of cloud computing and adopting the internet of things (IoT), as well as an improved wireless association of modeling with soil and plant sensors. Further challenges refer to the use of remote sensing energy balance and vegetation indices to map Kc, ET and crop water and irrigation requirements. Trends are expected to change research issues relative to SWB modeling, with traditional models mainly used for research while new, fastresponding and multi-users models based on cloud and IoT technologies will develop into applications to the farm practice. Likely, the Kc-ETo will continue to be used, with ETo from gridded networks, re-analysis and other sources, and Kc data available in real time from large databases and remote sensinginfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Economics of Groundwater Governance Institutions Around the Globe

This article provides an economic framework for understanding and evaluating groundwater governance across the globe. We provide an assessment of groundwater management along three dimensions: characteristics of the groundwater resource; externality problems; and governance institutions. We examine 10 basins located on six continents which vary in terms of intensity and type of water demand, hydrogeological properties, climate, and social and institutional traditions via an integrated assessment along three dimensions: characteristics of the groundwater resource; externality problems; and governance institutions. Our framework suggests these characteristics, along with the high cost of governance, have left many basins in a state of de facto open access. However, governance of the highest value water resources suggest that rules can emerge at relatively low costs that partially address externality problems. We identify these conditions and discuss key challenges and opportunities for additional research

Water Saving in the Yellow River Basin, China. 1. Irrigation Demand Scheduling

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a Technical Paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 5 (2003): A. Campos, L. Pereira, J. Gonclaves, M. Fabiao, Y. Liu, Y. Li, Z. Mao, and B. Dong. Water Saving in the Yellow River Basin, China. 1. Irrigation Demand Scheduling. Vol. V. July 2003