Article
Agronomy
Mina Kafkaletou, Georgia Ouzounidou, Eleni Tsantili
Summary: The harvest timing of oil olives is crucial for oil quality. This study investigated the physiological and quality characteristics of Koroneiki olives during ripening, and found that harvesting olives at a maturity index of 4 resulted in high-quality oil. Fruit development showed increases in respiration and ethylene production rates, as well as certain compounds, while total antioxidant capacity decreased. Positive correlations were found among the attributes determined, suggesting a relationship to harvest timing and quality traits of olive products.
Article
Agronomy
Alon Ben-Gal, Yonatan Ron, Uri Yermiyahu, Isaac Zipori, Sireen Naoum, Arnon Dag
Summary: The study found that implementing regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) in olive oil production can increase water productivity and optimize oil quality, but may not necessarily result in significant yield increase. In certain treatments, although irrigation was reduced, there was less than 15% reduction in yield after 6 years.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Nishan Bhattarai, Adrienne Pollack, David B. Lobell, Ram Fishman, Balwinder Singh, Aaditya Dar, Meha Jain
Summary: India relies on groundwater irrigation to produce staple grain crops, but overexploitation of aquifers has negative impacts on crop production, especially for wheat, rice, and maize in the winter season. Eliminating energy subsidies for groundwater pumping may not change farmers' crop choice, but could encourage the adoption of increased water conservation efforts.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Alvaro Lopez-Bernal, Anabela A. Fernandes-Silva, Victorino A. Vega, Juan C. Hidalgo, Lorenzo Leon, Luca Testi, Francisco J. Villalobos
Summary: Harvest timing in olive orchards significantly affects oil yield, and a simple model involving physiological parameters such as fruit dry weight and oil accumulation rate can help farmers improve decision-making. The model is cost-effective and easy to implement, with the potential to be used for monitoring oil accumulation dynamics in orchards.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Muhammad Mehran Anjum, Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Riaz, Kashif Akhtar, Sheng Quan Zhang, Chang Ping Zhao
Summary: The study highlights the importance of developing crop cultivars with higher water use efficiency to address the challenges of decreasing water availability and climate uncertainty. Early sown hybrid wheat cultivars showed significantly higher yields compared to local cultivars, even under deficit irrigation scenarios. Differences in sowing dates and irrigation regimes had varying effects on crop-water relations, emphasizing the need for tailored irrigation strategies for sustainable crop production.
Article
Agronomy
M. Siakou, A. Bruggeman, M. Eliades, C. Zoumides, H. Djuma, M. C. Kyriacou, M. G. Emmanouilidou, A. Spyros, E. Manolopoulou, A. Moriana
Summary: This study investigated the effects of deficit irrigation treatments and harvest dates on olive yield and oil quality, finding no significant impacts on morphology, physiology, fruit yield, and oil quality. However, regulated deficit irrigation reduced water use by 32% compared to sustained deficit irrigation. Oil quality was only affected by the harvest date.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Qurat-ul-Ain Ahmad, Hester Biemans, Eddy Moors, Nuzba Shaheen, Ilyas Masih
Summary: This study examines the sensitivity of wheat and rice crop yields to climate variables in the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra river basins in South Asia. The research highlights the importance of impact assessments at higher spatio-temporal scales and suggests integrated climate impact assessments for improved crop water planning and adaptation strategies.
Article
Agronomy
Habib Karimi Avargani, S. Mehdy Hashemy Shahdany, Kazem Kamrani, Jose M. Maestre, S. Ebrahim Hashemi Garmdareh, Abdolmajid Liaghat
Summary: The vulnerability of conventional operational systems in agricultural water distribution systems becomes controversial under successive water shortages. To address these issues, a novel configuration of an automated operating system was developed to mitigate crop yield reductions during times of water scarcity. This study investigated technical and environmental perspectives in enriching the resilience of agricultural water distribution systems influenced by the water shortage periods. The proposed method enables water authorities to promote the surface water distribution system and increase individual and public profits and environmental achievements.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yaqing Du, Xufei Liu, Lin Zhang, Wei Zhou
Summary: Drip irrigation is an effective method for reducing soil salinity and increasing crop yield in saline-alkali land. Drip emitters with a flow rate of 2-4 L h-1 are recommended for irrigation quotas below 50% and irrigation water salinity between 0.7 and 2 dS m-1. Cotton crops benefit greatly from drip irrigation on fine-textured saline soils.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Yanli Fan, Yuzhao Ma, Amini Mohammad Zaman, Mingming Zhang, Quanqi Li
Summary: The combination of a wide-precision planting pattern and delayed irrigation at the jointing stage can improve grain yield and crop water productivity in the North China Plain.
JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Raizza Zorman Marques, Natalia Wistuba, Julio Cesar Moreria Brito, Vinicius Bernardoni, Daiane Cristina Rocha, Marcelo Pedrosa Gomes
Summary: The use of antibiotics in animal production has led to environmental problems, with antibiotic residues contaminating water resources. Irrigating crops with antibiotic-contaminated water resulted in decreased soybean production, with enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin found in the tissues of soybean, bean, and corn plants.
ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Liuyang Yu, Xining Zhao, Xiaodong Gao, Ruhao Jia, Menghao Yang, Xiaolin Yang, Yong Wu, Kadambot H. M. Siddique
Summary: This study evaluated the response of crop water use efficiency (WUE) to drought in global drylands, highlighting the factors influencing WUE and providing a basis for agricultural drought mitigation strategies under future climate change.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Water Resources
Abdoreza Ahmadpour, Bahman Farhadi Bansouleh, Arash Azari
Summary: This study developed a combined method using Geographic Information System (GIS) and the grid weather generation tools to investigate the spatial and temporal variation of crop yield, seasonal crop evapotranspiration, and water productivity of maize under various irrigation scenarios. The results showed that increasing water stress led to an increase in the spatial and temporal variation of crop water productivity, with spatial changes being more significant than temporal changes.
APPLIED WATER SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Maja Jukic Spika, Davor Romic, Mirella Zanetic, Monika Zovko, Tatjana Klepo, Frane Strikic, Slavko Perica
Summary: This study investigated the influence of different irrigation regimes on the morphological parameters of olive fruits and the quantity and quality of virgin olive oil obtained from the Croatian cultivar Oblica. The results showed that irrigation treatments increased the oil yield and had a positive effect on olive production under drought conditions.
Article
Agronomy
Ning Chen, Xianyue Li, Haibin Shi, Qi Hu, Yuehong Zhang, Yannan Sun, Fanfan Song
Summary: Biodegradable film is a promising alternative to plastic film in crop mulching, disintegrating into water and carbon dioxide through soil microorganisms' catalytic decomposition. However, disadvantages such as poor water and heat conservation during nighttime may impact crop growth and yield due to suboptimal soil water and temperature distribution.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Isaac Zipori, Uri Yermiyahu, Arnon Dag, Ran Erel, Alon Ben-Gal, Liu Quan, Zohar Kerem
Summary: The study found that nitrogen application affected the quality and composition of olive oil, while phosphorus and potassium did not have a significant impact. Therefore, careful fertilization, especially in terms of nitrogen application, is crucial in intensive olive orchards to prevent a decrease in oil quality due to over-fertilization.
JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
L. Katz, A. Ben-Gal, M. Litaor, A. Naor, M. Peres, A. Peeters, V Alchanatis, Y. Cohen
Summary: This study developed a spatiotemporal decision support protocol for variable rate drip irrigation (SDSP-VRDI) in a peach orchard. The results showed that most management cells reached the target range under crop water status-based irrigation, but there were differences in the response to irrigation among different cells. Downscaling management from field to subfield scale is beneficial for precision irrigation management of orchard systems.
IRRIGATION SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Jinjie Fan, Xun Wu, Yangliu Yu, Qiang Zuo, Jianchu Shi, Moshe Halpern, Jiandong Sheng, Pingan Jiang, Alon Ben-Gal
Summary: Delineating root-water-uptake (RWU) under conditions with augmented CO2 concentrations is crucial for irrigation scheduling in response to climate change. The effects of increased CO2 concentration (e[CO2]) on RWU and the development of a RWU model were studied through two experiments, which demonstrated the stimulation of plant growth and the decrease in RWU activity under e[CO2]. The RWU model accurately simulated soil water transport and wheat transpiration under e[CO2].
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Wenjie Meng, Jinliang Xing, Mu Niu, Qiang Zuo, Xun Wu, Jianchu Shi, Jiandong Sheng, Pingan Jiang, Quanjia Chen, Alon Ben-Gal
Summary: A root distribution-based multistage application method (RMAM) was found to improve nutrient uptake efficiency and optimize soil nutrient distribution. Compared to other fertigation scheduling strategies, RMAM had positive effects on yield and nutrient uptake during the late flowering stage and reduced leaching of certain nutrients.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Livia Katz, Alon Ben-Gal, M. Iggy Litaor, Amos Naor, Aviva Peeters, Eitan Goldshtein, Guy Lidor, Ohaliav Keisar, Stav Marzuk, Victor Alchanatis, Yafit Cohen
Summary: Accurate canopy extraction and temperature calculations are crucial for reducing inaccuracies in thermal image-based estimation of orchard water status. This study compared the accuracies of four canopy extraction methods and explored their effects on water status estimation.
Article
Agronomy
Uri Hochberg, Aviad Perry, Shimon Rachmilevitch, Alon Ben-Gal, Or Sperling
Summary: This study investigated the impact of short-term drought events on whole-plant water use in grapevines and associated changes in physiological attributes with the proportional reduction in transpiration. The results revealed that short drought events imposed long-term restrictions on transpiration through limitations to canopy development and stomatal conductance. These findings can contribute to predicting grapevine water uptake under drought conditions.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Lining Liu, Qiang Zuo, Jianchu Shi, Xun Wu, Congmin Wei, Jiandong Sheng, Pingan Jiang, Quanjia Chen, Alon Ben -Gal
Summary: Plant water deficit index (PWDI) is a critical index for irrigation scheduling that reflects the extent of abiotic stresses. Smart irrigation scheduling based on PWDI thresholds has been suggested to maximize yields and minimize negative environmental effects. A two-year experiment on drip-irrigated cotton under film mulch was conducted to investigate the effects of PWDI-driven irrigation under saline conditions. Results showed that higher PWDI thresholds led to increased irrigation depth but decreased irrigation frequency and total volume, resulting in a deteriorated soil water and salt environment, slower growth, and lower yield and net profit. Guidelines for smart irrigation scheduling were provided based on quantitative results, taking into account water management measures and cotton market prices. An optimal PWDI threshold of 0.49 was found to maximize economic benefits and water productivity. Lower thresholds should be considered when cotton prices are low, while higher thresholds can be used to improve water efficiency. Further research is needed to consider crop sensitivity to water and salinity stresses at different growth stages and optimize irrigation depth per event.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Ting Zhang, Qiang Zuo, Ning Ma, Jianchu Shi, Yuchuan Fan, Xun Wu, Lichun Wang, Xuzhang Xue, Alon Ben -Gal
Summary: Determining relative root-zone water depletion (RRWD) thresholds for irrigation is crucial for optimizing crop yield and water productivity with limited water supply. This study developed a numerical procedure to determine RRWD thresholds and investigated the effects of climate change on optimal crop yield and water productivity. The results showed that the mean RRWDopt could be used to formulate rational irrigation management strategies for winter wheat under changing climatic conditions in the NCP.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Or Sperling, Ido Gardi, Alon Ben-Gal, Tamir Kamai
Summary: The study investigated the physiology of almond trees under deficit and full irrigation conditions. It found that deficit irrigation limits the growth and yield of almond trees, and proposed a method to determine irrigation needs based on phenology.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Floyid Nicolas, Tamir Kamai, Alon Ben -Gal, Jose Ochoa-Brito, Andre Daccache, Felix Ogunmokun, Isaya Kisekka
Summary: This study developed a comprehensive biophysical model to assess the impact of salinity in the root zone on crop yields and profitability in the Central Valley. The model integrated soil variables, climate conditions, irrigation inputs, and economic data and showed strong predictive capabilities for crop yields and profitability. The model also revealed variations in yield and profitability based on soil type and groundwater salinity, providing valuable insights for policymakers and growers in arid regions.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ran Erel, Uri Yermiyahu, Hagai Yasuor, Alon Ben-Gal, Isaac Zipori, Arnon Dag
Summary: Oil in fruits and seeds, especially olive oil, is an important source of calories and essential fatty acids. The study found that nitrogen fertilization level negatively affects the oil content in olive fruits.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Lichun Wang, Songrui Ning, Wengang Zheng, Jingyu Guo, Youli Li, Yinkun Li, Xiaoli Chen, Alon Ben-Gal, Xiaoming Wei
Summary: This study compared the performance of a soil-based system (SBS) and a hydroponic production system (HPS) in terms of lettuce productivity and economic benefit. The results showed that HPS was more adaptable to environmental temperature changes and had higher yield and water productivity compared to SBS. Additionally, HPS-grown lettuce exhibited increased levels of ascorbic acid and soluble sugar, but accumulation of nitrate. Consideration of agronomic, quality, and economic indicators revealed that the H2 treatment in HPS showed the optimal performance, indicating the profitability of HPS for commercial lettuce production.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Arnon Dag, Shamir Badichi, Alon Ben-Gal, Aviad Perry, Noemi Tel-Zur, Yonatan Ron, Zipora Tietel, Uri Yermiyahu
Summary: A 6-year study on jojoba plants showed that nitrogen application has a significant impact on plant nutrient status, growth, productivity, and nitrate accumulation in the soil. The recommended nitrogen dosage for intensive jojoba plantations is 150 kg N ha(-1).
Article
Engineering, Environmental
David Yalin, Hillary A. Craddock, Shmuel Assouline, Evyatar Ben Mordechay, Alon Ben-Gal, Nirit Bernstein, Rabia M. Chaudhry, Benny Chefetz, Despo Fatta-Kassinos, Bernd M. Gawlik, Kerry A. Hamilton, Leron Khalifa, Isaya Kisekka, Iftach Klapp, Hila Korach-Rechtman, Daniel Kurtzman, Guy J. Levy, Roberta Maffettone, Sixto Malato, Celia M. Manaia, Kyriakos Manoli, Orah F. Moshe, Andrew Rimelman, Luigi Rizzo, David L. Sedlak, Maya Shnit-Orland, Eliav Shtull-Trauring, Jorge Tarchitzky, Venus Welch-White, Clinton Williams, Jean Mclain, Eddie Cytryn
Summary: This article discusses the challenges and solutions related to the use of treated wastewater (TWW) for irrigation purposes in agriculture. The authors emphasize the importance of managing TWW properly to avoid negative impacts on soil functioning, plant productivity, and human and environmental health. They call for a global harmonized data system to centralize scientific findings and improve knowledge sharing among researchers and policymakers. The insights from this collaboration will help mitigate risks and ensure more sustainable use of TWW for food production in the future.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Guang Yang, Xuejin Qiao, Qiang Zuo, Jianchu Shi, Xun Wu, Lining Liu, Alon Ben-Gal
Summary: Accurate monitoring and evaluation of root-zone soil salt content (SSC) are crucial for sustainable development of irrigated agriculture in arid and semi-arid areas. This study developed an inversion method to estimate root-zone SSC based on soil-crop water relations and evapo-transpiration (ET) fused through remote sensing data. The method was applied to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and cumulative effects of root-zone SSC in cotton fields under film mulched drip irrigation. The results showed a significant decline in root-zone SSC over the past 21 years, indicating the potential of the inversion method in effective planning and management of soil and water resources in arid salinized areas.
SCIENCE OF REMOTE SENSING
(2023)
