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Irrigation, Water Conservation and Sustainable Agricultural Harvesting
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Irrigation, Water Conservation and Sustainable Agricultural Harvesting

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 April 2023) | Viewed by 13199

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Xianyue Li

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Guest Editor
College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Huhhot 010018, China
Interests: high efficient utilization of water and fertilizer in field
Dr. Yuanyuan Zha

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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Interests: soil-water-atmosphere-plant simulation and software development; hydraulic tomography and electrical resistivity tomography; precision agriculture; data worth analysis and data mining in subsurface hydrology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Xiaobo Gu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China
Interests: soil water; groundwater; crop modeling; data fusion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agricultural water consumption accounts for 75-50% of the total freshwater on earth, most of which goes towards irrigation. Irrigation is critical to guarantee food security, especially in arid regions and countries. However, freshwater shortages present a critical problem in most of these regions along with the development of industry and agriculture and the advancement of society. Thus, water conservation has acquired increasing significance in sustainable agricultural harvesting, and it is vital that we investigate water-saving mechanisms and their relationship with sustainable irrigation practices. Accordingly, this Special Issue will present papers aiming to increase irrigation efficiency and maintain agricultural sustainable development by accurately estimating crop water requirements, revealing the mechanism of crop water stress, optimizing irrigation schedules through experiment and model investigations, and so on. Additionally, this Special Issue will focus on the application of modern water-saving technology and agricultural strategies, such as deficit irrigation, intelligence irrigation, unconventional water irrigation, green mulching and fertilization, which play a role in increasing water productivity and advancing agricultural sustainable development. The study of high water use efficiency and yield is crucial to sustainable agriculture.

For this Special Issue, we are inviting original research articles and reviews. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Relationship between crop growth and water;
  • Crop water use efficiency;
  • Irrigation and fertilization techniques;
  • Evapotranspiration;
  • Irrigation management;
  • Agricultural sustainability using green mulching and fertilization;
  • Irrigation with saline water

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Xianyue Li
Dr. Yuanyuan Zha
Dr. Xiaobo Gu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • irrigation
  • water conservation
  • high water use efficiency
  • agricultural sustainability

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 3275 KiB  
Article
Reducing Emitter Clogging in Drip Fertigation Systems by Magnetization Technology
by Kaili Shi, Lili Zhangzhong, Furong Han, Shirui Zhang, Rui Guo and Xueying Yao
Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3712; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043712 - 17 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2031
Abstract
The issue of emitter clogging is a common phenomenon in drip fertigation systems, which causes uneven irrigation and fertilization. However, efficient and environmentally friendly methods are scarcely available for alleviating clogging. In the present study, we investigated the anti-fouling efficacy of three magnetic [...] Read more.
The issue of emitter clogging is a common phenomenon in drip fertigation systems, which causes uneven irrigation and fertilization. However, efficient and environmentally friendly methods are scarcely available for alleviating clogging. In the present study, we investigated the anti-fouling efficacy of three magnetic field strength levels (0, 0.4 T and 0.6 T) on emitter clogging in drip fertigation systems. Our results show that magnetized water treatment could effectively relieve emitter clogging and delay the occurrence time of clogging, which increased the average discharge variation rate (Dra) by 37.00–61.64% and decreased the dry weight (DW) by 53.00–69.29% compared with non-magnetized water treatments. X-rays were used to estimate the compositions of the main clogging substances, and the results show that phosphates were the dominant substances that induced emitter clogging. In addition, magnetized water treatment effectively reduced the contents of chemical and particulate fouling, as exhibited by a decrease in phosphates, silicate and quartz by 53.17–69.58%, 47.22–61.95% and 43.18–74.80%, respectively. In comparison, the higher strength of magnetized water treatment (0.6 T) was better in clogging control, which increased Dra and the Christiansen of uniformity (CU) by 24.64% and 43.96%, respectively, and the DW was reduced by 34.67% compared with that of 0.4 T. This study proves that magnetized water treatment is an effective, chemical-free treatment method with great potential for fouling control technology, and it is helpful for the further promotion of drip fertigation technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Irrigation, Water Conservation and Sustainable Agricultural Harvesting)
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11 pages, 2205 KiB  
Article
Design and Testing of a Remote Control-Based Integrated Flow Regulation and Measurement Device
by Mengyang Liu, Delan Zhu, Xinxin Nie, Changyang Shi, Hongbin Tu, Bo Jing, Huiyi Fan and Hang Zhao
Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 15672; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315672 - 25 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1731
Abstract
In order to maintain sustainable agriculture, the flow in irrigation systems needs to be managed remotely and finely to achieve efficient use of water resources. This research develops a flow measuring device that integrates measurement and control to achieve precise flow regulation under [...] Read more.
In order to maintain sustainable agriculture, the flow in irrigation systems needs to be managed remotely and finely to achieve efficient use of water resources. This research develops a flow measuring device that integrates measurement and control to achieve precise flow regulation under remote control. The device chooses the angular regulating valve as the actuation component to control the flow. By the experimental study of the valve body working characteristics, this paper (1) establishes the relationships among the pressure in front of the valve, the valve body opening and the pipeline flow; (2) establishes the relationship between the valve opening degree and the number of driving pulses of the stepper motor, and (3) designs the opening decision and flow measurement software. The experiment shows that the flow coefficient of the valve body is 84.61, and there is no leakage loss when closed. It also shows that the regulation curve matches the law of fast-opening features. The established relationship and the correlation coefficient between the performance parameters and the measured value are both greater than 0.99, indicating a decent performance of fitness. In a test where the pipeline pressures were 0.10, 0.20, and 0.30 MPa, the average duration of flow regulation was 62.48 s, with a maximum overshoot of 5%, and a maximum steady-state error of 6%. The experiment also showed that the higher the pressure is, the better the regulation effect is. The flow measurement error under varied pressure is below 3%. With its simple structure, fast flow regulation time, and high accuracy, this device meets the requirements of flow management in irrigation systems. It can be used in a variety of flow rate remote monitoring and control scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Irrigation, Water Conservation and Sustainable Agricultural Harvesting)
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12 pages, 1610 KiB  
Article
Modification of Soil Physical Properties by Maize Straw Biochar and Earthworm Manure to Enhance Hydraulic Characteristics under Greenhouse Condition
by Xinna Liu, Jie Zhang, Qian Wang, Hiba Shaghaleh, Tingting Chang and Yousef Alhaj Hamoud
Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13590; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013590 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2043
Abstract
The deterioration of soil physical properties had led to a decrease in soil–water availability in facility agriculture. Thus, an experiment was set up with five soil treatments of 0% (CK, No additives), 3% biochar (BA3, Mass ratio), 3% earthworm manure (QA [...] Read more.
The deterioration of soil physical properties had led to a decrease in soil–water availability in facility agriculture. Thus, an experiment was set up with five soil treatments of 0% (CK, No additives), 3% biochar (BA3, Mass ratio), 3% earthworm manure (QA3), 5% biochar (BA5), and 5% earthworm manure (QA5) to investigate the effects on soil physical properties and hydraulic characteristics under greenhouse conditions. The physical properties of soil including the soil bulk density (BD) and total porosity (TP) were measured; the results showed that BA5 provided the lowest soil BD (1.24 g·cm−3) and the highest TP (53.09%) and was 13.8% higher than CK. More importantly, the saturated hydraulic conductivity (KS), field capacity (FC), permanent wilting point (PWP), and available water content (AWC) of the soils treated with biochar and earthworm manure were significantly higher than those of CK. At the same application rate, the effect of biochar on soil–water permeability and water-retention capacity was significantly higher than that of earthworm manure, in which the soil–water-characteristic curve (SWCC) showed that as BA5 > BA3 > QA5 > QA3 > CK, the FC and AWC increased from 28.90% and 14.13% under CK, respectively, to 40.73% and 21.91% under BA5, respectively; and the KS, FC, PWP and AWC of BA5 increased by 45.93%, 40.91%, 27.46% and 54.96% compared with CK, respectively. The results revealed that the improvement of the soil TP was conducive to the enhancement of the soil KS and FC, enhanced the soil–water permeability and the water-retention capacity, and ultimately increased the AWC. From the perspective of improving the facility soil and economic benefits, the application of 5% biochar is considered to be the most beneficial. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Irrigation, Water Conservation and Sustainable Agricultural Harvesting)
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12 pages, 2186 KiB  
Article
Effect of the Matrix Dam in the Paddy Field Drainage Ditch on Water Purification Based on the Physical Model Test
by Haisheng Liu, Hao Yang, Honghua Shang, Fangli Su, Changzhi Ji and Jing Cheng
Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8620; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148620 - 14 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2004
Abstract
(1) Setting a matrix dam in the paddy field drainage ditch has been recognized as an effective method to lower the velocity of water discharged from a paddy field in the drainage ditch, which can improve the purification efficiency of the drainage ditch [...] Read more.
(1) Setting a matrix dam in the paddy field drainage ditch has been recognized as an effective method to lower the velocity of water discharged from a paddy field in the drainage ditch, which can improve the purification efficiency of the drainage ditch for nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants, but the specific placement and thickness of the matrix dam have not been supported due to the insufficient research results. (2) Three thicknesses of the matrix dam were set in three locations of the physical model of the drainage ditch. By measuring the flow rate and water level in different sections, the optimal layout location and thickness of the matrix dam were determined. (3) When the matrix dam was located in section 1-1, the flow rate from sections A-A to C1-C1 was reduced by 0.159 m/s; when the matrix dam was located in section 2-2, the flow rate was reduced by 0.331 m/s; when the matrix dam was located in section 3-3, the flow rate was reduced by 0.360 m/s. (4) We concluded that the optimal design position of the matrix dam was section 3-3, 9.2 m from the entrance of the water flume, and the optimal design thickness was 0.3 m. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Irrigation, Water Conservation and Sustainable Agricultural Harvesting)
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22 pages, 9386 KiB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors Analysis of Reference Evapotranspiration in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region from 1990 to 2019 under Climate Change
by Zihan Liu, Dong Jing, Yu Han, Jingxin Yu, Tiangang Lu and Lili Zhangzhong
Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 6277; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106277 - 21 May 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2155
Abstract
Reference evapotranspiration (ET0) is an important part of the water and energy cycles during crop growth. Understanding the influencing factors and spatiotemporal variations of ET0 is of positive significance for guiding regional water-saving irrigation and regulating agricultural production. Data for [...] Read more.
Reference evapotranspiration (ET0) is an important part of the water and energy cycles during crop growth. Understanding the influencing factors and spatiotemporal variations of ET0 is of positive significance for guiding regional water-saving irrigation and regulating agricultural production. Data for daily meteorological observations of temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and sunshine hours from 40 surface meteorological stations and the methods of climate tendency rate, Morlet wavelet, M-K mutation, path analysis, sensitivity analysis, and contribution rate analysis were utilized, to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and influencing factors in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region from 1990 to 2019. The ET0 from 1990 to 2019 was 958.9 mm, and there was a significant downward trend in the climate tendency rate of −3.07 mm/10 a. The ET0 presents a spatial distribution pattern decreasing from southwest to northeast. A change in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region’s interannual ET0 occurred in 2016, with a decrease of 41.12 mm since then. The ET0 was positively correlated with temperature, wind speed, and sunshine hours, and negatively correlated with relative humidity; among those, wind speed and temperature are the dominant factors affecting the change of ET0. This study provides a scientific basis for the regulation and control of agricultural production in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Irrigation, Water Conservation and Sustainable Agricultural Harvesting)
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10 pages, 2726 KiB  
Article
Effect of Plant Buffer Zone–Antifouling Curtain Wall on Reducing Non-Point Source Pollution in Paddy Fields, China
by Binbin Jin, Xinna Liu, Junyi Tan, Xiaohou Shao and Jing Cheng
Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 6044; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106044 - 16 May 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2216
Abstract
In view of the nitrogen and phosphorus non-point source pollution caused by paddy field drainage in southern China, two paddy fields in Nanjing and Yuyao cities were selected to study the effect of plant buffer zone–antifouling curtain walls on reducing non-point source pollution. [...] Read more.
In view of the nitrogen and phosphorus non-point source pollution caused by paddy field drainage in southern China, two paddy fields in Nanjing and Yuyao cities were selected to study the effect of plant buffer zone–antifouling curtain walls on reducing non-point source pollution. The results showed that the designed plant buffer zone–antifouling curtain wall systems could significantly reduce the concentration of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in drainage of the two paddy fields. Compared with paddy field drainage in Nanjing, the interception rate of TN in the plant buffer zone and antifouling curtain wall were 33.0% and 59.3%, respectively; the removal rates of TP were about 18.4% and 40.3%, respectively. In addition, the contents of ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) were also significantly reduced. For the Yuyao experimental area, compared to the paddy field without the soil plant buffer zone (the control), the concentration of each indicator in the discharge water of the paddy fields with the soil plant buffer system operation mode was significantly reduced, the rejection rate of the TP, TN, total dissolved phosphorus (TDP), NO3-N and NH3-N were 64.28%, 70.66%, 83.73%, 65.22% and 80.69%, respectively. In summary, the construction of a plant buffer zone–antifouling curtain wall (soil plant buffer zone) has an obvious effect on the reduction of non-point source pollution in paddy fields, which could improve yield and fertilizer utilization. The plant buffer zone–antifouling curtain wall could be popularized and applied in local areas and southern China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Irrigation, Water Conservation and Sustainable Agricultural Harvesting)
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