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Development and Application of Subsurface Irrigation Techniques
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Development and Application of Subsurface Irrigation Techniques

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2021) | Viewed by 12613

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hirotaka Saito

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Global Innovation Research, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Ecoregion Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu 183-8538, Japan
Interests: flow and transport in soils; numerical analysis; irrigation management; hydrogeophysics; uncertainty modeling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of subsurface irrigation has become increasingly important in supporting agricultural production, as it can significantly improve water-use efficiency. Among available subsurface irrigation techniques, subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), or trickle irrigation, which consists of small drippers, has been attaractive, especially in arid or semi-arid regions to minimize water loss. On the other hand, many conventional subsurface drip irrigation systems are viewed as a technology suitable for large-scale commercial farms that engage in high-value agriculture but not appropriate and affordable for small and marginal farm families in many developing countries. Despite their many advantages, such as maximizing crop water use efficiency, advanced subsurface drip irrigation systems may have some drawbacks, including higher system cost, emitter clogging and breakage problems due to the intrusion of roots or the suction of solid particles from soil matrix, and the difficulty of detecting and repairing potential malfunctions. Further research is therefore required to understand soil moisture and nutrient dynamics under subsurface drip irrigation, to achieve a more stable water supply, and to develop a low-cost system for the widespread and sustainable use of subsurface drip irrigation technology. This Special Issue calls for papers on topics related to subsurface drip irrigation. Topics are not limited to application and development of subsurface drip irrigation technology but can be on the sociological or economical aspect—for example, investigating the effect of installing such technology to marginal or small-scale farmers.

Prof. Dr. Hirotaka Saito
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • subsurface drip irrigation
  • water use efficiency
  • soil water flow and nutrient transport
  • low-cost irrigation
  • numerical simulation
  • sustainable agriculture
  • arid and semi-arid region

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2057 KiB  
Article
Exploring Mediating Factors between Agricultural Training and Farmers’ Adoption of Drip Fertigation System: Evidence from Banana Farmers in China
by Qian Yang, Yueji Zhu and Fang Wang
Water 2021, 13(10), 1364; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101364 - 14 May 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3491
Abstract
(1) Background: Rare empirical evidence has been explored concerning the ways in which training affects farmers’ adoption of resource conservation technology in agricultural production. This study attempts to analyze the role of three factors, including farmers’ absorptive capacity, social interaction and active learning, [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Rare empirical evidence has been explored concerning the ways in which training affects farmers’ adoption of resource conservation technology in agricultural production. This study attempts to analyze the role of three factors, including farmers’ absorptive capacity, social interaction and active learning, in bridging agricultural training and farmers’ adoption of the drip fertigation system (DFS), based on the primary data of 632 banana farmers collected in China. (2) Methods: A mediation model is used to estimate the role of farmers’ absorptive capacity, social interaction and active learning in the relationship between agricultural training and farmers’ adoption of the DFS. A treatment effect model (TEM) is employed to address the potential endogeneity problem. (3) Results: The results show that agricultural training has significantly increased farmers’ adoption of the DFS in banana cultivation. The mediating effect of the three factors appears statistically significant. Specifically, farmers’ active learning contributes to the effect of agricultural training on encouraging their adoption of the DFS by around 60 percent; farmers’ absorptive capacity and social interaction contribute about 30 and 10 percent, respectively. This study also find that agricultural training can increase farmers’ adoption rate of the DFS by 18.75 percent after the endogeneity problem has been addressed using the treatment effect model (TEM). (4) Conclusions: The findings suggest that agricultural training can promote farmers’ adoption of the DFS through improving their absorptive capacity, social interaction and active learning. Understating these mediating factors will enable extension agency to design effective agricultural training programs and better promote resource-conservation technologies in developing countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Subsurface Irrigation Techniques)
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16 pages, 2354 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Subsurface Drip Irrigation Designs in a Soil Profile with a Capillary Barrier
by Koichi Noguchi, Hirotaka Saito, Reskiana Saefuddin and Jiří Šimůnek
Water 2021, 13(9), 1300; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091300 - 6 May 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4622
Abstract
Enhanced water use efficiency (WUE) is the key to sustainable agriculture in arid regions. The installation of capillary barriers (CB) has been suggested as one of the potential solutions. CB effects are observed between two soil layers with distinctly different soil hydraulic properties. [...] Read more.
Enhanced water use efficiency (WUE) is the key to sustainable agriculture in arid regions. The installation of capillary barriers (CB) has been suggested as one of the potential solutions. CB effects are observed between two soil layers with distinctly different soil hydraulic properties. A CB helps retain water in the upper, relatively fine-textured soil layer, suppressing water losses by deep drainage. However, retaining water in a shallow surface layer also intensifies water loss by evaporation. The use of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) with a CB may prevent such water loss. This study evaluated the performance of SDI in a soil profile with a CB using a pot experiment and numerical analysis with the HYDRUS (2D/3D) software package. The ring-shaped emitter was selected for the SDI system for its low capital expenditures (CapEx) and maintenance. Strawberry was selected as a model plant. The results indicated that the proposed SDI system with a CB was effective in terms of WUE. The numerical analysis revealed that the CB’s depth influences the system’s water balance more than the ring-shaped emitter’s installation depth. While the CB’s shallow installation led to more root water uptake by the strawberry and less water loss by deep drainage, it induced more water loss by evaporation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Subsurface Irrigation Techniques)
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14 pages, 1935 KiB  
Article
Effects of Supplement Irrigation and Nitrogen Application Levels on Soil Carbon–Nitrogen Content and Yield of One-Year Double Cropping Maize in Subtropical Region
by Gui-Yang Wang, Yu-Xin Hu, Yong-Xin Liu, Shakeel Ahmad and Xun-Bo Zhou
Water 2021, 13(9), 1180; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091180 - 24 Apr 2021
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 3536
Abstract
Inappropriate irrigation conditions and nitrogen application can negatively affect soil carbon–nitrogen content and yield of maize, as well as can lead to underground water pollution and soil degradation. A two year (2018, 2019) field experiment was carried out to determine the effect of [...] Read more.
Inappropriate irrigation conditions and nitrogen application can negatively affect soil carbon–nitrogen content and yield of maize, as well as can lead to underground water pollution and soil degradation. A two year (2018, 2019) field experiment was carried out to determine the effect of irrigation and N, alone and in combination on maize grain yield, grain nitrogen content, soil inorganic N and MBC of one-year double cropping maize (Zea mays L.) in a subtropical region. Split plot design was adopted, with main plots consisting of two water regimes: drip irrigation (drip irrigation to keep soil water content no less than 70% of maximum field capacity) and rainfed (no irrigation during growing period). Split-plot treatments consisted of five nitrogen application levels, including 0 (N0), 150 (N150), 200 (N200), 250 (N250), and 300 kg/ha (N300). The results of two-year field experiment showed that soil irrigation nitrogen interaction had a significant influence on the all measured parameters. In detail, soil NH4+-N and NO3−-N content, total nitrogen (TN), soil organic carbon (SOC) and grain nitrogen contents under the combined treatment of N250 and supplementary irrigation were higher relative to other treatments. Compared with rainfed, maize yield, thousand grains weight (TGW) and harvest index increased by 22.0%, 7.7%, and 15.2% under supplemental irrigation. Yield and TGW N300 were 287 kg/ha and 3.1 g higher than those of N250, and yield and TGW of N250 were 59.4% and 23.1% higher than those of N0, respectively. The yield of spring maize was 24.0% significantly higher than that of autumn maize. Therefore, we suggested that 250 kg/ha nitrogen application fertilizer combined with supplementary irrigation can improve soil fertility and annual maize yield in subtropical one-year double cropping region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Subsurface Irrigation Techniques)
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