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Author Jägermeyr, J.; Gerten, D.; Heinke, J.; Schaphoff, S.; Kummu, M.; Lucht, W.
Title Water savings potentials of irrigation systems: global simulation of processes and linkages Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Abbreviated Journal Hydrol. Earth System Sci.
Volume 19 Issue 7 Pages 3073-3091
Keywords surface-water; vegetation model; climate-change; food demand; fresh-water; efficiency; productivity; groundwater; impacts; requirements
Abstract Global agricultural production is heavily sustained by irrigation, but irrigation system efficiencies are often surprisingly low. However, our knowledge of irrigation efficiencies is mostly confined to rough indicative estimates for countries or regions that do not account for spatiotemporal heterogeneity due to climate and other biophysical dependencies. To allow for refined estimates of global agricultural water use, and of water saving and water productivity potentials constrained by biophysical processes and also nontrivial downstream effects, we incorporated a process-based representation of the three major irrigation systems (surface, sprinkler, and drip) into a bio- and agrosphere model, LPJmL. Based on this enhanced model we provide a gridded world map of irrigation efficiencies that are calculated in direct linkage to differences in system types, crop types, climatic and hydrologic conditions, and overall crop management. We find pronounced regional patterns in beneficial irrigation efficiency (a refined irrigation efficiency indicator accounting for crop-productive water consumption only), due to differences in these features, with the lowest values (< 30 %) in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and the highest values (> 60 %) in Europe and North America. We arrive at an estimate of global irrigation water withdrawal of 2469 km(3) (2004-2009 average); irrigation water consumption is calculated to be 1257 km(3), of which 608 km(3) are non-beneficially consumed, i.e., lost through evaporation, interception, and conveyance. Replacing surface systems by sprinkler or drip systems could, on average across the world’s river basins, reduce the non-beneficial consumption at river basin level by 54 and 76 %, respectively, while maintaining the current level of crop yields. Accordingly, crop water productivity would increase by 9 and 15 %, respectively, and by much more in specific regions such as in the Indus basin. This study significantly advances the global quantification of irrigation systems while providing a framework for assessing potential future transitions in these systems. In this paper, presented opportunities associated with irrigation improvements are significant and suggest that they should be considered an important means on the way to sustainable food security.
Address 2016-06-01
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1607-7938 ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) CropM, ft_macsur Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4739
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Author Balkovič, J.; van der Velde, M.; Schmid, E.; Skalský, R.; Khabarov, N.; Obersteiner, M.; Stürmer, B.; Xiong, W.
Title Pan-European crop modelling with EPIC: Implementation, up-scaling and regional crop yield validation Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication Agricultural Systems Abbreviated Journal Agricultural Systems
Volume 120 Issue Pages 61-75
Keywords EPIC; large-scale crop modelling; model performance testing; EU; climate-change; high-resolution; organic-carbon; growth-model; wheat yield; water; calibration; impacts; productivity; simulations
Abstract Justifiable usage of large-scale crop model simulations requires transparent, comprehensive and spatially extensive evaluations of their performance and associated accuracy. Simulated crop yields of a Pan-European implementation of the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) crop model were satisfactorily evaluated with reported regional yield data from EUROSTAT for four major crops, including winter wheat, rainfed and irrigated maize, spring barley and winter rye. European-wide land use, elevation, soil and daily meteorological gridded data were integrated in GIS and coupled with EPIC. Default EPIC crop and biophysical process parameter values were used with some minor adjustments according to suggestions from scientific literature. The model performance was improved by spatial calculations of crop sowing densities, potential heat units, operation schedules, and nutrient application rates. EPIC performed reasonable in the simulation of regional crop yields, with long-term averages predicted better than inter-annual variability: linear regression R-2 ranged from 0.58 (maize) to 0.91 (spring barley) and relative estimation errors were between +/- 30% for most of the European regions. The modelled and reported crop yields demonstrated similar responses to driving meteorological variables. However, EPIC performed better in dry compared to wet years. A yield sensitivity analysis of crop nutrient and irrigation management factors and cultivar specific characteristics for contrasting regions in Europe revealed a range in model response and attainable yields. We also show that modelled crop yield is strongly dependent on the chosen PET method. The simulated crop yield variability was lower compared to reported crop yields. This assessment should contribute to the availability of harmonised and transparently evaluated agricultural modelling tools in the EU as well as the establishment of modelling benchmarks as a requirement for sound and ongoing policy evaluations in the agricultural and environmental domains. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Address 2016-06-01
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0308-521x ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) CropM, ft_macsur Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4737
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Author Siczek, A.; Horn, R.; Lipiec, J.; Usowicz, B.; Łukowski, M.
Title Effects of soil deformation and surface mulching on soil physical properties and soybean response related to weather conditions Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication Soil and Tillage Research Abbreviated Journal Soil and Tillage Research
Volume 153 Issue Pages 175-184
Keywords straw mulch; soil temperature; soil matric potential; soil penetration resistance; soybean biomass; seed and protein yield; water productivity; bulk-density; management-practices; crop production; n-2 fixation; compaction; growth; nitrogen; yield; straw; temperature
Abstract A field experiment was conducted on Haplic Luvisol developed from loess to assess the effects of soil deformation and straw mulch on soil water status (matric potential), temperature, penetration resistance, soybean growth, seed yield and yield components including straw, protein and oil in 2006-2008. Water use efficiencies related to the amount of rainfall during the growing seasons were calculated for seeds and total above ground biomass. The soil deformation levels (main plots) comprised the following trials: non-compacted (NC, 0 tractor pass), moderately compacted (MC, 3 passes), and strongly compacted (SC, 5 passes). A uniform seedbed in all plots was prepared by harrowing before planting. The main plots included sub-plots without and with surface wheat straw mulch (0.5 kg m(-2)) and the corresponding trials were NC + M, MC + M, SC + M. The amount and distribution of rainfall during the growing season differed among the experimental years with extended drought at bloom-full seed (R2-R6) stages in 2006, good water supply in 2007, and alternative periods with relatively high and low rainfalls in 2008. The effect of soil deformation on matric potential was influenced by weather conditions, soybean growth phase, mulching and depth. The differences were greatest in 2007 and 2008 at R7-R8 growth stages. With increasing deformation level from NC to SC matric potential for 0-15 cm depth during these stages significantly decreased from -401 to -1184 kPa in 2007 and from -1154 to -1432 kPa in 2008. On mulched soil, the corresponding ranges were from -541 to -841 klpa and from -748 to -1386 kPa, respectively. In the dry summer 2006, the differences were smaller and less consistent. Irrespective of soil deformation level, mulching reduced soil temperature in most growth phases but most pronounced initially. Most yield components increased from NC to MC during the experiments which could be attributed to enhanced root water and nutrient uptake rates and decreased from MC to SC due to high soil strength that restrained root growth down to deeper depth. The yields of seeds, straw, protein and oil as well as water productivity of soybean seed and biomass were improved by mulching in 2007-2008. This improvement was more pronounced in 2007 when the mean yield of seeds, protein and oil were significantly greater by 16, 29 and 11%, respectively and was attributed to positive alterations in soil water retention. These results indicate the possibilities of improvement in soybean performance by identifying allowable amount of traffic and mulching practices at planting depending on weather fluctuations during the growing season. Since rainfall and air temperature distribution in 2007 are close to those averaged over a long period of time, the use of straw mulch may positively affect soybean performance and yields excluding anomalously dry years. The positive effect of straw mulch can be enhanced by moderate soil deformation combined with seedbed loosening before planting to avoid constraining effect of soil structure on crop establishment. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0167-1987 ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) CropM, ft_macsur Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4732
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Author van Bussel, L.G.J.; Stehfest, E.; Siebert, S.; Müller, C.; Ewert, F.
Title Simulation of the phenological development of wheat and maize at the global scale Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication Global Ecology and Biogeography Abbreviated Journal Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr.
Volume 24 Issue 9 Pages 1018-1029
Keywords Agricultural management; crop calendars; cultivar; variety characteristics; global crop modelling; global harvest dates; phenology; climate-change; winter-wheat; annual crops; photoperiod sensitivity; geographical variation; temperature; responses; adaptation; cultivars; model
Abstract AimTo derive location-specific parameters that reflect the geographic differences among cultivars in vernalization requirements, sensitivity to day length (photoperiod) and temperature, which can be used to simulate the phenological development of wheat and maize at the global scale. LocationGlobal. Methods Based on crop calendar observations and literature describing the large-scale patterns of phenological characteristics of cultivars, we developed algorithms to compute location-specific parameters to represent this large-scale pattern. Vernalization requirements were related to the duration and coldness of winter, sensitivity to day length was assumed to be represented by the minimum and maximum day lengths occurring at a location, and sensitivity to temperature was related to temperature conditions during the vegetative development phase of the crop. Results Application of the derived location-specific parameters resulted in high agreement between simulated and observed lengths of the cropping period. Agreement was especially high for wheat, with mean absolute errors of less than 3 weeks. In the main maize cropping regions, cropping periods were over- and underestimated by 0.5-1.5 months. We also found that interannual variability in simulated wheat harvest dates was more realistic when accounting for photoperiod effects. Main conclusions The methodology presented here provides a good basis for modelling the phenological characteristics of cultivars at the global scale. We show that current global patterns of growing season length as described in cropping calendars can be largely reproduced by phenology models if location-specific parameters are derived from temperature and day length indicators. Growing seasons can be modelled more accurately for wheat than for maize, especially in warm regions. Our method for computing parameters for phenology models from temperature and day length offers opportunities to improve the simulation of crop productivity by crop simulation models developed for large spatial areas and for long-term climate impact projections that account for adaptation in the selection of varieties
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1466-822x ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) CropM, ft_macsur Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4729
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Author Molina-Herrera, S.; Haas, E.; Klatt, S.; Kraus, D.; Augustin, J.; Magliulo, V.; Tallec, T.; Ceschia, E.; Ammann, C.; Loubet, B.; Skiba, U.; Jones, S.; Brümmer, C.; Butterbach-Bahl, K.; Kiese, R.
Title A modeling study on mitigation of N2O emissions and NO3 leaching at different agricultural sites across Europe using LandscapeDNDC Type Journal Article
Year 2016 Publication Science of the Total Environment Abbreviated Journal Science of the Total Environment
Volume 553 Issue Pages 128-140
Keywords Agricultural management; LandscapeDNDC; Mitigation; N₂O emission; NO₃ leaching; Optimization
Abstract The identification of site-specific agricultural management practices in order to maximize yield while minimizing environmental nitrogen losses remains in the center of environmental pollution research. Here, we used the biogeochemical model LandscapeDNDC to explore different agricultural practices with regard to their potential to reduce soil N2O emissions and NO3 leaching while maintaining yields. In a first step, the model was tested against observations of N2O emissions, NO3 leaching, soil micrometeorology as well as crop growth for eight European cropland and grassland sites. Across sites, LandscapeDNDC predicts very well mean N2O emissions (r(2)=0.99) and simulates the magnitude and general temporal dynamics of soil inorganic nitrogen pools. For the assessment of site-specific mitigation potentials of environmental nitrogen losses a Monte Carlo optimization technique considering different agricultural management options (i.e., timing of planting, harvest and fertilization, amount of applied fertilizer as well as residue management) was used. The identified optimized field management practices reduce N2O emissions and NO3 leaching from croplands on average by 21% and 31%, respectively. Likewise, average reductions of 55% for N2O emissions and 16% for NO3 leaching are estimated for grasslands. For mitigating environmental loss – while maintaining yield levels – it was most important to reduce fertilizer application rates by in average 10%. Our analyses indicate that yield scaled N2O emissions and NO3 leaching indicate possible improvements of nitrogen use efficiencies in European farming systems. Moreover, the applied optimization approach can be used also in a prognostic way to predict optimal timings and fertilization options (rates and splitting) upon accurate weather forecasts combined with the knowledge of modeled soil nutrient availability and plant nitrogen demand.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0048-9697 ISBN Medium Article
Area Expedition Conference
Notes (down) CropM, ft_macsur Approved no
Call Number MA @ admin @ Serial 4727
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