Effect of timing of first and last irrigation on the yield and water use efficiency in cotton

With increasing concern about declining water resources, there is increasing thrust in improving water management in farming systems to improve water use efficiency. The present investigation was undertaken to determine the optimum timing for the first and last irrigation of cotton on the basis of meteorological approach for scheduling irrigations. The experiment was conducted in a split plot design with three timings of first irrigation as main-plots and three timing of last irrigation as sub-plots. Delay of first irrigation from 28 days after sowing (DAS) to 42 DAS, irrespective of last irrigation, resulted in an increase of 8, 14 and 17% in seed cotton yield during first, second and third year, respectively. The corresponding increases due to delay in the last irrigation from 130 to 170 DAS were 14, 32 and 8%, respectively. On the basis of 3 years average, application of first and last irrigation at optimum time (after 42 and 170 days after sowing) resulted in an increase of 36% in seed cotton yield without involving any additional cost. Water expense efficiency (WEE) increased by 54%.     

Managing secondary dryland salinity: Options and challenges

Salt occurs naturally at high levels in the subsoils of most Australian agricultural land. As a result of clearing native vegetation, groundwater tables have risen, mobilising the stored salt and causing adverse impacts on farmland, infrastructure, water resources, and biodiversity. The main action required to prevent groundwater tables from rising is establishment of perennial plants, either herbaceous (pastures or crops) or woody (trees and shrubs). Recent technical and economic research has emphasised how difficult it will be to establish sufficient perennials to get control of groundwater tables. Where watertables are already shallow, the options for farmers are salt-tolerant plants (e.g. saltbush for grazing) or engineering (e.g. deep open drains). The existing options for farm-level salinity management are reviewed, with mixed but somewhat disappointing findings regarding their suitability for addressing salinity. However, there are also a number of good prospects for development of new and better options for plant-based management of salinity, and these are described.     

Evaluation of the RZWQM-CERES-Maize hybrid model for maize production

The root zone water quality model (RZWQM) was developed primarily for water quality research with a generic plant growth module primarily serving as a sink for plant nitrogen and water uptake. In this study, we coupled the CERES-Maize Version 3.5 crop growth model with RZWQM to provide RZWQM users with the option for selecting a more comprehensive plant growth model. In the hybrid model, RZWQM supplied CERES with daily soil water and nitrogen contents, soil temperature, and potential evapotranspiration, in addition to daily weather data. CERES-Maize supplied RZWQM with daily water and nitrogen uptake, and other plant growth variables (e.g., root distribution and leaf area index). The RZWQM-CERES hybrid model was evaluated with two well-documented experimental datasets distributed with DSSAT (Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer) Version 3.5, which had various nitrogen and irrigation treatments. Simulation results were compared to the original DSSAT-CERES-Maize model. Both models used the same plant cultivar coefficients and the same soil parameters as distributed with DSSAT Version 3.5. The hybrid model provided similar maize prediction in terms of yield, biomass and leaf area index, as the DSSAT-CERES model when the same soil and crop parameters were used. No overall differences were found between the two models based on the paired t test, suggesting successful coupling of the two models. The hybrid model offers RZWQM users access to a rigorous new plant growth model and provides CERES-Maize users with a tool to address soil and water quality issues under different cropping systems.     

支持向量机在水质评价中的应用

介绍了支持向量机算法的原理，建立了基于支持向量机的水质评价多层次分类检测模型，通过提取水质评价标准中的物质成分为特征参数，利用几个SVM分类器的串联组合，实现对水质的分类和识别，同时，引入类权重因子，解决训练样本类别数量不平衡而导致的错分问题，实验结果显示该方法提高了水质评价的准确性和效率。     

Effect of water deficit in different growth stages on stem sap flux of greenhouse grown pear-jujube tree

The effects of water deficit in different fruit growth stages on the variation of stem sap flux of 6-year old greenhouse-grown pear-jujube trees were investigated. Treatments included sufficient water supply during the whole fruit-growing period (T₁), mild water deficit during the flowering–fruit setting stage (T₂), moderate water deficit during the fruit rapid growth stage (T₃) and severe water deficit during the fruit maturing stage (T₄). Results showed that significant compensation effect on stem sap flux after re-watering was observed in T₂, but not in T₃ and T₄ stages. At the end of rapid growth stage, the diurnal variation of stomatal conductance generally had a similar trend as that of stem sap flux, but with a distinct midday depression from 12:00 to 14:00 p.m. In addition, a linear relationship between the relative available soil water content (RAWC) and the ratio of daily stem sap flux to that of sufficient water treatment was observed (R² = 0.4489).     

水泵与水轮机空化状态监测与诊断的研究进展

影响水泵与水轮机使用寿命与性能的主要问题是空化空蚀现象，在现场监测与分析水泵与水轮机的空化状态是空化空蚀研究的重要领域，根据国外对空化监测与分析的最新研究成果和背景噪声的处理手段。介绍了空化监测与分析的新方法，肉加速度计与声压计测得的空化信号时域图，功率谱图和归一化谱图中，反映了出空化发生的特征，信号处理方法的意义。     

水肥一体化智能调控设备智能液位开关设计

在对设施蔬菜生产中使用的水肥一体化设备进行智能灌溉控制设计中,监测混肥罐和回液桶中液位高低是非常必要的。现有液位检测普遍采用机械开关式液位浮子,工程实践中发现当进出水口与浮子过近,或者水纹波动显著时,浮子上下剧烈抖动会导致水泵随浮子的抖动而经常启停,对于启动电流较大的泵容易造成损伤。本文在软硬件设计中采用了计数器数字滤波电路以及单片机定时器中断,设计了一种替代简单液位浮子的实用智能液位开关。为了检验该设计的性能,在同等条件下,进行了不同液面、不同压力和水流量的对比试验。试验结果表明,计数脉冲发生电路中充电电阻和放电电阻为4.7 kΩ时,滤波后的输出信号比现场实际的数控信号时间迟延了2.11 s,经数字电路滤波后的输出信号已经完全消除了宽度小于2 s的所有干扰信号,并且具有很高的稳定性。迟延时间与计数电路、计数脉冲发生电路有关,通过电路设计调整滤波脉宽可使输出信号有效地滤除干扰成分。同时,利用该方法也可以根据不同工况,如不同功率的水泵设定不同参数滤除干扰信号,提高智能液位开关适用性。     

Can we maintain turf to customers’ satisfaction with less water?

Science-based, holistic, site-specific water conservation practices can reduce water use on turfgrass sites without adversely affecting turfgrass performance. However, when water use is decreased below a certain threshold, performance declines. Water conservation measures that reduce turfgrass performance essentially decrease its economic, environmental, recreational, and aesthetic values, which can in turn adversely impact many ‘stakeholders’, including the local economy and those affected by increased wind erosion, water erosion, or fire hazard. On larger turfgrass sites, considerable costs are associated with some water conservation strategies, especially when the quality of an alternative irrigation water source is poor or redesign of the landscape and/or irrigation system is involved.     

An integrated modelling toolbox for water resources assessment and management in highland catchments: Model description

Water and land resource competition and environmental degradation pose difficult questions for resource managers. In particular, the ensuing trade-offs between economic, environmental, and social factors and their spatiotemporal variability must be considered when implementing management policies. This paper describes an integrated modelling toolbox that has been developed for highland catchments – specifically the Mae Chaem catchment in Northern Thailand. This toolbox contains models of crop growth, erosion and rainfall-runoff, as well as household decision and socioeconomic impact models. The approach described advances and complements previous approaches by: considering more complex interactions between land-use decisions and the hydrological cycle; modelling household decisions based on uncertain expectations; and assessing impacts of changes not only on flows and household income, but also on subsistence production and erosion. An example of the types of trade-offs and scenarios that can be assessed using the integrated modelling toolbox is also presented. This demonstrates that for the scenarios presented, the magnitude and direction of impacts simulated by the model is not dependent on climate. Further testing of the model is demonstrated in a companion paper. Overall, the plausibility of the model is shown.     

A tool for community-based assessment of the implications of development on water security in hillside watersheds

Development and population growth in Latin American countries with steep slope farming are likely to further increase pressures on water and land resources. A methodology was developed for assessing water availability and use under different development pathways at a watershed scale to determine whether water security is a potential problem, and if so, under what conditions it is likely to occur. This methodology makes use of a GIS-based spatial water budget model for simulating stream water availability, water use and stream flow control on a daily basis at a watershed scale. Here, we analysed water availability under three plausible development scenarios for the 3246 ha Cabuyal River watershed in southwest Colombia in the year 2025: Corporate Farming (CF), Ecological Watershed (EW), and Business as Usual (BU). Simulated average river flows at the watershed outlet were, respectively, 874, 796 and 925 l s⁻¹ for the CF, EW and BU scenarios. The contribution of base flow to river flow (base flow index) was on average, 80.8, 85.6 and 77.9%, respectively, for the three scenarios. The watershed had the potential to meet the anticipated increase in water use under each explorative scenario. However, dams were necessary to store irrigation water in the CF scenario, otherwise over 60% of the available water would have been used during the dry season. Such a high figure raises concerns about effects on aquatic and riparian ecology, concentrations of potential contaminants, water reserves for especially low rainfall years, and the watershed resilience to meet temporarily higher water needs during the day. Analyses indicated that current water-use conflicts in the watershed can be resolved if irrigation water supply is separated from drinking water supply. This study helped reduce some of the complexity associated with the interdependencies between land and water resources, the impact of using them, and spatial linkages within the watershed. Results of this study can be used for teaching local stakeholders about basic landscape responses and helping multi-institutional alliances to become proactive and to guide development to the benefit of local communities.