INNOVATIVE INDEX FOR OPTIMIZING USING SALINE WATER IN IRRIGATION

Climate changes and ecological sustainability in agriculture and food production in Serbia, the region and Southeastern Europe : proceedings, (pp. 47-48)

AUTHOR(S) / АУТОР(И): Isam M. Abdulhameed1, Nese Yaman2

1Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Center, University of Anbar. Iraq; 2Dicle University, Faculty of Agriculture, Dept. of Farm Structures and Irrigation, Diyarbakir, Türkiye

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DOI: 10.46793/MAK2025.047A

ABSTRACT / САЖЕТАК:

According to the climate change in arid and semi-arid regions, saline water will be used in irrigation to mitigate the water gap between available water resources and the water demand. Using saline water to expand the irrigated area was followed by decreasing the crop yield due to osmotic potential, so an optimal indicator must be prepared to optimize the use of saline water.

As climate changes effects water quantity and quality, the aim of this study is to mitigate the climate effects on water by improving the mathematical models and computer programs that are constructed to optimize the use of saline water in irrigation.

This paper proposes an innovative indicator depending on the use of two water resources, river high quality water (1dS/m), and saline drainage water (6dS/m). The relation between Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) and Electrical Conductivity (EC), in saline drainage water is derived from field data of 400 samples taken during 2 years from the Main Outfall Drain (MOD) in Iraq.

This paper proposes an innovative indicator depending on the use of two water resources, river high quality water (1dS/m), and saline drainage water (6dS/m). The relation between Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) and Electrical Conductivity (EC), in saline drainage water is derived from field data of 400 samples taken during 2 years from the Main Outfall Drain (MOD) in Iraq. The study concluded that there is a nonlinear relation between TDS and EC for saline water.

The Crop Productivity Index (CPI) is proposed in this study and defined as a ratio of the volume of fresh water saved according to the use of saline water to the yield losses due to salinity effects. As this ratio is a benefit-cost ratio, its value must be greater than 1, in this study, the CPI critical value is 1.1.

CPI depends on the water salinity and the crop tolerance to salinity, the maximum CPI value for 40 plants selected in this study is 6.43 for barely, (the highest field crop tolerance), while the lowest CPI is 0.4 for bean, (sensitive crop tolerance). The CPI values of many sensitive crops are less than the critical value, that means the irrigation of these crops by saline water is uneconomical financially insufficient.

CPI recommends that the relative yield of any crop irrigated by saline water must be more than 60% to optimize the saline water use

KEYWORDS / КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ:

Saline water, Crop production, Optimal irrigation, Water gap, Climate change

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