Articles
A critical review of water productivity of irrigated fruit orchards
Article number
1468_20
Pages
151 – 158
Language
English
Abstract
Rapidly increasing pressure on scarce water resources, exacerbated by climate change, is a major risk to fruit industries that depend on irrigation.
It makes intuitive sense to pursue sustainable water management by increasing crop production (kg) or market value of the crop in relation to water used (m3) in production (water productivity, WP). WP has become an important metric in orchard water use research globally.
An assumption is that increasing WP will save water at farm level and provide economic resilience in times of water shortage.
However, driving efficiency in water use does not necessarily lead to savings or greater resilience.
We reviewed the body of research and scoped the opportunity for improved benchmarking to drive increased WP and water savings over time.
The review was conducted on 10 South African and 29 global studies on temperate deciduous fruit species.
These articles were complemented by review and conceptual articles in the scientific literature for a critical assessment of the value and challenges of using this metric.
Mixed quantitative and qualitative methods were applied.
Physical WP ranged from <1 kg m‑3 (nut species) to 22 kg m‑3 (apple) with intermediate values for other species.
Economic WP ranged widely up to ca. 6 USD m‑3. Next, the research will assess how WP optimisation practices can be included in farm-level business and sustainability strategies, and the data/calculations needed for on-farm implementation aimed at water savings.
It makes intuitive sense to pursue sustainable water management by increasing crop production (kg) or market value of the crop in relation to water used (m3) in production (water productivity, WP). WP has become an important metric in orchard water use research globally.
An assumption is that increasing WP will save water at farm level and provide economic resilience in times of water shortage.
However, driving efficiency in water use does not necessarily lead to savings or greater resilience.
We reviewed the body of research and scoped the opportunity for improved benchmarking to drive increased WP and water savings over time.
The review was conducted on 10 South African and 29 global studies on temperate deciduous fruit species.
These articles were complemented by review and conceptual articles in the scientific literature for a critical assessment of the value and challenges of using this metric.
Mixed quantitative and qualitative methods were applied.
Physical WP ranged from <1 kg m‑3 (nut species) to 22 kg m‑3 (apple) with intermediate values for other species.
Economic WP ranged widely up to ca. 6 USD m‑3. Next, the research will assess how WP optimisation practices can be included in farm-level business and sustainability strategies, and the data/calculations needed for on-farm implementation aimed at water savings.
Authors
S.J.E. Midgley, N.J. Taylor, S. Dzikiti, B. Maphosa, G.F. Midgley
Keywords
economic water productivity, physical water productivity, water management, water requirement, water saving
Groups involved
Online Articles (70)