Articles
A CONSUMPTIVE WATER FOOTPRINT ANALYSIS FOR APPLE FRUIT PRODUCTION
Article number
951_24
Pages
197 – 204
Language
English
Abstract
Eco-verified footprints are increasingly being used as criteria to secure shelf-access for products in large supermarket chains.
The water footprint (WFP) of a product is the volume of water used along the supply chain to make that product.
Green-water represents the store of soil water from rainfall that is transpired by the crop.
Blue-water represents the store of ground and surface water that may be used for irrigation.
Grey-water represents the amount of freshwater needed to assimilate a load of pollutants given natural background concentrations and existing water quality standards.
We set up a field experiment in a commercial apple orchard to monitor the soil water balance and to measure nitrate leaching losses.
Sap-flow data from apple trees and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) data from root-zone soil are used to quantify changes in the green-water store.
Irrigation volumes are used to represent changes in the blue-water store.
Passive-wick flux meters installed below the root-zone are used to monitor drainage and leaching losses of nitrate in order to quantify changes in the grey-water component.
We demonstrate how this field data, along with mechanistic computer modelling, can be used quantify the water footprint of an apple orchard in the Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
Model-measurement comparisons are very important to provide growers, industry and regulators with confidence in the quality of the data and appropriateness of the models used to determine footprints.
The water footprint (WFP) of a product is the volume of water used along the supply chain to make that product.
Green-water represents the store of soil water from rainfall that is transpired by the crop.
Blue-water represents the store of ground and surface water that may be used for irrigation.
Grey-water represents the amount of freshwater needed to assimilate a load of pollutants given natural background concentrations and existing water quality standards.
We set up a field experiment in a commercial apple orchard to monitor the soil water balance and to measure nitrate leaching losses.
Sap-flow data from apple trees and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) data from root-zone soil are used to quantify changes in the green-water store.
Irrigation volumes are used to represent changes in the blue-water store.
Passive-wick flux meters installed below the root-zone are used to monitor drainage and leaching losses of nitrate in order to quantify changes in the grey-water component.
We demonstrate how this field data, along with mechanistic computer modelling, can be used quantify the water footprint of an apple orchard in the Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
Model-measurement comparisons are very important to provide growers, industry and regulators with confidence in the quality of the data and appropriateness of the models used to determine footprints.
Publication
Authors
S.R. Green, M. Deurer , B.E. Clothier
Keywords
water scarcity, water quality, sap flow, drainage fluxmeters, modelling
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