Meta-analysis of crop water use efficiency by irrigation system in the Texas High Plains
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Meta‑analysis of crop water use efficiency by irrigation system in the Texas High Plains Donna Mitchell‑McCallister1 · Amanda Cano2 · Charles West2 Received: 17 September 2019 / Accepted: 21 August 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract A meta-analysis was performed on 351 studies from 17 articles published between 1990 and 2016 to determine how a water use efficiency (WUE) treatment is affected by irrigation systems and management practices on clay and clay loam soils in a semi-arid environment relative to a rainfed control. Several explanatory variables (moderators) were examined to determine their impact on WUE such as crop type, irrigation capacity, rainfall, soil type, planting time, and nitrogen application. Results were sub-grouped by irrigation system. Overall, the impact of irrigation system on WUE directly correlated with the efficiency of the irrigation system. Subsurface drip and center pivot irrigation systems had the largest impacts on WUE with increases of 147 and 99%, respectively, compared to a 14% increase under furrow irrigation. Corn (Zea mays L.) had a higher response to WUE in subsurface drip irrigation (260%) compared to center pivot irrigation (46%), whereas WUE in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) had a 71% change in center pivot systems compared to 63% under subsurface drip. The biggest increases in WUE relative to a rainfed control were for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), which had a 13% change under furrow irrigation, 160% change under center pivot and 341% under subsurface drip.
Introduction The Texas High Plains region constitutes over 93,000 km2 that covers 48 counties, spanning the Texas panhandle to just north of the Midland–Odessa area (TWDB, 2019). Agriculture contributes approximately $7 billion annually in economic activity to the Texas High Plains economy, producing 25% of United States cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production and annually markets more than 6 million cattle, or 28% of the United States fed cattle production (TCFA, 2019). Other major crops produced in this semi-arid environment include corn (Zea mays L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Since pre-development in the 1950s, intensive irrigation for crop production has depleted over half of the saturated thickness of the Ogallala Aquifer (McGuire 2017). Adoption of irrigation technology began with low-pressure systems such as * Donna Mitchell‑McCallister [email protected] 1
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Texas Tech University, Box 42132, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Box 42122, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
2
furrow and gravity flow, but more efficient technology such as center pivot systems using Low-Elevation Spray Application (LESA), Mid-Elevation Spray Application (MESA), and Low-Energy Precision Application (LEPA) nozzles and as well as Subsurface Drip Irrigation (
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