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Irrigation of field and orchard crops under semi-arid conditions
Agricultural Water Management, I (1977, published ] 978) 293--295 293 © Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands
Book Reviews IRRIGATION Irrigation o f Field and Orchard Crops under Semi-arid Conditions. J. Shalhevet, A. Mantell, H. Bielorai and D. Shimshi (Compilers and Editors). IIIC Publication No. 1. IIIC, Bet Dagan, Ottawa, Ont., 1976, viii + 110 pp., 43 tables, 28 figures, ISBN 92-9019-001-9. The International Irrigation Information Center (IIIC) is a nonprofit organization set up in 1975 by the International Development Research Center of Canada and the Ministry of Agriculture of Israel with offices at the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel. The objective of IIIC is " t o collect and analyze information on various aspects of irrigation appearing in technical and scientific literature t h r o u g h o u t the world. This information will be disseminated among those concerned with irrigated agriculture, particularly in semi-arid regions, by means of various periodicals and publications". This first publication is a detailed summary of field experiments carefully conducted over a period of 20 years, in ten ecological regions within the pre-1967 borders of Israel, " t o establish o p t i m u m irrigation regimes for various field and orchard crops, and to increase the efficiency of water use". The first six pages summarize the location, climate and soil properties of the experimental sites, and the methodology (e.g., plot size was 24 X 24 m with the centre 12 X 12 m used for sampling and yield analysis; water was usually applied by sprinkler; soils were wet to the measured field capacity, but to depths above the m a x i m u m rooting depth to minimize seepage losses). Then follow 56 pages devoted to eight field crops (wheat, sorghum, maize, cotton, sugar beet, peanuts, alfalfa, tomatoes), 28 pages to four orchard crops (citrus -- orange and grapefruit, avocado, apples, bananas), 16 pages to four other crops (lawngrass--kikuyugrass, greenhouse roses, poplar, sisal), and 4 pages of summary and conclusions. There are 118 references, arranged by crop, to the original experiments; however, two-thirds are to obscure publications (preliminary and progress reports, research bulletins, growers' pamphlets, etc.) in Hebrew, which m a y be inaccessible to the overseas reader. The compilers consider each crop by first describing the main features of its growth (especially of the r o o t system), noting particularly stages of development (germination, tillering, flowering, heading) that are sensitive to lack of water. They then discuss details of the irrigation experiments, and summarize four aspects of the experimental results. (1) Production functions, i.e., relations between relative yield (the ratio of the yield of a given treatment to the m a x i m u m yield obtained in that experiment) and net water application (the actual q u a n t i t y of water added to the soil following an irrigation), which are generally linear (though not for orchard crops) over the range of zero to 95% relative yield. The use of relative rather than absolute yield
294 offers a simple and uniform way of presenting data from different years and sites. These production functions differ between climatic zones. The use of net water application corrects for differing efficiencies of irrigation. Maximum yields for individual experiments are stated. (2) The daily course of evapotranspiration from the crop, and evaporation from open water (class A pan) are given from fortnightly or m o n t h l y averages. (3) Tables of optimum irrigation regimes (defined as those which result in a relative yield of not less than 90% in any particular experiment, with the least consumption of water), including irrigation intervals, depth of wetting, and actual yields. (4) Water uptake as a function of soil depth. The compilers touch on m a n y facets of irrigated agriculture. They discuss the effects of irrigation on the quality of fruit (citrus, apples, tomatoes) and fibre (sisal), the depth of soil wetting on the production of seed and hay (alfalfa), soil water suction on flower quality (roses), marketable versus gross yield (apples, roses), the interaction of water and nitrogen fertilizer on yield (maize, kikuyugrass). They point out drawbacks: sisal is sensitive to low temperatures and overwatering, bananas have sparse shallow roots and need frequent small irrigations, avocado is sensitive to poor aeration and low levels of salinity, citrus thrives best on sand or loam soils. They compare production under dryland and irrigated agriculture (wheat, sorghum, maize, cotton). Sugar beet, grown over winter, need irrigation in a u t u m n to ensure germination and establishment, and in spring to maximize root yield. Tomatoes (summer grown) are seeded into a deeply wetted soil and then need only a few small irrigations to ensure good establishment. The m a n y tables and figures are detailed, yet clear to read. There are criticisms, but these are minor. In discussing production functions the compilers select the water application that suits their purpose best: thus, they include rain (wheat), use gross rather than net water application (alfalfa, tomatoes, citrus), consider only spring irrigation (sugar beet), exclude irrigation needed to wet the profile before sowing (maize, peanuts, tomatoes). The compilers give no reason for this inconsistency, and the reader must be aware of these changes of emphasis. More detailed climatic data (e.g., monthly averages of daily m a x i m u m and minimum temperatures, rainfall and radiation) would assist readers in deriving climatic homologues elsewhere in the world. The unit for water use efficiency in several tables should be kg/1000 m 2/ram water, i.e., kg/m 3 water (not kg/mm); given the price of water, this can be used as an economic assessment of the irrigation treatment. Various yield measures are used, e.g., kg/1000 m 2 (field crops), ~/1000 m 2 (sugar beet, fruit), m 3 ,/1000 m 2 (timber), kg/24 m 2 (grass); a standard unit, t/ha, would be preferable. The publishers do not quote a price for the book. The quality of the paper and printing is good, but the stiff paper binding is weak, and the spine of the review copy is already disintegrating. The book is a mine of information, and the compilers are to be congratulated in making available in English this summary of good irrigation practice. They claim that " b y judicious application of the results and conclusions, a
295 suitable irrigation program can be planned for these crops in other regions of similar climatic conditions". The reviewer has no quarrel with this claim, and considers that the book deserves careful reading by all engaged in irrigation agriculture. D.A. ROSE (Littlehampton, Great Britain)
A NEW WATER JOURNAL
The Journal o f Water Supply and Management. The International Journal for Rapid Publication o f Research Results and their Practical Application in the Field o f Water Supply and Water Management. Pergamon Press, Oxford, Great Britain. Consulting engineers, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, and other environmental scientists who are working on problems of water supply and management will be interested in a new water journal from Pergamon Press. This international research journal was launched concurrently with the Water Conference sponsored by the United Nations and held at Mar del Plata, Argentina, in March 1977. At this conference, the problem of rural water supply was discussed and ways and means were sought to provide a safe drinking water supply to over 1000 million people in the world's rural areas. Even those who have access to an improved supply cannot always be assured of its reliable and continuous operation because maintenance is a serious and unresolved problem in m a n y countries. In recent years, m a n y of the Third World countries, with the help of donor countries, have been making considerable efforts to solve this problem, applying modern western technology as well as intermediate technology. There is a need for a rapid exchange of knowledge and research findings in this field. Although the existing water journals have expanded their publication, there is often a long delay between the date a paper is submitted and that of its appearance. This may explain the title of this new journal: 'The Journal of Water Supply and Management, The International Journal for Rapid Publication of Research Results and their Practical Application in the Field of Water Supply and Water Management'. The journal will appear bimonthly. The annual subscription rate for 1977, including postage and insurance, is US $ 1 0 6 . 0 0 . Any individual whose institution takes out a library subscription may purchase a second or additional subscription for personal use at a much reduced rate of US $ 20.00 per annum. Subscription enquiries should be addressed to: The Subscription Fulfillment Manager, Pergamon Press Ltd., Headington Hill Hall, Oxford O X 3 0 B W , Great Britain. RIDDER ( Wageningen, The Netherlands) N.A. DE
Book Reviews IRRIGATION Irrigation o f Field and Orchard Crops under Semi-arid Conditions. J. Shalhevet, A. Mantell, H. Bielorai and D. Shimshi (Compilers and Editors). IIIC Publication No. 1. IIIC, Bet Dagan, Ottawa, Ont., 1976, viii + 110 pp., 43 tables, 28 figures, ISBN 92-9019-001-9. The International Irrigation Information Center (IIIC) is a nonprofit organization set up in 1975 by the International Development Research Center of Canada and the Ministry of Agriculture of Israel with offices at the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel. The objective of IIIC is " t o collect and analyze information on various aspects of irrigation appearing in technical and scientific literature t h r o u g h o u t the world. This information will be disseminated among those concerned with irrigated agriculture, particularly in semi-arid regions, by means of various periodicals and publications". This first publication is a detailed summary of field experiments carefully conducted over a period of 20 years, in ten ecological regions within the pre-1967 borders of Israel, " t o establish o p t i m u m irrigation regimes for various field and orchard crops, and to increase the efficiency of water use". The first six pages summarize the location, climate and soil properties of the experimental sites, and the methodology (e.g., plot size was 24 X 24 m with the centre 12 X 12 m used for sampling and yield analysis; water was usually applied by sprinkler; soils were wet to the measured field capacity, but to depths above the m a x i m u m rooting depth to minimize seepage losses). Then follow 56 pages devoted to eight field crops (wheat, sorghum, maize, cotton, sugar beet, peanuts, alfalfa, tomatoes), 28 pages to four orchard crops (citrus -- orange and grapefruit, avocado, apples, bananas), 16 pages to four other crops (lawngrass--kikuyugrass, greenhouse roses, poplar, sisal), and 4 pages of summary and conclusions. There are 118 references, arranged by crop, to the original experiments; however, two-thirds are to obscure publications (preliminary and progress reports, research bulletins, growers' pamphlets, etc.) in Hebrew, which m a y be inaccessible to the overseas reader. The compilers consider each crop by first describing the main features of its growth (especially of the r o o t system), noting particularly stages of development (germination, tillering, flowering, heading) that are sensitive to lack of water. They then discuss details of the irrigation experiments, and summarize four aspects of the experimental results. (1) Production functions, i.e., relations between relative yield (the ratio of the yield of a given treatment to the m a x i m u m yield obtained in that experiment) and net water application (the actual q u a n t i t y of water added to the soil following an irrigation), which are generally linear (though not for orchard crops) over the range of zero to 95% relative yield. The use of relative rather than absolute yield
294 offers a simple and uniform way of presenting data from different years and sites. These production functions differ between climatic zones. The use of net water application corrects for differing efficiencies of irrigation. Maximum yields for individual experiments are stated. (2) The daily course of evapotranspiration from the crop, and evaporation from open water (class A pan) are given from fortnightly or m o n t h l y averages. (3) Tables of optimum irrigation regimes (defined as those which result in a relative yield of not less than 90% in any particular experiment, with the least consumption of water), including irrigation intervals, depth of wetting, and actual yields. (4) Water uptake as a function of soil depth. The compilers touch on m a n y facets of irrigated agriculture. They discuss the effects of irrigation on the quality of fruit (citrus, apples, tomatoes) and fibre (sisal), the depth of soil wetting on the production of seed and hay (alfalfa), soil water suction on flower quality (roses), marketable versus gross yield (apples, roses), the interaction of water and nitrogen fertilizer on yield (maize, kikuyugrass). They point out drawbacks: sisal is sensitive to low temperatures and overwatering, bananas have sparse shallow roots and need frequent small irrigations, avocado is sensitive to poor aeration and low levels of salinity, citrus thrives best on sand or loam soils. They compare production under dryland and irrigated agriculture (wheat, sorghum, maize, cotton). Sugar beet, grown over winter, need irrigation in a u t u m n to ensure germination and establishment, and in spring to maximize root yield. Tomatoes (summer grown) are seeded into a deeply wetted soil and then need only a few small irrigations to ensure good establishment. The m a n y tables and figures are detailed, yet clear to read. There are criticisms, but these are minor. In discussing production functions the compilers select the water application that suits their purpose best: thus, they include rain (wheat), use gross rather than net water application (alfalfa, tomatoes, citrus), consider only spring irrigation (sugar beet), exclude irrigation needed to wet the profile before sowing (maize, peanuts, tomatoes). The compilers give no reason for this inconsistency, and the reader must be aware of these changes of emphasis. More detailed climatic data (e.g., monthly averages of daily m a x i m u m and minimum temperatures, rainfall and radiation) would assist readers in deriving climatic homologues elsewhere in the world. The unit for water use efficiency in several tables should be kg/1000 m 2/ram water, i.e., kg/m 3 water (not kg/mm); given the price of water, this can be used as an economic assessment of the irrigation treatment. Various yield measures are used, e.g., kg/1000 m 2 (field crops), ~/1000 m 2 (sugar beet, fruit), m 3 ,/1000 m 2 (timber), kg/24 m 2 (grass); a standard unit, t/ha, would be preferable. The publishers do not quote a price for the book. The quality of the paper and printing is good, but the stiff paper binding is weak, and the spine of the review copy is already disintegrating. The book is a mine of information, and the compilers are to be congratulated in making available in English this summary of good irrigation practice. They claim that " b y judicious application of the results and conclusions, a
295 suitable irrigation program can be planned for these crops in other regions of similar climatic conditions". The reviewer has no quarrel with this claim, and considers that the book deserves careful reading by all engaged in irrigation agriculture. D.A. ROSE (Littlehampton, Great Britain)
A NEW WATER JOURNAL
The Journal o f Water Supply and Management. The International Journal for Rapid Publication o f Research Results and their Practical Application in the Field o f Water Supply and Water Management. Pergamon Press, Oxford, Great Britain. Consulting engineers, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, and other environmental scientists who are working on problems of water supply and management will be interested in a new water journal from Pergamon Press. This international research journal was launched concurrently with the Water Conference sponsored by the United Nations and held at Mar del Plata, Argentina, in March 1977. At this conference, the problem of rural water supply was discussed and ways and means were sought to provide a safe drinking water supply to over 1000 million people in the world's rural areas. Even those who have access to an improved supply cannot always be assured of its reliable and continuous operation because maintenance is a serious and unresolved problem in m a n y countries. In recent years, m a n y of the Third World countries, with the help of donor countries, have been making considerable efforts to solve this problem, applying modern western technology as well as intermediate technology. There is a need for a rapid exchange of knowledge and research findings in this field. Although the existing water journals have expanded their publication, there is often a long delay between the date a paper is submitted and that of its appearance. This may explain the title of this new journal: 'The Journal of Water Supply and Management, The International Journal for Rapid Publication of Research Results and their Practical Application in the Field of Water Supply and Water Management'. The journal will appear bimonthly. The annual subscription rate for 1977, including postage and insurance, is US $ 1 0 6 . 0 0 . Any individual whose institution takes out a library subscription may purchase a second or additional subscription for personal use at a much reduced rate of US $ 20.00 per annum. Subscription enquiries should be addressed to: The Subscription Fulfillment Manager, Pergamon Press Ltd., Headington Hill Hall, Oxford O X 3 0 B W , Great Britain. RIDDER ( Wageningen, The Netherlands) N.A. DE