Impacts of different irrigation systems on water resources and management

master's thesis

• Author: Matthew Caleb Nirenberg
• Mentor: Gabrijel Ondrašek (mentor)
• Committee member: Gabrijel Ondrašek (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Marina Bubalo Kovačić (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Mario Njavro (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Agriculture; (Department of Soil Amelioration); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2023-09-21, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: BIOTECHNICAL SCIENCES; Agronomy

Abstract

Irrigation remains a vital practice in agriculture to sustain global food supplies, though the practice itself
utilizes large amounts of water resources to sustain crops. Wheat and maize are among the most abundant
crops grown worldwide, and in areas in which their crop water requirements aren’t adequately met, the
question of whether to use irrigation from potentially threatened water resources becomes an essential
consideration in agricultural operations. Meta-analysis, a powerful statistical tool is a relatively recent
innovation in agriculture, especially dealing with irrigation, with capabilities of synthesizing large
amounts of otherwise disparate data into coherent and innovative results. In this study, Meta-analysis was
used to compare the evapotranspiration (ET), water use efficiency (WUE), and grain yield of nonirrigated
mazie and wheat to differentially irrigated maize and wheat using data from three different
continents to assess the ultimate efficacy of irrigation techniques. The results indicate that grain yield and
WUE were significant for maize, and the ET and grain yield significant for wheat. In general, irrigation
for maize and wheat is worth the use of water resources.

• Keywords: irrigation; maize; wheat; water use efficiency; evapotranspiration; grain yield; meta-analysis
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:204:204489
• Study programme: Title: Environment, Agriculture and Resource Management; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: Master of Engineering in Agriculture (Master of Engineering in Agriculture)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Access restricted to students and staff of home institution
• Created on: 2023-11-08 11:52:48