SIRRIMED – SUSTAINABLE USE OF IRRGATION WATER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION
Project Overview
SIRRIMED project will address issues related to sustainable use of water in Mediterranean irrigated agricultural systems, with the overall aim of optimizing irrigation water use. The approach proposed in SIRRIMED for reaching this goal will be based in an Integrated Water Irrigation Management (IWIM) where the improving water use efficiency will be considered at farm, irrigation district and watershed scales. This strategy implies the innovation of more efficient irrigation techniques improving water productivity that permit savings in water consumption. SIRRIMED will consider the development, test and validation of new deficit irrigation strategies, the sustainable use of poor quality waters and the improvement of precise irrigation scheduling using plant sensors. These new techniques will be integrated with suitable husbandry irrigation practices. At the district scale, efforts should be directed towards an integrated policy of water allocation which accounts for the characteristics and specificity of each farm, requiring the availability of data bases and management tools (decision support systems) specifically designed to fulfil the objectives of maximizing water use efficiency. At the watershed scale, priority should be devoted to the assessment of new models of water governance, and the definition of strategies and policies aimed at promoting a more responsible use of irrigation water. Finally, SIRRIMED will establish a sound dissemination strategy for transfer of knowledge towards the end users, with a very important participatory approach to facilitate an adequate involvement of stakeholders (farmers, association of irrigation users, water authorities and SMEs).
In many watersheds of the Mediterranean Countries, water resources are presently fully or overcommitted. Demand for water is likely to continue increasing due to population growth as well as increased demand from in-stream users. Irrigated farms are the largest consumers of fresh water in Mediterranean Countries: either individually or as members of irrigation districts, using up to 80% of all allocated water in some regions. With the increasing water demand of other sectors and environmental constraints, water resources available for agriculture will decrease in the next decades. However maintaining or increasing the fraction of irrigated agriculture in the national food production is essential to reach or maintain food security and welfare in many countries of the World, and especially within the Mediterranean Basin. In this critical context, there is an urgent need to foster the adoption and implementation of alternative irrigation systems and management practices that will allow increased crop/water productivity.
The three concepts will be applied to achieve the following key objectives:
Objective 1. Improvement of water productivity through sustainable Irrigation practices and management (farm and irrigation scheme scales).
Objective 2. Assessment of the impact of irrigated agriculture on the regional water resources (watershed scale).
Objective 3. Towards a new concept of water governance.
Objective 4. Fostering education and training in sustainable irrigation.
Project Results
The overall aim of the ‘Sustainable use of irrigation water in the Mediterranean region’ (SIRRIMED) project was to optimise the use of water for irrigation. The approach used was based on integrated water irrigation management. This method considered improved water-use efficiency at farm, irrigation district and watershed scales.
Project partners assessed different irrigation scheduling techniques and environmental sensing tools on open crops and greenhouse tomatoes. As a result, several deficit irrigation (DI) strategies were shown to increase crop water productivity by 20-50 %, with no significant effect on the quality or quantity of the produce.
The DI strategies focused on irrigation during drought-sensitive times with minimal or no irrigation when rainfall was adequate. This approach resulted in saving 5-30 % of the irrigation water that would have normally been consumed. Furthermore, the covering of water reservoirs was a simple and effective measure that reduced the loss of water by 80 %, with the additional benefit of limiting algal growth.
A key factor to SIRRIMED’s success was the outstanding collaboration with local growers and other stakeholders. This included holding meetings in order to identify and prioritize problems and goals at the farm and district levels.
Cooperation also resulted in the acquisition of critical field data, which was needed for the calibration and validation of tools for the district information system (DIS). The DIS combined field data with remote satellite images, which were used to simulate the distribution and allocation of water resources. This enabled effective daily scheduling and strategic long-term planning.
A better understanding of the impact of different irrigation strategies on soils and crops will allow improving the current level of productivity in line with sustainable practices. Therefore, improving irrigation technology will enable European farmers to become more competitive as one of the direct consequences will be an increase in net revenues.
Another benefit is that new irrigation management practices will make the farming system more flexible and adapted to European regulations and to socioeconomic changes. In addition, Mediterranean Partner Countries will profit from the technological innovations.
SIRRIMED represents a significant joint effort between scientists and farmers and other stakeholders to reduce irrigation water consumption. However, at the same time, crop productivity and quality will be increased in the Mediterranean region.