Climate and irrigation water use of a mountain oasis in northern Oman

Siebert, Stefan; Nagieb, Maher; Buerkert, Andreas

doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2006.11.004

Cited by 38 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Shifting cultivation is still practiced by millions of farmers mainly in the tropics and subtropics and crop cultivation is interrupted in these systems by fallow periods that may last decades [12][13][14]. In contrast, up to four crops are harvested per year in very intensive land use systems under similar climate conditions [15,16]. Crop duration ratio is another indicator of land use intensity, which takes also the length of cropping periods into account, and which was used by other authors to describe the effects of mechanization on cropping systems in India [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Patterns of Cropland Use Intensity

2010

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This study presents a global scale analysis of cropping intensity, crop duration and fallow land extent computed by using the global dataset on monthly irrigated and rainfed crop areas MIRCA2000. MIRCA2000 was mainly derived from census data and crop calendars from literature. Global cropland extent was 16 million km 2 around the year 2000 of which 4.4 million km 2 (28%) was fallow, resulting in an average cropping intensity of 0.82 for total cropland extent and of 1.13 when excluding fallow land. The lowest cropping intensities related to total cropland extent were found for Southern Africa (0.45), Central America (0.49) and Middle Africa (0.54), while highest cropping intensities were computed for Eastern Asia (1.04) and Southern Asia (1.0). In remote or arid regions where shifting cultivation is practiced, fallow periods last 3-10 years or even longer. In contrast, crops are harvested two or more times per year in highly populated, often irrigated tropical or subtropical lowlands where multi-cropping systems are common. This indicates that intensification of agricultural land use is a strategy that may be able to significantly improve global food security. There exist large uncertainties regarding extent of cropland, harvested crop area and therefore cropping intensity at larger scales. Satellite imagery and remote sensing techniques provide opportunities for decreasing these uncertainties and to improve the MIRCA2000 inventory.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Patterns of Cropland Use Intensity

2010

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“…The shared reservoir systems are state-sponsored developments established within the past 50 years, whose beneficiaries bring with them a history of traditional irrigation practice. The principal characteristics of the case study systems in south-eastern Arabia are given in Table 2, with more detailed descriptions provided in Norman et al (1998aNorman et al ( ), (2000b; Al-Ghafri (2006) and Siebert et al (2007). The individual diesel or electric pump systems are generally systems in which in the past 30 years, pumps have replaced traditional animal powered methods (zajeerah) for water lifting.…”

Section: Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 98%

On-farm labour allocation and irrigation water use: case studies among smallholder systems in arid regions

Norman

McCann

Al-Ghafri

2007

Irrig Drainage Syst

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On-farm measurements and observations of water flow, water costs and irrigation labour inputs at the individual parcel level were made in case studies of smallholder irrigation systems in sub-Saharan Africa and south-eastern Arabia. The systems, in which the water source supplied either single or multiple users, were analysed to address the fundamental issues of labour allocation for on-farm water management as this has important consequences for the success of such systems. Results show that the costs associated with accessing water influenced labour input, because when they were low the farmers tended to increase the irrigation rate and reduce the amount of time they spent distributing the water within their parcels. Conversely when water costs were high, lower flow rates and more time spent in water distribution were observed, and this resulted in more uniform irrigation and higher irrigation efficiency. Also, opportunities and demands for farmers to use their labour for activities other than irrigation can lead them to modify operational or physical aspects of the system so that they can reduce the time they spend distributing water within the parcels, particularly when the water is relatively cheap. Awareness and better understanding of how farmers may allocate their labour for water management will lead to more effective planning, design and management of smallholder irrigation systems.

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“…Estimates of its water use efficiency range between 60 and 98%, for several plots in Wadi Bani Kharus (Norman et al 1998), while Siebert et al (2007) computed a water use efficiency of 75% for the oasis of Balad Seet in Wadi Bani Awf. Given the large variation in potential evapotranspiration over the course of a year , such high efficiencies cannot be achieved without adaptations to the changes of the seasons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of land use changes on the hydrological sustainability of mountain oases in northern Oman

Luedeling

Buerkert

2007

Plant Soil

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Traditionally, oasis farmers in hyperarid northern Oman have adapted to the interannual variation of irrigation water supply by dedicating an often sizable proportion of the agricultural area to the production of annual crops and leaving this area uncultivated in drought years. We hypothesized that increases in the share of perennial crops may put long-term hydrological sustainability at risk. To test this hypothesis, we compared agricultural water demand patterns of five oases in the mountain region of Al Jabal al Akhdar for 1978 and 2005. We analyzed land use changes by classifying aerial photographs taken in 2005 and 1978 into five land use types. Water demand in 2005 was estimated based on two GIS-based detailed crop inventories during the hot and cool season and on measurements of temperature, solar radiation and wind speed, from which crop evapotranspiration was calculated using the Penman-Monteith equation. Radiation and wind speed measurements were improved by topographic modeling. Water demand per area was summarized for each land use type and the results used to estimate water demand in 1978. Water supply estimates were based on spring flow measurements. Between 1978 and 2005, agricultural water demand in the study area rose from 218,800 to 256,377 m 3 a −1 . The most prominent land use changes were the disappearance of non-palm orchards at Masayrat ar Ruwajah and expansions of the area under perennial crops at Al 'Aqr, Ash Sharayjah and Qasha' at the expense of field crops. As a consequence, the summer peak of crop water demand decreased at Masayrat ar Ruwajah, where all perennial crops could easily be irrigated with the minimum water supply observed during our study, but this summer peak increased at the other oases. Meeting the water demand of all perennial crops at Qasha' required average spring flow conditions in 2005, indicating severe water deficiency in drought years. In addition to increased water demand, the oases' water balance might also be under pressure from reductions in water supply caused by increased extraction of water from the same aquifer by a rapidly growing new town in the area.

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Climate and irrigation water use of a mountain oasis in northern Oman

Cited by 38 publications

References 25 publications

Global Patterns of Cropland Use Intensity

Global Patterns of Cropland Use Intensity

On-farm labour allocation and irrigation water use: case studies among smallholder systems in arid regions

Effects of land use changes on the hydrological sustainability of mountain oases in northern Oman

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