Impact of Water Meadow Restoration on Forage Hay Production in Different Hydro-Meteorological Conditions: A Case Study of Racot, Central Poland

Abstract

Water meadows in river valleys are a source of very valuable forage. Due to their specificity, an appropriate approach to water management is required. This study assessed the impact of the reclamation of a traditional gravity irrigation system, aimed at saving and reducing water loss from meadows through controlled drainage. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the investment in drainage system restoration in the context of improving the yield of fodder hay in water meadows under changing hydrometeorological conditions. The analysis was performed on the basis of meteorological and hydrological data from 30 years in the period 1989–2018. The research was conducted on the basis of two assumptions. The first concerned management of meadows without the use of subsoil irrigation based only on the amount of water supplied from rainfall. The second variant assumed deficit irrigation based on periodic water meadows with systems of ditches and drainage channels that supplied water depending on the currently available amount of water in a nearby river. The field research was performed during the crop season of 2019 and 2020. Drainage restoration investment allowed the amount of water supplied to the meadows to be increased. In the analysed period, on average, almost 30 mm of water was delivered through the ditch system. There was also an increase in hay yields of 32%. However, the investment costs, which amounted to EUR 23,382.48, were too high for this type of farm production. A positive net present value (NPV) was obtained only for 25% of cases of hydrometeorological conditions (first quartile). For the other years, the investment was not profitable.

Effects of Silicon Application and Groundwater Level in a Subirrigation System on Yield of a Three-Cut Meadow

“…A similar trend was also noted in an earlier study by Jurczuk [6,73], which showed that it is possible to improve grassland yields due to subirrigation. The positive effect of water management based on controlling water supply using renewed irrigation facilities in a system of subirrigation on the yield from grasslands for the area was also observed by Napierała et al [74]. However, their results of actual yield values estimated for the area in question using the model are much lower (3.7-7.9 Mg•ha −1 ) than those obtained in the present study.…”

Reducing Deep Percolation Losses Using a Geotextile Layer at Different Soil Depths and Irrigation Levels for Lettuce Crop (Lactuca sativa L. var. capitata) (Limor)

“…Regarding the lettuce crop yield, the highest results were obtained under the geotextile layer at different depths for both seasons. There is a positive effect of irrigation management on crop yield when using promising agricultural practices under subsurface irrigation [41]. The higher soil moisture level inside the root zone significantly increased the yield [42].…”

Intensive Meadows on Organic Soils of Temperate Climate–Useful Value of Grass Mixtures after the Regeneration

“…In addition, increasing water level fluctuations during the growing season have been observed in recent years (Figure 4). Despite the existing infrastructure on the analysed complex of meadows (drainage ditches and gates), it was not possible to avoid lowering the groundwater level caused mainly by higher air temperatures, which increase water losses as a result of evapotranspiration [28,29].…”

“…The PCA analysis indicates (Figure 5) that the yield depended on water availability (precipitation and groundwater level, which were strongly correlated during the plant growth period). The positive effect of water availability on biomass yield was confirmed on mineral and organic soils [16][17][18][19]28,29,31,32].…”