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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #404980
Research Project: Dryland and Irrigated Crop Management Under Limited Water Availability and Drought

Location: Soil and Water Management Research

Title: Meta-Analysis of crop water use efficiency by irrigation system in the Texas High Plains

Author
item MCCALLISTER-MITCHELL, DONNA - Texas Tech University
item CANO, AMANDA - Texas Tech University
item WEST, CHARLES - Texas Tech University

Submitted to: Irrigation Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/21/2020
Publication Date: 9/7/2020
Citation: McCallister-Mitchell, D., Cano, A., West, C. 2020. Meta-Analysis of crop water use efficiency by irrigation system in the Texas High Plains. Irrigation Science. (38)535-546. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-020-00696-x.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-020-00696-x

Interpretive Summary: Declining groundwater availability from the Ogallala Aquifer is creating a situation in which crop yield per unit of water used (crop water productivity = CWP) must increase to allow sustained production with reduced water use and prolong the economic life of the aquifer. Many factors impact CWP on the mainly clay and clay loam soils that dominate semi-arid environment of the Texas High Plains; but no schematic review had been done of previously published articles. Working in a project funded by the USDA ARS Ogallala Aquifer Program, scientists from Texas Tech University conducted a meta-analysis of 351 studies from 17 articles published between 1990 and 2016 to determine how CWP was affected by irrigation systems and management practices relative to dryland production in such an environment. Overall, the impact of choice of irrigation system on CWP directly correlated with the efficiency of the irrigation system. Relative to dryland production, subsurface drip and center pivot irrigation systems had the largest positive impacts on CWP with increases of 147 and 99%, respectively, compared to a 14% increase under furrow irrigation. These results indicate that highly water efficient irrigation systems are most likely to increase CWP.

Technical Abstract: A meta-analysis was performed on 351 studies from 17 articles published between 1990 and 2016 to determine how a water use efficiency (WUE) treatment is affected by irrigation systems and management practices on clay and clay loam soils in a semi-arid environment relative to a rainfed control. Several explanatory variables (moderators) were examined to determine their impact on WUE such as crop type, irrigation capacity, rainfall, soil type, planting time, and nitrogen application. Results were sub-grouped by irrigation system. Overall, the impact of irrigation system on WUE directly correlated with the efficiency of the irrigation system. Subsurface drip and center pivot irrigation systems had the largest impacts on WUE with increases of 147 and 99%, respectively, compared to a 14% increase under furrow irrigation. Corn (Zea mays L.) had a higher response to WUE in subsurface drip irrigation (260%) compared to center pivot irrigation (46%), whereas WUE in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) had a 71% change in center pivot systems compared to 63% under subsurface drip. The biggest increases in WUE relative to a rainfed control were for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), which had a 13% change under furrow irrigation, 160% change under center pivot and 341% under subsurface drip.