Sustainable Irrigation and Drainage: Management, Technologies and Policies

Irrigation, as the biggest water user in most regions of the world, is facing significant challenges in balancing social, economic and environmental needs for water. These proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Sustainable Irrigation and Drainage: Management, Technologies and Policies provide examples of how irrigation and drainage can become more sustainable, while acknowledging that the concept of sustainability is a goal that continues to change as our knowledge of the biophysical realities alters. In that sense, moving towards sustainability is an ever-evolving journey. The focus is on the implications for improving sustainability, whether this is drainage, irrigation technologies, economic modelling, governance studies for irrigation management, reuse of water, or any other aspect. Topics covered include: Irrigation Management; Irrigation Systems and Planning; Climate Change Effects; Groundwater Issues; Socio-economic Benefits.

Table of Contents:
Contents Section 1: Irrigation management Verification of the water supply rules in an arid area: a case study of the Xayar irrigation district in the northern part of the Taklamakan Desert; Capacities for irrigation water resource governance at the local level: a case study from the Upper East Region of Ghana; A tool for detecting crop water status using airborne high-resolution thermal imagery; The effects of different levels of irrigation water salinity and leaching on the amount and distribution pattern of soil salinity and ions in an arid region; An economic-based estimation of irrigation water demand; The assessment of automatic irrigation scheduling techniques on tomato yield and water productivity under a subsurface drip irrigation system in a hyper arid region; The yield and yield-character variability of traditional leafy-crop Cucumis africanus in response to variation in irrigation intervals and NPK fertilizer rates; Water and heat stress: the effect on the growth and yield of maize and the impacts on irrigation water; The physiological response of mungbean (Vigna radiata) to water deficit stress and Meloidogyne javanica infection; A data acquisition system for the remote measurement of flow in open channels Section 2: Irrigation systems and planning A comparative study of the impact of deficit irrigation on cucumber yields planted in a greenhouse and an open field in an arid environment; Weed control in Mexican Irrigation Districts with lightweight equipment; Rain harvesting and stream storage for supplementary irrigation to rain-fed paddy schemes: a case study of Selapon Paddy Scheme; The study of changes in the assimilation surface, relative chlorophyll content and maize yield with different agrotechnical factors Section 3: Climate change effects An evaluation of the effects of climate change on flood frequency in the Luvuvhu River Catchment, Limpopo Province, South Africa; Future agricultural water demand under climate change in Saskatchewan, Canada Section 4: Groundwater issues Deep groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking and agricultural purposes, Wadi Baye, Middle Region, Libya; Unsaturated zone modelling: the role of soil database classification Section 5: Socio-economic benefits Water governance for sustainable irrigation: the role of civil society; The impact of irrigation farming on livelihood strategies among smallholder farmers in the North West Province, South Africa; Media advocacy for sustainable water management in Africa: a study of Nigeria; Factors affecting women's empowerment on irrigation schemes in the North West Province, South Africa