Water saving scenarios for effective irrigation management in Egyptian rice cultivation

• Published in: Ecological engineering Vol. 70; pp. 11 - 15
• Main Authors: Mostafa, Harby, Fujimoto, Naoya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-09-2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agricultural and forest climatology and meteorology. Irrigation. Drainage; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Conservation; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Cultivation; Deltas; Egypt; Environmental degradation: ecosystems survey and restoration; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agronomy. Plant production; Irrigation; Irrigation. Drainage; Management; Oryza sativa; Rice; Security; Water; Water consumption; Water management; North Africa; Africa; Egypt; MED, Egypt, Arab Rep., Nile Delta; Water; Irrigation; Management; Conservation; Egypt; Rice; Monocotyledones; Water conservation; Environmental engineering; Oryza; Gramineae; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta
• ISSN: 0925-8574; 1872-6992
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2014.04.005

•An inventory, description, and comparative analysis of water-saving technologies.•Suggest some scenarios may help in irrigation management and water saving.•The suggested scenarios indicated that irrigation water can be saved by 43–52%.•Saved water (4.7–5.7billionm3) can be used in agricultural land expansion.
Developing ideal irrigation management methods in rice production to lessen water consumption will free-up water for other users. Water use could be minimized with proper management techniques. It is necessary to highlight the threats of water scarcity and drought, and reiterate the importance of efficient water management for rice production and the urgent need to take action to solve the underlying problems in considering water security. From here, this study was designed to decide whether water can be preserved in rice production by surveying the successful water management techniques in the Egyptian Nile Delta. Management scenarios were suggested to save as much irrigation water as possible. The scenarios showed that water, which could be used in the agricultural land expansion, can be saved by 43–52% (4.7–5.7billionm3).