Irrigation Practice Survey for Crops and Urban Greenspaces at Northwest and West Greece and Southeast Italy †

: An analytical survey regarding irrigation practice for both crops and greenspaces at the region of Western Greece and the region of Epirus in Northwest and West Greece, respectively, and the region of Apulia in Southeast Italy was performed. On-site interviews (about 500 per region) regarded irrigation systems design, installation and management. Good practices, problems and challenges that concerned irrigation management are pointed out. The need for a frequent and organised survey of irrigation practice coordinated by relevant organisations is underlined, as it could constitute a valuable tool for planning relevant strategies and practical actions.


Introduction
Water scarcity is one of the main challenges that both agricultural crops and landscape works face in many countries in the world, particularly in semi-arid and arid regions [1,2]. With the given infrastructure, agricultural (in open field and/or under cover) and landscape irrigation and drainage systems efficiency could be increased promptly if their design, installation and maintenance received regular auditing and if more reasonable water management was applied. Beyond generic statistical registration by international and national organisations and survey authorities, detailed surveys for irrigation practice could provide valuable information for planning relevant strategies and practical actions [3][4][5]. This study briefly presents the results of a survey regarding irrigation practice that concern applied techniques, usage of new technologies on water irrigation management, etc., for the region of Western Greece, the region of Epirus in Greece and the region of Apulia in Italy.

Methods
On-site interviews were performed using special questionnaires (see Supplementary Material) and relevant reports were produced (see Data Availability Statement). The interviews concerned four categories of irrigation system management setups: (a) regional authorities that are responsible for irrigation water and municipalities that are responsible for irrigation of public urban greenspaces (including athletic facilities), (b) public organisations that manage participatory agricultural irrigation systems, (c) agricultural farms and (d) private touristic or leisure greenspaces and gardens. In this framework, four questionnaires were formed depending on the special features of the setups they were addressing, but they all had a common structure and a number of common questions. The questionnaires were divided in six sections as follows: 1.
General information regarding organisation/institution/farmer/Land Reclamation Consortium (name, age, address and gender); 2.
Information about crops/green areas, irrigation systems and water sources (crops, area and irrigation status); 3. Irrigation management information-Acceptance level of reclaimed water (for irrigation of several crops or for potable use); 4.
Economic information-Effect of reclaimed water (plants, soil and productivity); 5.
Environmental issues-Concerns regarding reclaimed water (fear factors, quality and treatment); 6.
Other information-Pricing of reclaimed water (willingness to pay, price of water and investment in agriculture).
The research was conducted during 2013 and 2014 all around the region of Western Greece, the region of Epirus in Greece, the region of Apulia in Italy ( Figure 1) for which 490, 500 and 449 interviews were per region were performed, respectively (Table 1). 2. Information about crops/green areas, irrigation systems and water sources (crops, area and irrigation status); 3. Irrigation management information-Acceptance level of reclaimed water (for irrigation of several crops or for potable use); 4. Economic information-Effect of reclaimed water (plants, soil and productivity); 5. Environmental issues-Concerns regarding reclaimed water (fear factors, quality and treatment); 6. Other information-Pricing of reclaimed water (willingness to pay, price of water and investment in agriculture).
The research was conducted during 2013 and 2014 all around the region of Western Greece, the region of Epirus in Greece, the region of Apulia in Italy ( Figure 1) for which 490, 500 and 449 interviews were per region were performed, respectively (Table 1).

Results and Discussion
Selected topics that concern irrigation management are presented in Table 2 (for regional authorities that are responsible for irrigation water and municipalities that are Environ. Sci. Proc. 2023, 25, 14 3 of 6 responsible for irrigation of public urban greenspaces (including athletic facilities) and for public organisations that manage participatory agricultural irrigation systems) and Table 3 (for agricultural farms and for private touristic or leisure greenspaces and gardens). Table 2. Replies (percentage of total) from (a) regional authorities that are responsible for irrigation water and municipalities that are responsible for irrigation of public urban greenspaces (including athletic facilities) and (b) public organisations that manage participatory agricultural irrigation systems, for selected topics that regard irrigation management (NA: no data available).

Public Administration
Organisation  Most of the organisations that regard irrigation management are aware of local water management plans, but they are not convinced that there is a straightforward strategy regarding irrigation water management in the area, although irrigation water management is performed efficiently ( Table 2). Probable drought is reported as the most significant concern regarding water availability in the area (Tables 2 and 3), while the setting of rules and the provision of guidance regarding water distribution are regarded helpful as a means to mitigate water shortages in the area (Tables 2 and 3). The organisations do not blame excessive consumption of irrigation water as the main cause for water shortages in the area: they generally do not think that there is adequate irrigation water management at the end user level, although they agree that there is lack of training of end users. In general, they provide end users with advice regarding irrigation, drainage and fertilisation management ( Table 2).
End users generally agree that there is efficient water management at the basin level, that the provided rules and guidance regarding water distribution are helping to mitigate water shortages in the area, and that support is provided from relevant public authorities (Table 3). Farmers are typically informed regarding agricultural issues, including irrigation by agronomic consultants, although they do not think that they need special training regarding irrigation management or scheduling and consequently the majority have not attended educational/training sessions specialised in irrigation (Table 3).
For greenspaces, the provision of the irrigation system's designer/contractor with irrigation scheduling plan, and the request for professional assistance regarding the irrigation schedule, is something common but for crops is very rare ( Table 3). The use of special IT tools for irrigation management is low to very low for organisations and farmers but high for managers of greenspaces (Tables 2 and 3). While organisations showed low interest to adapt to such tools (Table 2), both categories of end users were quite interested in doing so (Table 3). A significant percentage of both categories of end users believe that using electronics or IT technologies for irrigation management could lead to water conservation: the main drawbacks are the complexity of those systems combined with the lack of training and support (Table 3).

Conclusions
An analytical survey revealed good practices and problems regarding design, construction, maintenance and management for the region of Western Greece, the region of Epirus in Greece and the region of Apulia in Italy. The summarised results that concern irrigation management for both agricultural and urban greenspaces irrigation systems were presented. The supervisors of irrigation systems welcomed this initiative. Good practices, problems and challenges were pointed out. The development of a practical surveying and auditing guide, approved by the relevant stakeholders, could be a very useful tool for planning relevant strategies and practical actions with an aim of continuous improvement of irrigation systems efficiency. The role of international irrigation stakeholders such as the European Irrigation Association could be crucial in this effort.