Search Results (97)

Solar-powered pumping systems using series pumps are commonly applied in the delivery of water to remote agricultural regions, particularly in hilly tropical terrain. The synchronization of these pumps typically depends on reliable communication; however, dense vegetation, elevation changes, and weather conditions often disrupt signals. To address these limitations, a fully decentralized, communication-free control system is proposed. Each pumping station operates independently while maintaining synchronized operation through emulated neighbor sensing. The system applies a discrete-time control algorithm with virtual sensing that estimates neighboring pump statuses. Each station consists of a solar photovoltaic (PV) array, variable-speed drive, variable inlet valve, reserve tank, and local control unit. The controller adjusts the valve positions and pump power based on real-time water level measurements and virtual neighbor sensing. The simulation results across four scenarios, including clear sky, cloudy conditions, temporary outage, and varied irradiance, demonstrated steady-state operation with no water overflow or shortage and a steady-state error less than 4% for 3 m³ transfer. The error decreased as the average power increased. The proposed method maintained system functionality under simulated power outage and variable irradiance, confirming its suitability for remote agricultural areas where communication infrastructure is limited. Full article

Water plays a critical role in ensuring sustainable food security, particularly in the face of increasing freshwater scarcity and climate variability. This study examines virtual water use and virtual water trade in Ghana’s vegetable production sector over a 30-year period (1994–2023), focusing on four key crops: tomato, pepper, onion, and eggplant. Using secondary data on production volumes, trade flows, and virtual water content, the research quantifies imported and exported virtual water volumes and assesses net virtual water trends. The results reveal a substantial increase in virtual water use for most crops, with the exception of pepper, which experienced a marked decline. Onion and tomato are identified as the dominant contributors to both imports and exports of virtual water, while pepper and eggplant play relatively minor roles. The study finds that Ghana is a net importer of virtual water in vegetable trade, emphasizing the need for integrated water resource management to balance agricultural growth with water sustainability. A gravity model analysis was applied to identify the primary determinants of virtual water trade, revealing that GDP per capita, population size, distance, land availability, virtual water use, and border-sharing significantly influence trade patterns. The findings suggest that enhancing domestic production capacity and promoting efficient water use practices can reduce Ghana’s reliance on imports and improve resilience against water-related risks. This research provides valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners aiming to develop sustainable water and food systems in Ghana and similar contexts. Full article

Pesticides are essential in agriculture for protecting crops and boosting productivity, but their widespread use may pose significant health risks. Farmworkers face direct exposure through skin contact and inhalation, which may lead to hormonal imbalances, neurological disorders, and elevated cancer risks. Moreover, pesticide residues in food and water may affect surrounding communities. One of the lesser investigated issues is immunotoxicity, mostly because the chronic effects of compound exposure are very complex to study. As a case study, this work utilized pharmacophore modeling and virtual screening to identify pesticides that may inhibit Janus kinases (JAK1, JAK2, JAK3) and tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2), which are pivotal in immune response regulation, and are associated with cancer development and increased infection susceptibility. We identified 64 potential pesticide candidates, 22 of which have previously been detected in the human body, as confirmed by the Human Metabolome Database. These results underscore the critical need for further research into potential immunotoxic and chronic impacts of the respective pesticides on human health. Full article

This study quantitatively evaluates Ukraine’s agricultural virtual water footprint over two decades (2001–2021), focusing on ten representative crops with varying water demands. We assess the environmental and economic implications of virtual water flows and emphasize the need for more sustainable agricultural water management. Our findings reveal a shift in Ukraine toward water-intensive crops despite their high-water requirements, highlighting critical trends in production and trade. While crops like sunflowers and maize generate higher economic returns per unit of weight, less water-intensive crops such as wheat and barley exhibit greater profitability per unit of water consumed, albeit with lower trade volumes. These insights challenge prevailing agricultural practices and underscore the necessity for a more strategic approach that balances economic productivity with responsible water stewardship. Our study provides a data-oriented framework for optimizing water use in Ukrainian agriculture, offering essential guidance for policy interventions and sustainable development. Full article

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is widely cultivated in yellow sand substrate-based systems in Northwest China, contributing significantly to regional agriculture. However, suboptimal water and fertilizer management hinders the balanced optimization of yield, fruit quality, and resource efficiency. In this two-year solar greenhouse experiment (2023–2024), we employed a four-factor, three-level orthogonal design [L9(3⁴)] to examine three irrigation regimes—full irrigation (FI 100% of crop evapotranspiration, [ET_c]), mild deficit irrigation (DIM 75% ET_c), and severe deficit irrigation (DIS 50% ET_c)—in combination with staged fertilizer applications at the seedling, flowering/fruit-set, and peak-fruit stages. A multi-objective decision-making framework, integrating an improved entropy weight method with a virtual-ideal-solution-based TOPSIS model, was established to address the complexity of water–fertilizer interactions. The results indicated that irrigation amount (IA) was the primary determinant of yield and water use efficiency (WUE), followed by fertilizer application in the second stage (FII). For fruit quality indices (moisture content, vitamin C (VC), lycopene (LC), soluble sugars (SSs), and soluble solids content (SSC)), IA remained the most influential factor, followed by FIII, FII, and FI; IA also had the largest impact on fruit hardness (Hd), soluble protein (SP), and titratable acidity (TA). An integrated scoring analysis revealed that treatment T5 achieved the highest yield, WUE, and partial factor productivity (PFP), whereas T7 excelled in fruit quality (VC, LC, SSC, and SP). Moreover, TOPSIS confirmed T5 as the optimal water–fertilizer strategy to achieve high yield, improved quality, and efficient resource utilization. Overall, these findings underscore a robust approach for optimizing water–fertilizer coupling in tomato cultivation under yellow sand substrate conditions, thereby enhancing resource use efficiency, promoting sustainable greenhouse agriculture in arid regions, and contributing to national water-saving and yield-increasing priorities. Full article

In the context of sustainable development, water resources, energy, and carbon emissions are pivotal factors influencing the rational planning of economic development and the secure establishment of ecological barriers. As a core food production area, how can the Great River Basin balance the pressure on the “water–energy–carbon” system (WEC) to realize the coordinated development of “nature–society–economy”? Taking the Yellow River Basin in China as the research object, this paper explores the coupling characteristics and virtual transfer trends of WEC in the agricultural sector under the condition of mutual constraints. The results show the following: (1) On the dynamic coupling characteristics, W-E and E-C are strongly coupled with each other. The optimization of water resource allocation and the development of energy-saving water use technology make the W-E consumption show a downward trend, and the large-scale promotion of agricultural mechanization makes the E-C consumption show an upward trend. (2) On the spatial distribution of transfer, there is an obvious path dependence of virtual WEC transfer, showing a trend of transfer from less developed regions to developed regions, and the coupling strength decreases from developed regions to less developed regions. The assumption of producer responsibility serves to exacerbate the problem of inter-regional development imbalances. (3) According to the cross-sectoral analysis, water resources are in the center of sectoral interaction, and controlling the upstream sector of the resource supply will indirectly affect the synergistic relationship of WEC, and controlling the downstream sector of resource consumption will indirectly affect the constraint relationship of WEC. This study provides theoretical and methodological references for the Great River Basin to cope with the resource and environmental pressure brought by global climate change and the effective allocation of inter-regional resources. Full article

Water scarcity has emerged as a critical constraint on agricultural development and food security worldwide, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions such as Central Asia, Western Asia, and North Africa, which are part of the “Belt and Road” Initiative. This study, based on a global multi-regional input–output model, quantitatively analyzes the virtual water flows between China and countries along the “Belt and Road”. It focuses on water-scarce regions, examining the impact of virtual water trade on agricultural resource pressures and food security, as well as the transfer of water resources in trade patterns. The findings indicate that virtual water trade, as an innovative water resource management strategy, can redistribute water resources through international trade, thereby alleviating water stress and enhancing food security in water-scarce areas. Despite China’s status as a net importer in virtual water trade with “Belt and Road” countries, the majority of virtual water flows toward nations with relatively abundant water resources, rather than to the most water-deficient areas. This discovery reveals imbalances in virtual water trade patterns, suggesting that current trade models do not effectively alleviate water and food security pressures in water-scarce regions. The “Belt and Road” mechanism should provide new ideas for solving the huge gap between virtual water theory and reality. In response, this paper proposes optimizing trade structures, strengthening agricultural water resource management, promoting green virtual water trade, fostering regional cooperation, improving data quality and transparency, encouraging agricultural diversification, and increasing investment in water-saving agricultural technologies. Full article

Assessing water scarcity risks under climate change has become an important research topic for sustainable development. Regional water scarcity is driven not only by direct local water deficits but also by indirect effects from upstream supply chains. Despite their significance, existing studies seldom integrate both local water scarcity and indirect water scarcity comprehensively. This study utilizes multi-regional input–output tables (MRIO) to quantify virtual water flows among eight provinces in the Yellow River Basin, elucidating the extent of local (WSI) and indirect water scarcity (IWS) from 2007 to 2017. Leveraging Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) projections and Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios, the research further projects future virtual water flow patterns and associated water scarcity risks in the Yellow River Basin from the 2020s to the 2090s. Findings reveal that downstream provinces (Shandong, Henan, Shanxi) experience more severe water scarcity—both locally and indirectly—than upstream regions (Inner Mongolia, Gansu). Local water scarcity surpasses indirect scarcity, with the agricultural sector predominantly driving IWS, accounting for 76.1% to 91.3%. Additionally, downstream provinces facing severe water scarcity not only exhibit high local water use but also rely on imports from middle and upper regions grappling with water shortages. Under SSP1-RCP2.6 and SSP5-RCP8.5 scenarios, water scarcity risks in the Yellow River Basin are projected to intensify, with the overall WSI potentially reaching 0.59 and IWS attaining severe levels of 0.42 by the 2050s. This study enhances the understanding of water scarcity risks in arid and semi-arid regions, providing valuable insights for policymakers to develop more climate-resilient water-resource management strategies. Full article

This study investigates the development and application of an automatic irrigation system based on hourly cumulative evapotranspiration (ET) to optimize cabbage growth while reducing agricultural water usage. Traditional irrigation methods often result in inefficient water use due to reliance on human judgment or fixed schedules. To address this issue, the proposed system utilizes environmental data collected from a field sensor (FS), the Korea meteorological administration (KMA), and a virtual sensor based on a machine learning model (ML) to calculate the hourly ET and automate irrigation. The ET was calculated using the FAO 56 Penman–Monteith (P-M) ET_o. Experiments were conducted to compare the effectiveness of different irrigation levels, ranging from 40, 60, 80, and 100% crop evapotranspiration (ET_c), on plant growth and the irrigation water productivity (WP_I). During the 46-day experimental period, cabbage growth and WP_I were higher in the FS and KMA 60% ET_c levels compared to other irrigation levels, with water usage of 8.90 and 9.07 L/plant, respectively. In the ML treatment, cabbage growth and WP_I were higher in the 80% ET_c level compared to other irrigation levels, with water usage of 8.93 L/plant. These results demonstrated that irrigation amounts of approximately 9 L/plant provided the optimal balance between plant growth and water conservation over 46 days. This system presents a promising solution for improving crop yield while conserving water resources in agricultural environments. Full article

Soil is one of the most important factors of agricultural productivity, directly influencing crop growth, water management, and overall yield. However, inefficient soil moisture monitoring methods, such as manual observation and gravimetric in rural areas, often lead to overwatering or underwatering, wasting resources and reduced yields, and harming soil health. This study offers a digital twin approach for soil moisture measurement, integrating real-time physical data, virtual simulations, and machine learning to classify soil moisture conditions. The digital twin is proposed as a virtual representation of physical soil designed to replicate real-world behavior. We used a multispectral rotocam, and high-resolution soil images were captured under controlled conditions. Physically based rendering (PBR) materials were created from these data and implemented in a game engine to simulate soil properties accurately. Image processing techniques were applied to extract key features, followed by machine learning algorithms to classify soil moisture levels (wet, normal, dry). Our results demonstrate that the Soil Digital Twin replicates real-world behavior, with the Random Forest model achieving a high classification accuracy of 96.66% compared to actual soil. This data-driven approach conveys the potential of the Soil Digital Twin to enhance precision farming initiatives and water use efficiency for sustainable agriculture. Full article

Industrial agriculture, while necessary to meet current food production needs, can have damaging effects on the environment and local water supply. For monitoring purposes, Raman spectra of common fertilizers in solution are measured and presented. Raman spectra of the fertilizer species combined with data from Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) is used to construct an empirical model of contaminant concentration. This work expands upon the authors’ prior work in Raman Spectroscopy of Common Fertilizers in Bulk and in Aqueous Solution, which was presented during the virtual sessions at OSA Optical Sensors and Sensing Congress in 2021 (AIS, FTS, HISE, SENSORS, ES). Full article

This study explores the water consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Yarkand River Basin, focusing on their dynamic interactions across industrial sectors. Utilizing environmental input–output analysis (IOA), the CROPWAT model, and life cycle assessment (LCA), we quantified the historical evolution of physical and virtual water cycles in relation to the water–carbon nexus. Our findings reveal that the planting industry, particularly the production of export-oriented, water-intensive crops like cotton, significantly contributes to both blue and green water consumption, exacerbating regional water scarcity. The persistent external market demand drives this over-extraction, further strained by the basin’s limited water retention capabilities. Although advancements have been made in reducing the per-unit water footprint of crops, total water consumption continues to rise due to agricultural expansion, intensifying pressure on blue water resources. Additionally, agricultural GHG emissions have surged, driven by increased electricity consumption, heavy fertilizer use, and escalating soil N₂O emissions. In light of these challenges, our research underscores the critical need for integrated resource management strategies that align with sustainable development goals. By promoting efficient water allocation within the agricultural sector and diversifying crop structures downstream, we can enhance ecosystem resilience and reduce environmental degradation. Furthermore, the advancement of value-added agricultural processing and the implementation of innovative water conservation technologies are essential for fostering economic sustainability. These strategies not only mitigate the environmental impacts associated with agricultural practices but also strengthen the region’s adaptive capacity in the face of climate change and fluctuating market demands. Our findings contribute to the broader discourse on sustainable agricultural practices, emphasizing the interconnectedness of water management, climate resilience, and economic viability in arid regions. Full article

Agricultural water productivity is crucial for sustainability amidst the escalating demand for food. Cereals are pivotal in providing nutritious food at affordable prices. This study was based on Ghanaian data spanning from 1992 to 2021 to evaluate water usage in the cultivation of major cereals. It also examined the virtual water losses or gains in cereal trade alongside influencing factors. The analysis utilized secondary data encompassing the virtual water content, production quantity, export and import quantities, distance, GDP per capita, population, and land per capita of Ghana and its 75 trade partners. In the last 5 years, crop water use (CWU) reached an average of 7.08 billion m³/yr for maize, 3.48 billion m³/yr for rice, 1.08 billion m³/yr for sorghum, and 0.63 billion m³/yr for millet production. Ghana’s major partners for exported virtual water (EVW) were Niger, Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Togo. Major partners for imported virtual water (IVW) were Argentina, South Africa, Ukraine, Togo, Russia, Burkina Faso, Canada, Senegal, Nigeria, Portugal, UK, Niger, and the USA. The Panel Least Squares Method of regression was used to apply the Gravity Model principle in assessing influencing factors. The findings indicate that Ghana is a net importer of virtual water in the cereal trade, with significant influences from geographical distance, GDP per capita, population, land per capita, and cereal water use. Full article

Argentina stands as the leading producer and exporter of olive products in the Americas, with the province of La Rioja as its main productive area. Since the 1990s, the olive grove cultivated area and related agro-industry in La Rioja have expanded. However, the resulting wastewater has generally been neglected. The water footprint (WF) provides information about the water volume consumed and polluted by a production process. Since the 1990s, agricultural and agro-industrial activities in La Rioja have experienced substantial growth. This study aims to analyze the generation, quality, and management of Oil Mill Wastewater (OMWW) using the grey WF of chloride and nitrate as an indicator and focusing on two olive mills (OM) in La Rioja. Additionally, it seeks to examine the relationship between the international trade of provincial olive oil and the estimated grey WF. For the diagnosis of OMWW generation, a description of the production process was made coupled with flow and physico-chemical characterization. The total grey WF was 8.69 and 45.5 L water/L olive oil for OM 1 and OM 2, respectively. Nitrate was identified as the critical pollutant. The grey virtual water export related to the export of olive oil was 5569 m³ for OM 1 and 28,000 m³ for OM 2. The provincial grey virtual water export related to olive oil was 161,955 m³ with major trade destinations including Spain, the United States, and Brazil. The article analyses for the first time the grey WF of olive oil industries and assess the related grey virtual water exports. This research represents a step forward in the knowledge of wastewater management in the olive oil sector and facilitates the search for solutions to minimize negative environmental impacts while promoting cleaner production. Full article

In West Africa, the construction of small earth dams is common against water scarcity. Burkina Faso, an inland country in West Africa, is home to 1001 dams that serve agricultural and pastoral needs. These embankments are predominantly made of compacted laterite, a cost-effective material abundant in over 2/3 of the country. However, these dams degrade over time, hindering their functionality. This study aims to establish a catalog of typical degradation occurring on small dams in Burkina Faso, which is virtually non-existent in the region while identifying and analyzing the potential causes. The study uses a diagnostic analysis followed up with technical visits on a representative sample of 24 dams in the Centre and Centre-South regions as a basis for future studies. The results reveal that these dams were constructed between 1965 and 2018, with capacities ranging from 150,000 to 4,740,000 m³. 33% of these dams have undergone total failure, likely attributed to factors such as internal erosion, pore overpressures, settlement, and deformation. Although 67% of the dams remain functional, their structural integrity could be improved. Erosion observed in riprap indicates vulnerability during high flood periods. Additionally, the absence of proper maintenance, as shown by the vegetation development weakening embankments, contributes to deterioration. The analysis also suggests that variability in construction techniques and lateritic material properties across time and regions may further exacerbate degradation. These findings inform infrastructure improvements and policy development for sustainable water resource management in Burkina Faso and similar regions. Full article