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Keywords = irrigation water efficiency

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33 pages, 16665 KB  
Article
Optimization of Water–Nitrogen–Salinity Management for Improving Yield, Quality, and Resource Use Efficiency of Pigment Pepper Under Brackish Water Irrigation in Arid Regions
by Xi Yang, Yao Guan, Xinghong He, Jiaxin Sun, Xiaozhe Liu and Yongrui Pang
Plants 2026, 15(17), 2573; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15172573 (registering DOI) - 24 Aug 2026
Abstract
Brackish water utilization provides an alternative strategy for alleviating freshwater scarcity in arid agricultural regions; however, the synergistic regulation of salinity, irrigation, and nitrogen management remains unclear. A two-year field experiment was conducted in 2025 and 2026 to investigate the effects of water–nitrogen–salinity [...] Read more.
Brackish water utilization provides an alternative strategy for alleviating freshwater scarcity in arid agricultural regions; however, the synergistic regulation of salinity, irrigation, and nitrogen management remains unclear. A two-year field experiment was conducted in 2025 and 2026 to investigate the effects of water–nitrogen–salinity interactions on growth, yield formation, resource use efficiency, and fruit quality of pigment pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under arid conditions in Xinjiang, China. An L9(33) orthogonal experimental design was adopted with three levels of brackish water salinity, irrigation amount, and nitrogen application rate. The comprehensive production performance of different management strategies was further evaluated using a combined weighting Cloud–TOPSIS approach. The results showed that water–nitrogen–salinity interactions significantly regulated pigment pepper growth, yield formation, and resource utilization, with consistent responses observed across the two experimental years. Increasing irrigation water salinity reduced leaf chlorophyll content (CHL) and nitrogen balance index (NBI), whereas flavonoid content (FLAV) exhibited an increasing trend under moderate salinity stress. Low-salinity irrigation combined with appropriate water and nitrogen inputs maintained higher photosynthetic capacity and nitrogen nutritional status. Yield, water use efficiency (WUE), and partial factor productivity of nitrogen (PFPN) were jointly affected by salinity, irrigation, and nitrogen supply. Excessive salinity significantly reduced crop productivity, while optimized irrigation and nitrogen management alleviated salt stress effects. The T2 treatment (1 g L−1 salinity, 2400 m3 ha−1 irrigation, and 300 kg ha−1 nitrogen application) achieved the highest yield and maintained favorable WUE and PFPN values in both years. Fruit quality responses demonstrated that moderate salinity promoted capsaicinoid accumulation, whereas excessive salinity restricted biomass production and quality improvement. Correlation analysis revealed that photosynthetic nitrogen metabolism indicators were closely associated with yield formation, while flavonoid accumulation showed stronger relationships with quality attributes. The Cloud–TOPSIS evaluation identified T2 as the optimal management strategy under the experimental conditions by balancing yield, quality, and resource use efficiency. These findings indicate that coordinated regulation of irrigation water salinity, water supply, and nitrogen input is essential for achieving efficient brackish water utilization and sustainable pigment pepper production in arid regions. Full article
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24 pages, 1110 KB  
Article
Evolution and Action Mechanisms of Dual Trade-Offs Under Water-Saving Improvement in Arid Irrigated Zones: Evidence from Ningxia
by Jun Du, Suiju Lv and Shumei Ma
Sustainability 2026, 18(17), 8639; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18178639 (registering DOI) - 24 Aug 2026
Abstract
While continuously promoting agricultural water-saving and efficiency improvement, Ningxia is confronted with problems such as deepening groundwater tables and growing ecological vulnerability. Exploring the trade-off relationships and their evolutionary characteristics between socioeconomic development and water resource carrying capacity, as well as between water [...] Read more.
While continuously promoting agricultural water-saving and efficiency improvement, Ningxia is confronted with problems such as deepening groundwater tables and growing ecological vulnerability. Exploring the trade-off relationships and their evolutionary characteristics between socioeconomic development and water resource carrying capacity, as well as between water use efficiency improvement and groundwater-ecosystem maintenance, is of great significance for coordinated water resource governance in arid irrigation districts. Based on time-series data covering 2000–2024, this paper establishes a DPSIR evaluation model and constructs a progressive quantitative analytical framework coupling the entropy-weight-Tapio decoupling, rate-scissors difference and PLS-SEM models. During the study period, the growth rate of the response (R) dimension (13.76%) was far higher than that of the state (S) dimension (3.23%) from 2011 to 2020, confirming the objective existence of dual trade-offs. The two categories of trade-offs underwent a three-stage evolution of “latent-intensified-remediation”, showing the counter-intuitive feature of “effective total-volume control alongside continuous groundwater table deepening”. Hidden transmission barriers were identified for 2008–2016 (θ1, θ2 dropped to 0.46–1.32°): the transfer of water-saving dividends to industry caused groundwater extraction to rise rather than fall to a certain extent. PLS-SEM analysis reveals that structural lock-in acts as the core inhibiting factor for ecological protection. The total effect of socioeconomic development on ecology reaches 0.921, whereas structural lock-in produces a chained negative mediating effect of −0.192 by suppressing water use efficiency. Improvement in water use efficiency presents dual characteristics of overall ecological gain and localized groundwater-recharge loss. It can be concluded that engineering-only water-saving measures cannot balance water-intake reduction and recharge deficits. It is necessary to simultaneously advance low-water-consumption cropping-pattern restructuring, rigid enforcement of the 2.5 m ecological groundwater table threshold, and the substitution mechanism for saved-water volume between industry and agriculture, so as to build a coordinated “water-saving-recharge-ecology” regulation system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Water Management)
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23 pages, 5557 KB  
Article
Rainfall Variability Impacts on Runoff and Reservoir Inflow in a Small Mountainous Watershed: SWAT-Based Assessment in the Upper Ing River Basin, Northern Thailand
by Krisdha Thanawong, Asmat Ullah, Kittipong Vuthijumnonk and Kwansirinapa Thanawong
Water 2026, 18(17), 2070; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18172070 - 23 Aug 2026
Abstract
This study investigates the influence of rainfall variability on runoff generation in the Upper Ing River Basin and inflow to the Mae Tum Reservoir in northern Thailand using the physically based Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) version 2012. In small mountainous watersheds, [...] Read more.
This study investigates the influence of rainfall variability on runoff generation in the Upper Ing River Basin and inflow to the Mae Tum Reservoir in northern Thailand using the physically based Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) version 2012. In small mountainous watersheds, water supply reliability for irrigation and domestic use—particularly for unmonitored royal initiated projects like the Mae Tum Reservoir—has become a critical concern due to shifting climatic extremes. A SWAT model was developed using detailed spatial data on topography, land use, and soil characteristics together with long-term daily climate and streamflow records. The model performance at Station I.17 was evaluated through calibration and validation using the R2, Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), and percent bias indices. Rainfall regimes were classified into dry, normal, and wet years based on the mean and standard deviation of 25-year gauge records to drive scenario simulations. The calibrated model reproduced seasonal runoff patterns satisfactorily (monthly NSE up to 0.685 and R2 up to 0.712). The simulations demonstrated the strong sensitivity of both the runoff at Station I.17 and reservoir inflow to interannual rainfall differences, with the annual runoff ranging from 71.5 to 379.7 million m3 and the annual inflow to Mae Tum Reservoir ranging from 28.84 to 48.33 million m3. These findings demonstrate that physically based spatial modeling can effectively replace traditional empirical operating rules, providing a highly transferable framework for runoff forecasting, reservoir inflow assessment, and climate responsive water resources planning in data-scarce tropical mountainous basins. Full article
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21 pages, 10743 KB  
Article
Enhancing Root Growth and Water Use Efficiency of Winter Wheat by Optimizing the Irrigation Amount of Micro-Sprinkler Irrigation
by Mingda Yang, Hui Cao, Jiaju Dong, Suyu Zhang, Hongjie Liu, Jinping Chen, Xiaoyun Zheng, Shenjiao Yang and Shoutian Ma
Plants 2026, 15(16), 2540; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15162540 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 67
Abstract
Conventional irrigation practices, characterized by excessive water application, have diminished water use efficiency (WUE) and intensified agricultural water consumption. Optimizing irrigation schedules and moderately reducing water input are therefore essential for enhancing WUE while safeguarding stable yields. Micro-sprinkler irrigation, which integrates the benefits [...] Read more.
Conventional irrigation practices, characterized by excessive water application, have diminished water use efficiency (WUE) and intensified agricultural water consumption. Optimizing irrigation schedules and moderately reducing water input are therefore essential for enhancing WUE while safeguarding stable yields. Micro-sprinkler irrigation, which integrates the benefits of both drip and sprinkler systems, represents a promising technology with substantial water-saving potential. However, its effects on root development and crop yield remain inadequately investigated. Here, we established three micro-sprinkler irrigation regimes—MS20 (20 mm), MS30 (30 mm), and MS40 (40 mm)—alongside flood irrigation (FI) and rainfed (RF) controls, to systematically assess their impacts on soil water content, root growth traits, dry matter accumulation, yield, and WUE. Compared with FI, MS treatments decreased profile soil water content at jointing but increased it in specific layers during grain filling, albeit to varying extents. MS treatments enhanced total root length density (TRLD) and total root dry weight density (TRDD) relative to FI, with MS20 significantly increasing both parameters in the 20–100 cm soil layer. Moreover, MS20 increased pre-flowering dry matter translocation (PDMT) by 9.69% on average and post-flowering dry matter accumulation (PFDMA) by 15.04% during the 2022–2023 season. Yield and WUE under MS treatments exceeded those under FI by 3.46–6.53% and 4.42–21.21%, respectively. Among the MS treatments, MS20 achieved the highest average WUE. No significant yield or WUE differences were observed between MS20 and MS30, with MS30 producing the numerically maximum average yield. MS40 did not significantly affect yield in 2021–2022; however, it substantially reduced both yield and WUE relative to MS20 and MS30 in 2022–2023. A comprehensive TOPSIS analysis identified the combination of micro-sprinkler irrigation with total seasonal irrigation amounts of 80 mm or 120 mm as the optimal strategy for winter wheat production in the eastern Henan region of the North China Plain (NCP). Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Crop Physiology and Crop Production)
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41 pages, 8371 KB  
Article
Evaluation, Obstacle Diagnosis, and Trend Prediction of Water Resources Conservation and Intensive Utilization Capacity
by Xuexiu Huang, Shuai Zou, Ennan Zheng, Zhijuan Qi, Bo Pang and Yuting Wang
Agriculture 2026, 16(16), 1792; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16161792 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 190
Abstract
Water resource conservation and intensive utilization is an important pathway for promoting sustainable regional water resource management and high-quality development. Against the backdrop of increasing constraints on water resources, existing studies have paid insufficient attention to the multidimensional comprehensive assessment of water resource [...] Read more.
Water resource conservation and intensive utilization is an important pathway for promoting sustainable regional water resource management and high-quality development. Against the backdrop of increasing constraints on water resources, existing studies have paid insufficient attention to the multidimensional comprehensive assessment of water resource conservation and intensive utilization capacity and its underlying evolutionary mechanisms. Therefore, Heilongjiang Province was selected as the study area, and an evaluation system comprising 15 indicators was established. The game-theoretic combination weighting method, TOPSIS model, obstacle degree model, and GM(1,1) grey forecasting model were employed to comprehensively evaluate, diagnose obstacle factors, and predict the trend of water resource conservation and intensive utilization capacity in Heilongjiang Province from 2004 to 2023. The results showed that the overall capacity exhibited a fluctuating upward trend, with the comprehensive evaluation value increasing from 0.44 to 0.62. The industrial water reuse rate, effective utilization coefficient of farmland irrigation water, comprehensive water consumption rate, per capita water consumption, and ecological water use rate were the indicators with relatively high obstacle contributions. The obstacle factors exhibited distinct stage-specific characteristics: the constraining effects of efficiency-related indicators gradually weakened, whereas those of the comprehensive water consumption rate and per capita water consumption generally intensified, indicating that the factors constraining water resource conservation and intensive utilization in Heilongjiang Province underwent distinct stage-specific changes. The prediction results indicated that the capacity for water resource conservation and intensive utilization in Heilongjiang Province would continue to increase steadily in the future. However, balancing ecological water use requirements with growing water demand remains an important factor affecting sustainable water resource utilization. The evaluation–diagnosis–prediction framework developed in this study can provide a reference for the assessment and optimized management of regional water resource conservation and intensive utilization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Agricultural Water Management)
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21 pages, 8588 KB  
Article
Assessing Water-Governance Fragility in a Water-Scarce Agricultural Area of Northern Mexico
by Gabriel López Porras, Gilberto Sandino-Aquino de Los Ríos, Leonor Cortés-Palacios and Lauro Manuel Espino Enríquez
Water 2026, 18(16), 2051; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18162051 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 334
Abstract
Freshwater scarcity can weaken water governance when hydrological pressure interacts with intensive agricultural demand, regulatory weakness, and political conflict. This research evaluates whether Irrigation District 005 (IR 005) in Chihuahua, northern Mexico, demonstrates local water-governance fragility across three domains: public security, the rule [...] Read more.
Freshwater scarcity can weaken water governance when hydrological pressure interacts with intensive agricultural demand, regulatory weakness, and political conflict. This research evaluates whether Irrigation District 005 (IR 005) in Chihuahua, northern Mexico, demonstrates local water-governance fragility across three domains: public security, the rule of law, and the ability to sustain water access and food production. A mixed-methods approach integrates legal and human rights documentation, institutional records, published studies, and a structured media review with hydrological, agricultural, climatic, and reservoir data. Water balances were analysed for 1998–2023, precipitation trends for 1980–2020, and crop water requirements were estimated using the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56 (FAO-56) Penman–Monteith framework, the crop coefficient (Kc), the water-stress coefficient (Ks), the United States Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Curve Number method, and application-efficiency assumptions. The 2020 water conflict resulted in fatalities, injuries, arrests, and documented human rights violations. Rule-of-law capacity was further diminished by unauthorised withdrawals, cultivation beyond authorised irrigation plans, and limited enforcement. The annual water balance shifted to persistent deficits after 2016, reaching an estimated deficit of 2268 cubic hectometres (hm3) in 2020. Annual precipitation did not exhibit a statistically significant monotonic decline during 1980–2020 (Mann–Kendall Z = −0.79, τ = −0.0878, p = 0.4251; Sen’s slope = −1.1628 mm yr−1; Mann–Whitney p = 0.5313), indicating that recent stress is more closely linked to production scale, crop mix, governance conditions, and irrigation efficiency than to a long-term reduction in rainfall. Sensitivity analysis revealed that ±15% changes in Kc and Ks altered gross water requirements by approximately ±16–17%, while equivalent changes in effective precipitation produced changes of only 1–3%. These results demonstrate heightened water-governance fragility resulting from mutually reinforcing hydrological, institutional, and conflict-related pressures. Future research should refine locally calibrated water-demand parameters and develop reproducible monitoring systems that combine hydrological, institutional, satellite, and participatory data to support anticipatory, transparent, and rights-based water governance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Water Use and Scarcity)
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26 pages, 45260 KB  
Article
Asynchronous Responses of Ecosystem Carbon Gain and Groundwater Storage Under Ecological Restoration in the Loess Plateau
by Yifei Ma, Qiaoli Wu, Shaoyuan Chen, Jinling Song and Jie Jiang
Remote Sens. 2026, 18(16), 2822; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18162822 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 154
Abstract
Since the implementation of the Grain-for-Green Program (GGP), vegetation across the Loess Plateau (LP) has substantially recovered. However, whether the associated increase in ecosystem carbon gain was accompanied by a proportional increase in water consumption and whether groundwater storage changed synchronously remain unclear. [...] Read more.
Since the implementation of the Grain-for-Green Program (GGP), vegetation across the Loess Plateau (LP) has substantially recovered. However, whether the associated increase in ecosystem carbon gain was accompanied by a proportional increase in water consumption and whether groundwater storage changed synchronously remain unclear. This study integrated multi-source remote sensing products, GLDAS-Noah land-surface assimilation data, GRACE/GRACE-FO satellite gravimetry, irrigation water-use data, provincial water-use statistics, and coal-resource information to examine long-term changes in gross primary productivity (GPP), evapotranspiration (ET), water-use efficiency (WUE), soil moisture (SM), and groundwater storage anomaly (GWSA) during 2002–2023. GPP increased significantly by 10.67 g C m−2 yr−1 (p<0.01), whereas ET increased more modestly by 1.97 mm yr−1 (p<0.05). The relative growth rate of GPP (1.66%) was approximately 3.5 times that of ET (0.47%), and WUE increased by 0.018 g C m−2 mm−1 yr−1 (p<0.01). In the XGBoost–SHAP models for 2004–2019, LAI showed the strongest model-based association with GPP and WUE, whereas ET was associated more broadly with LAI, air temperature, and precipitation. SM declined during 2002–2015 but showed an increasing tendency during 2016–2023, particularly in the middle and deep layers. The long-term GWSA slopes derived from CSR and JPL were −8.707 and −9.505 mm yr−1, respectively, and the averaged CSR–JPL GWSA series showed a Sen’s slope of −9.131 mm yr−1. GWSA declined during 2002–2020 and showed only a short-term, nonsignificant increase during 2020–2023 (4.110 mm yr−1, p>0.05). These contrasting trajectories indicate that increases in surface carbon uptake and improvements in soil-water conditions were not accompanied by synchronous regional groundwater recovery. Overall, the ecological-restoration period was accompanied by increased carbon gain and WUE without a proportional increase in regional ET, while groundwater storage followed a distinct trajectory. These findings provide regional-scale evidence and a quantitative basis for coordinating sustainable water-resource management with ecological-restoration optimization on the LP. Full article
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19 pages, 2984 KB  
Article
Straw Return and Controlled-Release Fertilizers Improve Rice Yield by Alleviating Soil Salinity and Optimizing Nitrogen Uptake in Brackish Water-Irrigated Coastal Saline Soils
by Renzhi Zhu, Yue Dong, Yiting Hu, Shuo Li, Xiuchao Song, Shiwei Guo, Wenlan Feng and Yan Ma
Agriculture 2026, 16(16), 1786; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16161786 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 220
Abstract
Brackish water irrigation induces secondary soil salinization and severe nitrogen (N) leaching, restricting crop N uptake and grain yield. To address these constraints in coastal saline farmlands, a 140-day field soil column experiment was conducted using coastal saline soil with a salinity of [...] Read more.
Brackish water irrigation induces secondary soil salinization and severe nitrogen (N) leaching, restricting crop N uptake and grain yield. To address these constraints in coastal saline farmlands, a 140-day field soil column experiment was conducted using coastal saline soil with a salinity of 2.60 g kg−1. We evaluated the individual and interactive effects of three straw return methods (straw removal (S1), straw incorporation (S2), and straw burial (S3)) and three N fertilizer managements (sole conventional urea (N1), 1:1 mixture of polyurethane-coated urea (PCU) and urea (N2), and sole PCU (N3)) on salt dynamics, rice agronomic traits, root morphological characteristics, N use efficiency (NUE), and yield components. The results indicated no significant interactive effects between straw return methods and N fertilizer managements on the measured variables (p > 0.05). S2 significantly decreased soil salinity and exerted the highest efficiency with regard to salt leaching, thereby promoting rice growth (p < 0.05). PCU markedly optimized root development, as evidenced by increased root tip number, branch number, and root crossing density (p < 0.05), which strengthened water and nutrient uptake, ultimately mitigating detrimental impacts of brackish water irrigation on grain yield and NUE. Notably, PCU application ratios showed no significant differences in crop yield (p > 0.05). Overall, straw incorporation combined with a 1:1 ratio of PCU and urea is verified as the optimal strategy for rice cultivation in brackish water-irrigated coastal saline regions. This practice effectively alleviates brackish water-induced salt stress and elevates crop yield and NUE. The outcomes provide solid scientific references and practical guidance for coordinated water–salt–nutrient management and sustainable utilization of fragile coastal saline soils. Full article
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31 pages, 15014 KB  
Article
Sustainable Hydraulic Design of Water Structures Through Optimal Technical Pairing of Upstream Wing-Wall Geometry and Canal Inside Slopes: HEC-RAS Numerical Investigation
by Mohamed A. Ashour, Tarek S. Abu-Zaid, M. Khairy Ali, Haitham M. Abueleyon and Abdallah A. Abdou
Sustainability 2026, 18(16), 8552; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18168552 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 115
Abstract
Hydraulic structures disturb natural flow patterns, reducing water conveyance efficiency and increasing hydraulic energy losses, thereby affecting the sustainable management of water structures. Entrance-zone geometry, particularly upstream wing-wall configuration and canal inside slope, plays a critical role in controlling flow behavior, energy dissipation, [...] Read more.
Hydraulic structures disturb natural flow patterns, reducing water conveyance efficiency and increasing hydraulic energy losses, thereby affecting the sustainable management of water structures. Entrance-zone geometry, particularly upstream wing-wall configuration and canal inside slope, plays a critical role in controlling flow behavior, energy dissipation, upstream afflux, and hydraulic performance. However, the coupled effects of these geometric parameters have not been systematically investigated. Therefore, this study employed a validated HEC-RAS model to evaluate the combined influence of canal inside slope and upstream wing-wall configuration on the hydraulic performance of irrigation water structures and to support sustainable hydraulic design. Four wing-wall configurations (box, broken, curved, and splayed) and three canal inside slopes (1:1, 3:2, and 2:1) were analyzed under a fixed contraction ratio of 0.6 and upstream Froude numbers ranging from 0.12 to 0.18 under steady subcritical flow conditions. The model was validated against measurements from a 1:10 laboratory flume, demonstrating excellent agreement, with an average variation of 5.75% and coefficients of determination (R2) ranging from 0.97 to 0.99. Gradual entrance transitions significantly improved hydraulic performance by reducing flow disturbances and enhancing flow uniformity. For a canal inside slope of 1:1, the curved wing-wall configuration reduced relative heading-up and energy loss by 18.02% and 46.83%, respectively, whereas the splayed configuration achieved the best overall performance, with corresponding reductions of 27.63% and 73.11% compared with the conventional box configuration. Furthermore, dimensionless predictive equations were developed for the principal hydraulic performance indicators, achieving R2 values of 0.96–0.99 and RMSE values of 0.001–0.01. The proposed framework improves water conveyance efficiency, minimizes hydraulic losses, and provides a validated, cost-effective numerical tool for evaluating alternative design scenarios, reducing reliance on extensive physical experimentation while supporting sustainable irrigation structures and long-term water resources management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Resources and Sustainable Utilization)
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23 pages, 6569 KB  
Article
Performance Assessment of Irrigation Systems and Water Management Practices in Selected Irrigated Schemes in Rwanda
by Sonia Ikundabayo, Jean de Dieu Bazimenyera and Romuald Bagaragaza
Water 2026, 18(16), 2041; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18162041 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 272
Abstract
This study assessed the current status of irrigation systems and water management practices in Rwanda’s irrigated agricultural zones, focusing on the Nasho Government-Funded Irrigation (GFI) scheme in Kirehe District and the Kagitumba Irrigation Scheme in Nyagatare District. A mixed descriptive approach was used, [...] Read more.
This study assessed the current status of irrigation systems and water management practices in Rwanda’s irrigated agricultural zones, focusing on the Nasho Government-Funded Irrigation (GFI) scheme in Kirehe District and the Kagitumba Irrigation Scheme in Nyagatare District. A mixed descriptive approach was used, combining field observations with structured questionnaires administered via KoboToolbox to 224 respondents in Nasho and 188 in Kagitumba. Field observations were used to evaluate the physical condition and functionality of irrigation infrastructure, while questionnaires captured stakeholder perceptions, water management practices, institutional arrangements, and operational challenges. Results show that both irrigation schemes are operational but function below optimal efficiency due to multiple constraints. In Nasho, irrigation performance is primarily affected by sedimentation in canals and reservoirs, pump inefficiencies, and inadequate maintenance practices, resulting in unreliable water delivery. In Kagitumba, despite the use of modern center pivot systems, performance is constrained by pipeline corrosion, pressure losses, sediment-laden water, and uneven water distribution. Across both schemes, more than 80% of respondents reported frequent system failures, while over 95% indicated the absence of formal irrigation scheduling practices. Water management remains largely reactive, with limited preventive maintenance and weak technical capacity among users and institutions. The study concludes that improving irrigation efficiency in Rwanda requires integrated interventions that combine infrastructure rehabilitation, strengthened maintenance systems, improved water governance, and farmer capacity development to enhance sustainable water use and agricultural productivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture)
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18 pages, 2066 KB  
Article
Thermodynamic Sustainability Analysis of Sweet Sorghum Production with Renewable Energy Integration
by Müjdat Öztürk and Arman Ameen
Energies 2026, 19(16), 3912; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19163912 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 168
Abstract
In response to rising global energy demand and sustainability targets, assessing the energy-related efficiency of agricultural products has become a critical issue. Sweet sorghum is widely recognized as a promising energy crop for sustainable biofuel production, thanks to its low water requirements and [...] Read more.
In response to rising global energy demand and sustainability targets, assessing the energy-related efficiency of agricultural products has become a critical issue. Sweet sorghum is widely recognized as a promising energy crop for sustainable biofuel production, thanks to its low water requirements and high biomass productivity. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study provides the first comprehensive cumulative exergy-based evaluation of sweet sorghum production by simultaneously assessing its energy, exergy, and environmental performance using five key indicators: Cumulative Energy Consumption (CEnC, 718.48 MJ/ton), Cumulative Exergy Consumption (CExC, 2031.42 MJ/ton), Cumulative CO2 Emission (CCO2E, 124.01 kg CO2/ton), Cumulative Degree of Perfection (CDP, 2.8) and Renewability Index (RI, 0.64), based on field level data for the production of one ton of sweet sorghum. Input-based analysis revealed that electricity consumption accounted for the largest share of both energy and exergy use, amounting to 334.85 MJ/ton and 1396.32 MJ/ton, respectively. At the same time, irrigation water was identified as a major contributor to carbon emissions. The integration of renewable electricity sources substantially improved system performance, increasing the CDP to 6.32 and the RI to 0.84, corresponding to more than a twofold increase in exergy efficiency and a shift toward a predominantly renewable production system. Overall, the findings highlight the strong potential of sweet sorghum as a sustainable biofuel feedstock and underline the importance of integrated policy and management approaches that simultaneously address energy quality, exergy losses, and carbon emissions in agricultural energy systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Integration into Agricultural and Food Engineering)
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31 pages, 7087 KB  
Article
Crop Water Requirement Prediction in the Chushandian Irrigation District Based on a TCN–Transformer Model
by Jiyou Sun, Yupeng Zhang, Qingqing Tian, Lei Guo and Bo Wang
Agronomy 2026, 16(16), 1600; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy16161600 - 19 Aug 2026
Viewed by 197
Abstract
Water resources are essential for sustainable agricultural development, and accurate crop water requirement prediction is important for improving irrigation efficiency and optimizing water allocation in irrigation districts. This study focused on the Chushandian Irrigation District in Henan Province, China. Reference evapotranspiration (ET [...] Read more.
Water resources are essential for sustainable agricultural development, and accurate crop water requirement prediction is important for improving irrigation efficiency and optimizing water allocation in irrigation districts. This study focused on the Chushandian Irrigation District in Henan Province, China. Reference evapotranspiration (ET0) was calculated using the FAO Penman–Monteith equation, and the monthly crop water requirements (ETC) of wheat, peanut, rapeseed, corn, rice, and vegetables were estimated using crop coefficients (Kc). XGBoost feature importance, Pearson correlation, Mantel, and SHAP analyses were used to examine the meteorological drivers of crop water requirement. Atmospheric pressure showed high nonlinear predictive importance, whereas mean air temperature, relative humidity, and sunshine duration exhibited more consistent physical and statistical relationships with crop water requirement. A process-informed TCN–Transformer framework was then developed for joint and crop-specific prediction. The TCN module extracted local temporal variations, while the Transformer module captured long-term dependencies. In the joint prediction task, the proposed model achieved an R2 of 0.9487 and an RMSE of 33.24 mm, outperforming the LSTM, GRU, and CNN–LSTM baselines. The crop-specific results further demonstrated that the model effectively represented seasonal variations and periods of relatively high water requirement across the six crops. The proposed framework can support monthly water-allocation planning and seasonal irrigation scheduling in multi-cropping irrigation districts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Water Use and Irrigation)
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17 pages, 7691 KB  
Article
Quantifying the Fate of 15N-Labeled Fertilizer in a Soil–Sunflower System as Affected by Irrigation and Biochar Management on Coastal Saline–Alkali Land
by Qian Yang, Qiu Jin, Shanshan Shen, Yujie Zhang, Tinghe Wang, Yin Yang, Meixiang Xie, Yuru Gao, Jie Wang, Maomao Hou and Junyang Lu
Water 2026, 18(16), 2026; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18162026 - 19 Aug 2026
Viewed by 233
Abstract
Reclaiming coastal saline–alkali land is important for food security, yet little is known about how irrigation and biochar jointly affect the fate of fertilizer nitrogen in these soils. Using 15N isotope tracing, this field experiment tracked the distribution and recovery of labeled [...] Read more.
Reclaiming coastal saline–alkali land is important for food security, yet little is known about how irrigation and biochar jointly affect the fate of fertilizer nitrogen in these soils. Using 15N isotope tracing, this field experiment tracked the distribution and recovery of labeled fertilizer in a soil–sunflower system under three irrigation quotas (8, 16, and 24 mm per event, applied every 10 days) and four biochar rates (0, 3, 5, and 7 t·ha−1). After harvest, approximately 73% of residual 15N remained in the 0–40 cm topsoil, with organic-bound N as the dominant fraction (72–74%). Mineral 15N increased with soil depth, indicating downward movement with water flow. Within sunflower plants, labeled N accumulation followed the order flower head > stem > leaf > root, with heads containing 11–12 times more 15N than roots, confirming active transport to reproductive organs. Overall 15N use efficiency ranged from 18.8% to 24.9% across treatments. Increasing biochar rate enhanced 15NUE by up to 28.2% under the same irrigation regime, whereas raising irrigation from 16 mm to 24 mm reduced 15NUE by 3.2–3.8%. Mass balance analysis showed that moderate irrigation (16 mm) combined with high biochar (7 t·ha−1) achieved the highest plant 15N recovery (24.9%), maintained 70.0% of labeled N in soil, and limited unaccounted 15N to only 5.1%. These findings demonstrate that integrated water–biochar management can optimize fertilizer N retention and crop uptake in coastal saline–alkali soils, providing a scientific basis for precision fertilization in these degraded lands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biochar-Based Systems for Agricultural Water Management)
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46 pages, 6895 KB  
Review
Mediterranean Ornamental Horticulture Under Climate Change: Impacts and Adaptation Strategies—A Systematic Review
by Emmanouela Kamperi, Apostolos-Emmanouil Bazanis and Konstantinos Bertsouklis
Climate 2026, 14(8), 167; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli14080167 - 18 Aug 2026
Viewed by 635
Abstract
Climate change increasingly threatens Mediterranean ornamental horticulture and green infrastructure through elevated temperatures, prolonged drought conditions, soil salinity, and more frequent extreme weather events. As a result, plant growth, phenology and landscape sustainability are significantly affected. This systematic review aimed to identify and [...] Read more.
Climate change increasingly threatens Mediterranean ornamental horticulture and green infrastructure through elevated temperatures, prolonged drought conditions, soil salinity, and more frequent extreme weather events. As a result, plant growth, phenology and landscape sustainability are significantly affected. This systematic review aimed to identify and qualitatively synthesize the available evidence on the responses of ornamental plants and their production and end use systems to climate-related stress, with emphasis on Mediterranean native species and their potential contribution to climate-resilient landscaping. The review was conducted and reported in accordance with PRISMA 2020. An adapted Population–Exposure–Outcome framework was used to operationalize the overarching review question and guide eligibility assessment. Scopus and the Web of Science Core Collection were systematically searched for peer-reviewed English-language articles published between 1 January 2001 and 31 May 2026. Eligible publications examined ornamental plants, floricultural species, or native and endemic taxa with potential ornamental or landscape use and addressed climate-related stressors, plant resilience, adaptation strategies, cultivation or propagation practices, green-infrastructure applications, or related ecological trade-offs in Mediterranean-relevant contexts. Two reviewers independently assessed titles, abstracts, and full texts using predefined eligibility criteria. The review used a structured qualitative narrative synthesis organized into thematic domains to systematically identify, select, and synthesize the available evidence. Meta-analysis was not undertaken because of substantial heterogeneity in plant material, environmental stressors, study designs, and reported outcomes. A total of ninety studies were included and organized into five domains: climate stress and plant responses (n = 14), native Mediterranean ornamental species (n = 21), adaptation and resilience strategies (n = 16), urban landscaping and green infrastructure (n = 25), and ecological risks and invasive species (n = 14). The review revealed that several native Mediterranean plants possess morphological, physiological, or ecological characteristics associated with tolerance to drought, salinity, and other climate-related stresses, supporting their potential use in sustainable ornamental horticulture. Water-efficient irrigation, alternative water sources and substrates, nursery preconditioning, non-microbial biostimulants, and genotype or physiological screening showed adaptation potential, but their effectiveness depended on species, genotype, intervention intensity, and application context. Evidence remained limited for compound stresses, combined interventions, nursery-to-landscape transfer, long-term field performance, commercial scalability, and environmental trade-offs. Overall, climate-resilient ornamental horticulture requires the integration of plant selection, propagation, production, controlled stress screening, landscape validation, and ecological-risk assessment. This review proposes an evidence-to-application framework to support research, nursery production, landscape planning, and the responsible deployment of climate-adapted ornamental plants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Variability in the Mediterranean Region (Second Edition))
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19 pages, 9367 KB  
Article
Sustainable Management of Air-Conditioning Systems Condensate Water Recovery
by Rosa M. Woo-García, Edith Osorio-de-la-Rosa, Mirna Valdez-Hernández, Felipe Caballero-Briones, Adrián Sánchez-Vidal, Raúl Juárez-Aguirre, Carlos A. Cerón-Álvarez and Francisco López-Huerta
Sustainability 2026, 18(16), 8427; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18168427 - 17 Aug 2026
Viewed by 232
Abstract
The global water crisis represents one of humanity’s most pressing challenges, with over 2 billion people lacking access to safely managed drinking water. This study presents the implementation and evaluation of an innovative air-conditioning condensate recovery system at Building F of the Faculty [...] Read more.
The global water crisis represents one of humanity’s most pressing challenges, with over 2 billion people lacking access to safely managed drinking water. This study presents the implementation and evaluation of an innovative air-conditioning condensate recovery system at Building F of the Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (FIEE), Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico. The system integrates twenty-six 24,000 BTU air-conditioning units across twelve classrooms and two laboratories, recovering approximately 520 L of condensate water daily. An initial physicochemical characterization of the recovered condensate was conducted through pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and total dissolved solids (TDS) measurements. In addition, the dried residue obtained after evaporation of the condensate was examined using semi-quantitative X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. The XRF results describe the relative elemental composition of the dried residue and must not be interpreted as aqueous concentrations or as evidence of compliance with water-quality standards. The recovery system includes a nominal 0.5 µm polypropylene sediment cartridge, activated-carbon filtration, and a Crystolite® treatment medium. Because paired measurements before and after treatment were not performed, the removal efficiencies of these components were not determined. The recovered water is subsequently stored and processed in a dual-tank configuration: a primary 3300 L storage system and a secondary 200 L tank used to prepare fertilizer-amended condensate for ornamental-plant irrigation. A fully water-soluble monopotassium phosphate fertilizer (MKP, 0 (–52–34) was incorporated at a gravimetric proportion of 1:10 (1 g MKP per 10 g recovered condensate water). Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Water Management)
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