Effects of temperature and growing seasons on crop water requirement: implications on water savings

Abstract

Water savings can be improved through reducing agricultural water consumption. The crop water requirement (CWR) depends on several factors including temperature and growing seasons. This study investigated the effects of temperature and growing seasons on CWR in Saudi Arabia. Increase in temperature by 1°C increased the CWR by 1.9 - 2.9%, 1.9 – 3.0% and 2.2 – 3.8% for dates, alfalfa and wheat respectively. Total CWR was estimated to be 8713 million cubic meters in 2011, which showed an increase of 1.8 – 2.9% for 1°C increase in temperature. CWR for wheat was more sensitive to growing seasons than dates and alfalfa. Empirical relationship was developed to predict the effects of growing seasons on CWR for wheat while changes in CWR for dates and alfalfa were not significant. Through shifting growing seasons and minimizing the effects of temperature for the major crops, significant amount of groundwater may be saved, which can reduce the production of costly desalinated water. 

Keywords: Water resources; conservation; crop water requirement; temperature; growing seasons; policy