Optimal Agricultural Water Management Under Water-deficit Conditions
Location
ECC 216
Event Website
http://water.usu.edu/
Start Date
4-5-2007 5:30 PM
End Date
4-5-2007 5:35 PM
Description
Typically, more than 70% of water use is for irrigation purposes in most parts of the world. In arid to semi-arid regions of the world including states such as Utah, lack of adequate irrigation water affects economic productivity of rural communities. In States such as Utah where water deficits prevail during most irrigation seasons, a decision tool to determine the optimal water allocation between different combinations of land area and crop type for maximum profit will help to improve the irrigation water use efficiency and will also help improve local economies. The purpose of this work is to develop an optimal agricultural water management model for a given irrigation season with known water availability such that the profits can be maximized. The output from the proposed model will provide the optimal land use and crop type for the given season considering costs of production and other local market conditions. The proposed model was applied to northern Utah, specifically to agricultural areas in the Box Elder County, where agriculture is prevalent and water is limiting. The demonstration example considered 10 crops for 7 possible divisions of land areas for a total area of 71,500 acres. The analysis considered different energy options in the production phase and two scenarios. The first scenario used high acreage crops (alfalfa, corn-silage, grass pasture, barely, and wheat) which dominate farms in the area. The second scenario used new patterns of crops (alfalfa, corn, Wheat, soybeans, grain sorghum, and sunflower) which are commonly used in the mid west. The net economic return is calculated for each crop mix, water allocation, and land division combination. An economic tradeoff analysis was performed between five variables: cost, price, profit, yield, and technology. The degree of persistence among the five variables shows conflict with one another. There was a need to develop a tradeoff between these competitive variables to select the best compromising alternative which would give the maximum benefit.
Optimal Agricultural Water Management Under Water-deficit Conditions
ECC 216
Typically, more than 70% of water use is for irrigation purposes in most parts of the world. In arid to semi-arid regions of the world including states such as Utah, lack of adequate irrigation water affects economic productivity of rural communities. In States such as Utah where water deficits prevail during most irrigation seasons, a decision tool to determine the optimal water allocation between different combinations of land area and crop type for maximum profit will help to improve the irrigation water use efficiency and will also help improve local economies. The purpose of this work is to develop an optimal agricultural water management model for a given irrigation season with known water availability such that the profits can be maximized. The output from the proposed model will provide the optimal land use and crop type for the given season considering costs of production and other local market conditions. The proposed model was applied to northern Utah, specifically to agricultural areas in the Box Elder County, where agriculture is prevalent and water is limiting. The demonstration example considered 10 crops for 7 possible divisions of land areas for a total area of 71,500 acres. The analysis considered different energy options in the production phase and two scenarios. The first scenario used high acreage crops (alfalfa, corn-silage, grass pasture, barely, and wheat) which dominate farms in the area. The second scenario used new patterns of crops (alfalfa, corn, Wheat, soybeans, grain sorghum, and sunflower) which are commonly used in the mid west. The net economic return is calculated for each crop mix, water allocation, and land division combination. An economic tradeoff analysis was performed between five variables: cost, price, profit, yield, and technology. The degree of persistence among the five variables shows conflict with one another. There was a need to develop a tradeoff between these competitive variables to select the best compromising alternative which would give the maximum benefit.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/runoff/2007/AllPosters/19