IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v311y2025ics0378377425000800.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Irrigation technology, irrigation dose, and crop genetic impacts on alfalfa yield and quality

Author

Listed:
  • Crookston, Bradley S.
  • Boren, Dakota
  • Yost, Matt
  • Sullivan, Tina
  • Creech, Earl
  • Barker, Burdette
  • Reid, Cheyenne

Abstract

In water limited environments, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is often criticized for its high water use, prompting interest in optimizing irrigation technologies, deficit irrigation, and drought-tolerant genetics. However, potential cumulative benefits from combining water-saving strategies have not been previously identified. This study evaluated the independent and combined effects of five irrigation technologies (low-elevation Nelson advantage, low-elevation precision application, low-elevation spray application, mid-elevation spray application, and mobile drip irrigation), four irrigation doses (growers’ typical full dose, a 25 % reduction, and two 50 % reductions, uniform and growth stated-targeted), and two alfalfa varieties (growers’ conventional and drought-tolerant) across three Utah sites from 2020 to 2022. No interaction effects were found among these factors, indicating that stacking multiple water-saving strategies did not enhance yield or forage quality. Low-elevation sprinkler technologies generally outperformed mid-elevation and mobile drip irrigation, though results varied by environment. Deficit irrigation at 25 % reduction often maintained yields similar to growers’ Full irrigation dose, while 50 % reductions consistently decreased yield by 22–54 %. However, deficit irrigation improved forage quality and water use efficiency. Decision tree models revealed that maximizing relative feed value-adjusted water use efficiency primarily depended on matching irrigation dose and technology to site-specific climate demand rather than applying Full irrigation. These findings suggest that moderate deficit irrigation and low-elevation sprinkler technologies can improve forage quality and water resource efficiency without substantial yield loss that occurs with 50 % deficit irrigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Crookston, Bradley S. & Boren, Dakota & Yost, Matt & Sullivan, Tina & Creech, Earl & Barker, Burdette & Reid, Cheyenne, 2025. "Irrigation technology, irrigation dose, and crop genetic impacts on alfalfa yield and quality," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:311:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425000800
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109366
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425000800
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109366?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan M. Sitterson & Allan A. Andales & Daniel F. Mooney & Maria Cristina Capurro & Joe E. Brummer, 2023. "Developing a Crop Water Production Function for Alfalfa under Deficit Irrigation: A Case Study in Eastern Colorado," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, April.
    2. A. Park Williams & Benjamin I. Cook & Jason E. Smerdon, 2022. "Rapid intensification of the emerging southwestern North American megadrought in 2020–2021," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(3), pages 232-234, March.
    3. Geerts, Sam & Raes, Dirk, 2009. "Deficit irrigation as an on-farm strategy to maximize crop water productivity in dry areas," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(9), pages 1275-1284, September.
    4. Liu, Minguo & Wang, Zikui & Mu, Le & Xu, Rui & Yang, Huimin, 2021. "Effect of regulated deficit irrigation on alfalfa performance under two irrigation systems in the inland arid area of midwestern China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    5. Hanson, Blaine & Putnam, Dan & Snyder, Richard, 2007. "Deficit irrigation of alfalfa as a strategy for providing water for water-short areas," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 73-80, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Maona & Zhang, Yunlong & Ma, Chizhen & Sun, Hongren & Ren, Wei & Wang, Xianguo, 2023. "Maximizing the water productivity and economic returns of alfalfa by deficit irrigation in China: A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    2. Usha Poudel & Haroon Stephen & Sajjad Ahmad, 2021. "Evaluating Irrigation Performance and Water Productivity Using EEFlux ET and NDVI," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-26, July.
    3. Stepanovic, Strahinja & Rudnick, Daran & Kruger, Greg, 2021. "Impact of maize hybrid selection on water productivity under deficit irrigation in semiarid western Nebraska," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    4. Singh, Sukhbir & Angadi, Sangamesh V. & Grover, Kulbhushan K. & Hilaire, Rolston St. & Begna, Sultan, 2016. "Effect of growth stage based irrigation on soil water extraction and water use efficiency of spring safflower cultivars," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 432-439.
    5. Koffi Djaman & Suat Irmak & Komlan Koudahe & Samuel Allen, 2021. "Irrigation Management in Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) Production: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, February.
    6. Giulio Sperandio & Mauro Pagano & Andrea Acampora & Vincenzo Civitarese & Carla Cedrola & Paolo Mattei & Roberto Tomasone, 2022. "Deficit Irrigation for Efficiency and Water Saving in Poplar Plantations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    7. Motazedian, Azam & Kazemeini, Seyed Abdolreza & Bahrani, Mohammad Jafar, 2019. "Sweet corn growth and GrainYield as influenced by irrigation and wheat residue management," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Zhang, Liyuan & Zhang, Huihui & Zhu, Qingzhen & Niu, Yaxiao, 2023. "Further investigating the performance of crop water stress index for maize from baseline fluctuation, effects of environmental factors, and variation of critical value," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    9. Geerts, S. & Raes, D. & Garcia, M., 2010. "Using AquaCrop to derive deficit irrigation schedules," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 213-216, December.
    10. Trevor W. Crosby & Yi Wang, 2021. "Effects of Different Irrigation Management Practices on Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    11. Althoff, Daniel & Filgueiras, Roberto & Dias, Santos Henrique Brant & Rodrigues, Lineu Neiva, 2019. "Impact of sum-of-hourly and daily timesteps in the computations of reference evapotranspiration across the Brazilian territory," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    12. Eric Njuki & Boris E. Bravo-Ureta, 2019. "Examining irrigation productivity in U.S. agriculture using a single-factor approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 125-136, June.
    13. Yuan, Chengfu & Feng, Shaoyuan & Huo, Zailin & Ji, Quanyi, 2019. "Effects of deficit irrigation with saline water on soil water-salt distribution and water use efficiency of maize for seed production in arid Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 424-432.
    14. Wang, Yuhan & Lewis, David J., 2024. "Wildfires and climate change have lowered the economic value of western U.S. forests by altering risk expectations," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    15. Messay Abera & Mekete Dessie & Hailu Kendie Addis & Desale Kidane Asmamaw, 2025. "Modeling Maize Production and Water Productivity Under Deficit Irrigation and Mulching as Sustainable Agricultural Water Management Strategies in Semiarid Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-26, February.
    16. Wagle, Pradeep & Gowda, Prasanna H. & Northup, Brian K., 2019. "Dynamics of evapotranspiration over a non-irrigated alfalfa field in the Southern Great Plains of the United States," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 1-1.
    17. Foster, T. & Brozović, N., 2018. "Simulating Crop-Water Production Functions Using Crop Growth Models to Support Water Policy Assessments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 9-21.
    18. Soto-García, M. & Martínez-Alvarez, V. & García-Bastida, P.A. & Alcon, F. & Martin-Gorriz, B., 2013. "Effect of water scarcity and modernisation on the performance of irrigation districts in south-eastern Spain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 11-19.
    19. Alomran, Abdulrasoul Mosa & Louki, Ibrahim Idriss, 2024. "Impact of irrigation systems on water saving and yield of greenhouse and open field cucumber production in Saudi Arabia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    20. Neal, J.S. & Fulkerson, W.J. & Hacker, R.B., 2011. "Differences in water use efficiency among annual forages used by the dairy industry under optimum and deficit irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(5), pages 759-774, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:311:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425000800. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.