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The water balance of irrigated forages in northern Victoria, Australia

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  • Greenwood, K.L.
  • Lawson, A.R.
  • Kelly, K.B.

Abstract

Knowledge of the components of the water balance - evaporation, transpiration and deep drainage - would be beneficial for targeting productivity improvements for irrigated forages in northern Victoria. We aimed to estimate these components using a simple water balance and the dual crop coefficients provided in FAO-56. Soil water deficits from a field experiment, comparing the water use of six border-check and one spray irrigated forage system, agreed well with the modelled values, except for alfalfa where irrigation intake was restricted. About 85% of the water applied to perennial forages (perennial ryegrass/white clover, tall fescue/white clover and alfalfa) was used for transpiration, 10% for evaporation and 5% was lost as drainage below the root zone. Evaporation was highest from the double-cropped (oats/millet) system (30%) and was 5-25% of the water used by winter-growing annual pastures (Persian clover/Italian ryegrass and both border-check and spray irrigated subterranean clover/Italian ryegrass). The high proportion of water used as transpiration by the perennial forages was due to their high ground cover maintained throughout the year. When compared over similar seasonal conditions, actively growing forages used similar amounts of water, indicating that any increases in water productivity will be mainly due to higher production and/or to matching the growing season of the forage to periods of lower potential evapotranspiration.

Suggested Citation

  • Greenwood, K.L. & Lawson, A.R. & Kelly, K.B., 2009. "The water balance of irrigated forages in northern Victoria, Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(5), pages 847-858, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:96:y:2009:i:5:p:847-858
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vu, Son Hong & Watanabe, Hirozumi & Takagi, Kazuhiro, 2005. "Application of FAO-56 for evaluating evapotranspiration in simulation of pollutant runoff from paddy rice field in Japan," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 195-210, August.
    2. Qassim, Abdi & Dunin, Frank & Bethune, Matthew, 2008. "Water balance of centre pivot irrigated pasture in northern Victoria, Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(5), pages 566-574, May.
    3. Satti, Sudheer R. & Jacobs, Jennifer M. & Irmak, Suat, 2004. "Agricultural water management in a humid region: sensitivity to climate, soil and crop parameters," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 51-65, October.
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    1. Mary-Jane Rogers & Alister Lawson & Kevin Kelly, 2017. "Forage Options for Dairy Farms with Reduced Water Availability in the Southern Murray Darling Basin of Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-20, December.
    2. Pavel Kovář & Darina Vaššová, 2010. "Impact of Arable Land to Grassland Conversion on the Vegetation-period Water Balance of a Small Agricultural Catchment (Němčický Stream)," Soil and Water Research, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 5(4), pages 128-138.
    3. Kisekka, Isaya & Kandelous, Maziar M. & Sanden, Blake & Hopmans, Jan W., 2019. "Uncertainties in leaching assessment in micro-irrigated fields using water balance approach," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 107-115.

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