Water-saving strategies for irrigation agriculture in Saudi Arabia. Issue 2 (4th March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Multsch, S.; Alquwaizany, A. S.; Alharbi, O. A.; Pahlow, M.; Frede, H.-G.; Breuer, L.
• Is Part Of: International journal of water resources development. Volume 33:Issue 2(2017)
• Page Start: 292
• Page End: 309
• Publication Date: 2017-03-04
• Subjects: SPARE:WATER -- water footprint -- agriculture -- irrigation -- Saudi Arabia; Water resources development -- Periodicals; Water-supply, Agricultural -- Periodicals; 333.91005
• DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2016.1168286
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0790-0627

Abstract

Abstract: Agriculture policy changes in Saudi Arabia are investigated by water footprint (WF) assessment. WF is calculated with the model SPARE:WATER for 3758 irrigated sites. The WF of agriculture areas (WFarea, km 3 yr −1 ) has decreased (–17%) since the year 2000 to 13.84 km 3 yr −1 (2011), which is mainly caused by the reduction of cropland by –33%. Nevertheless, water consumption per field has increased about 16%, which can be attributed to the cultivation of fodder crops (+12%). A scenario analysis revealed that a shifting cropping pattern towards less fodder crops reduces WFarea by –15%, and implementing improved irrigation technology leads to a combined reduction of up to 32%