{"id":1952,"date":"2021-09-10T02:49:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T02:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/?p=1952"},"modified":"2023-03-01T02:29:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T02:29:21","slug":"regional-impacts-of-on-farm-water-savings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/latest-news\/2021\/09\/10\/regional-impacts-of-on-farm-water-savings\/","title":{"rendered":"Regional impacts of on-farm water savings"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1952\" class=\"elementor elementor-1952\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-77dc46e3 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"77dc46e3\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-359da7ae\" data-id=\"359da7ae\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-4c030e1d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4c030e1d\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-51e25970\" data-id=\"51e25970\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3a44e820 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3a44e820\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.10.2 - 29-01-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#818a91;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#818a91;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p class=\"\">There are concerns across the Indo-Gangetic Plains about falling groundwater tables and the implied unsustainable use of groundwater, often attributed to dry season irrigation. The Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) has thus far seen less development of dry season irrigation, apart from some areas of northwest Bangladesh. However, increased population and increasing demands for food in the region are likely to see increased intensification of agriculture and more use of irrigation. The obvious concern is that the experience of severe groundwater decline elsewhere in the region will be repeated.<\/p><p class=\"\">One potential remedy for combatting the unsustainable use of groundwater is to use farm management techniques, including conservation agriculture (CA), which promote water saving. But does this really save water at the regional scale? We combined a literature review and desktop studies in a scoping study to examine this question.<\/p><p class=\"\">We reviewed knowledge and knowledge gaps on the impact of CA and farm-scale water saving measures on regional hydrology. There is a large body of literature showing the benefits of CA in building up the soil and making crop water use more effective. However, more effective water use at the crop scale does not necessarily translate into water savings at the regional scale. Indeed, more effective use at the farm scale may reduce the cost of irrigation and lead to greater use.<\/p><p class=\"\">At the farm scale, field case studies in the EGP show that more efficient application of water can result in less water applied, and farm profitability can be improved particularly through the intensification of cropping. From a farmer\u2019s point of view this is more sustainable than a traditional system. Crop water use modelling also indicates that farm profitability can be improved, but more efficient water application does not necessarily reduce crop evapotranspiration. Indeed, increased productivity of a well-managed CA system might lead to greater crop transpiration. For example, in the case of Boro rice, a CA system with no puddling might require greater water application than a traditional Boro system. Again, this leads to questions around the extent to which water saving measures at the farm scale lead to water saving at the regional scale.<\/p><p class=\"\">In a desk study of the regional water balance in several districts of the EGP, we show that there is a large excess of rain over potential evapotranspiration in the northeastern parts of the region, and the actual evapotranspiration is likely to be close to the potential. Conversely, there is a large deficit of rain to satisfy the evapotranspiration demand in the southwestern parts. This suggests that incentive to save water at the farm scale is likely to be limited in the northeast, but significant in the southwestern parts. Furthermore, the impact of any water saving on the regional hydrology is likely to be more limited in the northeast and greater in the southwest.<\/p><p class=\"\">Groundwater use and temporal trends in groundwater levels vary across the region. There is considerable use of groundwater in northwestern Bangladesh, and use may have reached a potential maximum. There may be opportunity to use more groundwater in the Terai region of Nepal. However, there are several confounding factors in the interpretation of groundwater trends, including the lack of reliable estimates of groundwater use. We discuss examples of large-scale estimates of evapotranspiration using remote sensing techniques, and show that they could help resolve some of the uncertainties in regional water balances and the interpretation of groundwater trends. \u00a0<\/p><p class=\"\">A comprehensive understanding of the EGP\u2019s groundwater resources and their future sustainability linking farm scale activities with the regional or basin scale modelling is needed to underpin sustainable use.<\/p><p class=\"\">The full report is available <a href=\"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/RegionalhydrologyimpactoffarmscalewatersavingEGPFinalRevised-1-1.pdf\">here<\/a>. For more information, contact Dr Mainuddin (Mohammed.Mainuddin@csiro.au).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-383e663c elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"383e663c\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-4b071108\" data-id=\"4b071108\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2ce28111 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2ce28111\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.10.2 - 29-01-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ConorAshleigh-2019-ACIAR-SDIP-WestBengal-webres-667-1.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-2785\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ConorAshleigh-2019-ACIAR-SDIP-WestBengal-webres-667-1.jpeg 2000w, https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ConorAshleigh-2019-ACIAR-SDIP-WestBengal-webres-667-1-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ConorAshleigh-2019-ACIAR-SDIP-WestBengal-webres-667-1-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ConorAshleigh-2019-ACIAR-SDIP-WestBengal-webres-667-1-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ConorAshleigh-2019-ACIAR-SDIP-WestBengal-webres-667-1-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ConorAshleigh-2019-ACIAR-SDIP-WestBengal-webres-667-1-1568x1046.jpeg 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are concerns across the Indo-Gangetic Plains about falling groundwater tables and the implied unsustainable use of groundwater, often attributed to dry season irrigation. The Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) has thus far seen less development of dry season irrigation, apart from some areas of northwest Bangladesh. However, increased population and increasing demands for food in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1952"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4519,"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952\/revisions\/4519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.aciar.gov.au\/sdip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}