Moving beyond ‘more crop per drop’: insights from two decades of research on agricultural water productivity

ABSTRACT

Concern over increasing water scarcity has led to the introduction of the concept of agricultural water productivity and an emphasis on interventions to achieve ‘more crop per drop’. Yet, a strong debate continues on how the concept is to be defined and used. Drawing largely from the irrigation literature, the origins of the concept and its methodological developments are reviewed, and its use in applied work over two decades is discussed. Based on this analysis of conceptual and applied research, key insights into the concept’s contributions and limitations are presented, as well as opportunities for further refinements.     

Commercial farmers’ strategies to control water resources in South Africa: an empirical view of reform

This article shows how large-scale commercial farmers, individually and collectively, are responding to land and water reform processes in the Thukela River basin, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. With a high degree of innovative agency, commercial farmers have effectively executed four strategies, enabling them to adapt and use their access to resources to neutralize multiple water reform efforts that once promised to be catalysts for inclusive change in the post-apartheid era. It is likely that policy alone will not facilitate the envisioned transformation, if local practices are not sufficiently understood and anticipated by the governmental officials charged with the implementation of water reform processes.     

Laboratory evaluation of dripper performance

The catch can method is traditionally used for evaluating performance of drip systems. Two variations of this method are commonly applied in laboratory testing of drippers: the sequential and the simultaneous method. This study compared uniformity and measurement uncertainty of the two methods, with the overall aim of improving irrigation water management. The simultaneous method was found to have a lower coefficient of variation (C_v) and measurement uncertainty, indicating that it is more accurate than the sequential method. In all the tests, however, the C_v was determined to be <5%, which is acceptable as per the current reference standard.     

一种适用于屋面绿化的种植层结构

针对屋面绿化的种植层容易流失的情况，介绍了一种适用于屋面绿化的种植层结构，通过增设围护结构，提供了一种有效阻止种植基质流失的方法，同时又不影响整体景观效果。     

Studies on pore blocking mechanism and technical feasibility of a hybrid PAC-MF process for reclamation of irrigation water from biotreated POME

An integrated low-cost adsorption (with powdered activated carbon, PAC) and cross-flow membrane filtration (with microfiltration membranes of 0.1 and 0.2 μm pore sizes) process was employed for the treatment of biotreated palm oil mill effluent (POME) to produce irrigation water that is fully benchmarked with water-quality standards. The permeate quality was within the recommended standard for irrigation water, as the concentrations of all critical constituents were well below their recommended values. Sustainability of the process integration was further confirmed with the domination of cake filtration over other blocking mechanisms with higher R² values at all trans-membrane pressures. Suitable extended usage of permeate was found for toilet/urinal flushing.     

雾化布液堆浸某铀矿石的柱浸试验

采用雾化布液新工艺,进行了某铀矿石的小型室内柱浸试验,并对雾化、喷淋、滴淋3种布液方式作了对比。结果表明,雾化布液的均匀性好,矿堆无板结现象,矿石浸出性能较好,浸出周期缩短,液固比小,适宜于某铀矿石的处理。     

堆浸雾化布液条件实验研究

布液是堆浸浸出工艺中一个重要环节之一。本文介绍了一种新的布液方法——雾化布液。用铀矿石模拟矿堆，通过堆浸雾化布液条件实验，得出使用该布液法能得到较高的浸出液铀平均浓度及较高的浸出率，能缩短浸出时间，提高经济效益，从而验证了雾化布液的优越性。为堆浸矿山采用雾化布液提供参考依据。     

Tubular dentin sealer penetration after different final irrigation protocols: A confocal laser scanning microscopy study

The aim of this study was to evaluate tubular dentin sealer penetration, comparing different final irrigation protocols using a conventional needle (CONV), EndoActivator system (EAS), EndoVac system (EVS), and ultrasound (PUI). Initially, fifty‐two first maxillary molars with a single canal in the palatal root, without abrupt curvatures, resorptive processes, or previous endodontic treatment were selected for this study. Then, the crowns were sectioned to obtain palatal roots 15 mm in length. The root canals were prepared with the ProTaper Universal System and irrigated with 5% NaOCl. Afterwards, the specimens were divided into four groups (n. 13), according to the final irrigation protocol: CONV, EAS, EVS, and PUI. After filling, slices at 3 mm and 5 mm from the apex were obtained for analysis by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Two‐way comparisons between the groups and the levels were performed with Games Howell's test (p < .05). Tubular dentin sealer penetration was higher at 5 mm compared with 3 mm from the apex (p < .05). The EAS group showed a higher percentage of tubular dentin sealer penetration, compared with the CONV group, at both levels. At 3 mm, there was no statistically significant difference among EAS, EVS, and PUI; however, these groups showed better performance, compared with the CONV group. At 5 mm, there was no statistically significant difference between the EAS and EVS groups, but both showed higher sealer penetration than the PUI group (p < .05). The EAS and EVS groups achieved better degrees of tubular dentin sealer penetration, compared with the other groups.     

河井双水源联合灌溉调度研究

文章介绍了采用地表水与地下水联合调度,将河水与井水两者有机地结合起来,建立一种农业灌溉水资源开发利用模式,实现农业可持续发展与保护生态环境并举。