Water-saving strategies for irrigation agriculture in Saudi Arabia |
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| Authors: | S Multsch A S Alquwaizany O A Alharbi M Pahlow H-G Frede L Breuer |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (IFZ), Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany;2. Research Institute for Water and Energy, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;3. Water Management Group, Twente Water Centre, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands;4. Centre for International Development and Environmental Research, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany |
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| 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, km3 yr?1) has decreased (–17%) since the year 2000 to 13.84 km3 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% |
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| Keywords: | SPARE:WATER water footprint agriculture irrigation Saudi Arabia |
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