Your search found 7 records
1 Akbar, S.; Abbas, A.; Hanjra, M. A.; Khan, S. 2013. Structured analysis of seepage losses in irrigation supply channels for cost-effective investments: case studies from the Southern Murray-Darling Basin of Australia. Irrigation Science, 31(1):11-25. [doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00271-011-0290-4]
Irrigation systems ; Irrigation channels ; Irrigated sites ; Soil texture ; Seepage loss ; Economic aspects ; Investment ; River basins ; Water conservation ; Groundwater ; Catchment areas ; Wastewater treatment / Australia / Murray-Darling Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045578)
(1.01 MB)
Much of inland Australia has been in perpetual drought since 1997 except during 2010 when above average rainfall occurred. It has been the worst drought since 1788 when European settlement began. Water scarcity poses a serious threat to the sustainability of the irrigated agriculture in major irrigation systems across the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). There is a need for water-saving measures and a structured approach to assess water loss in earthen supply channels. This paper presents such an approach to assess and reduce seepage losses for improving irrigation efficiencies. Main elements of this approach are the following: field measurements, hydrologic modelling, potential options for seepage reduction, economic analysis and financing water-saving investments. Using data from two irrigation systems in the southern MDB, a case is made for reducing seepage water losses in irrigation supply channels in a cost-effective manner using low-cost technologies. Increasing the level of security for investments in water-saving programs provides incentives to key stakeholders to achieve water-saving targets. Considering the value of water recovered from reducing seepage loss at irrigation system level, this study demonstrates how reducing just one component (seepage) from the total water losses in irrigation systems can help improve water supplies as well as the environmental flows. Potential options for financing infrastructure improvement for saving irrigation water are proposed and discussed.
2 Abbas, A.; Khan, S.; Hussain, N.; Hanjra, M. A.; Akbar, S. 2011. Characterizing soil salinity in irrigated agriculture using a remote sensing approach. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 10p. (Online first). [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2010.12.00]
Soil salinity ; Irrigated farming ; Land use ; Remote sensing ; Satellite surveys ; Waterlogging ; Reclamation ; Groundwater ; Water quality ; Water table ; Environmental effects / Pakistan / Indus Basin / Faisalabad / Punjab
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045614)
(1.72 MB)
Managing salinity in irrigated agriculture is crucial for minimising its negative environmental impacts and for ensuring the long-term sustainability of irrigated agriculture. It demands establishing rapid monitoring systems that help develop sustainable management plans. Remote sensing offers several advantages over the conventional proximal methods to map and predict areas at salinity risk. This paper presents an integrated approach to characterize soil salinity using remotely-sensed data in the District Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. The IRS-1B LISS-II digital data was acquired and analysed in combination with field data and topographical maps. Remotely-sensed data based salinity indices or band combinations were developed to monitor the occurrence pattern of salt-affected soils. Using supervised maximum likelihood classification, the images were classified into eight land use classes with an overall accuracy of around 90%. The classified images showed that 22.2% of the total area was under salt-affected soils in 1992. The occurrence pattern of salt-affected soils varied with positive and negative trends during 1992–1995 to a minimum of 10.6%. The delineation analysis into levels of saline soils revealed three types based on USDA classification (USDA, 1954). The slightly saline, moderately saline and strongly saline soils during 1992 were in the order of 15%, 3%, and 1% respectively. The interactive behaviour of salinity and sodicity and their combinations showed that saline-sodic soils occurred predominantly ranging from 6.9% to 17.3% of the salt-affected soils. The shallow watertable was found to be of hazardous quality in 28% of the study area. The relationship between salt-affected soils, waterlogged soils and groundwater quality revealed that 60–70% of the salt-affected soils occurred in shallow watertable areas during 1992–1995. The reuse of poor quality groundwater for irrigation and the failure of tile drainage system in the area are likely to further increase the risk of salinisation in the Indus Basin of Pakistan.
3 Akbar, S.; Abbas, A.; Hanjra, M. A.; Khan, S. 2013. Structured analysis of seepage losses in irrigation supply channels for cost-effective investments: case studies from the southern Murray-Darling Basin of Australia. Irrigation Science, 31(1):11-25. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-011-0290-4]
Seepage loss ; River basins ; Drought ; Rain ; Irrigation systems ; Models ; Policy ; Groundwater ; Water table ; Water rates ; Water saving / Australia / Murray-Darling Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: PER Record No: H046018)
(1.05 MB)
Much of inland Australia has been in perpetual drought since 1997 except during 2010 when above average rainfall occurred. It has been the worst drought since 1788 when European settlement began. Water scarcity poses a serious threat to the sustainability of the irrigated agriculture in major irrigation systems across the MurrayDarling Basin (MDB). There is a need for water-saving measures and a structured approach to assess water loss in earthen supply channels. This paper presents such an approach to assess and reduce seepage losses for improving irrigation ef ciencies. Main elements of this approach are the following: eld measurements, hydrologic modelling, potential options for seepage reduction, economic analysis and nancing water-saving investments. Using data from two irrigation systems in the southern MDB, a case is made for reducing seepage water losses in irrigation supply channels in a cost-effective manner using low-cost technologies. Increasing the level of security for investments in water-saving programs provides incentives to key stakeholders to achieve water-saving targets. Considering the value of water recovered from reducing seepage loss at irrigation system level, this study demonstrates how reducing just one component (seepage) from the total water losses in irrigation systems can help improve water supplies as well as the environmental ows. Potential options for nancing infrastructure improvement for saving irrigation water are proposed and discussed.
4 Abbas, A.; Khan, S.; Hussain, N.; Hanjra, M. A.; Akbar, S. 2013. Characterizing soil salinity in irrigated agriculture using a remote sensing approach. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 55-57:43-52. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2010.12.004]
Soil salinity ; Irrigated farming ; Irrigated sites ; Remote sensing ; Land use ; Waterlogging ; Groundwater ; Water quality / Pakistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046019)
(0.06 MB)
Managing salinity in irrigated agriculture is crucial for minimising its negative environmental impacts and for ensuring the long-term sustainability of irrigated agriculture. It demands establishing rapid monitoring systems that help develop sustainable management plans. Remote sensing offers several advantages over the conventional proximal methods to map and predict areas at salinity risk. This paper presents an integrated approach to characterize soil salinity using remotely-sensed data in the District Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. The IRS-1B LISS-II digital data was acquired and analysed in combination with eld data and topographical maps. Remotely-sensed data based salinity indices or band combinations were developed to monitor the occurrence pattern of salt-affected soils. Using supervised maximum likelihood classi cation, the images were classi ed into eight land use classes with an overall accuracy of around 90%. The classi ed images showed that 22.2% of the total area was under salt-affected soils in 1992. The occurrence pattern of salt-affected soils varied with positive and negative trends during 1992–1995 to a minimum of 10.6%. The delineation analysis into levels of saline soils revealed three types based on USDA classi cation (USDA, 1954). The slightly saline, moderately saline and strongly saline soils during 1992 were in the order of 15%, 3%, and 1% respectively. The interactive behaviour of salinity and sodicity and their combinations showed that saline-sodic soils occurred predominantly ranging from 6.9% to 17.3% of the salt-affected soils. The shallow watertable was found to be of hazardous quality in 28% of the study area. The relationship between salt-affected soils, waterlogged soils and groundwater quality revealed that 60–70% of the salt-affected soils occurred in shallow watertable areas during 1992–1995. The reuse of poor quality groundwater for irrigation and the failure of tile drainage system in the area are likely to further increase the risk of salinisation in the Indus Basin of Pakistan.
5 Hanjra, Munir A.; Ferede, T.; Blackwell, J.; Jackson, T. M.; Abbas, A.. 2013. Global food security: facts, issues, interventions and public policy implications. In Hanjra, Munir A. (Ed.). Global food security: emerging issues and economic implications. New York, NY, USA: Nova Science Publishers. pp.1-35. (Global Agriculture Developments)
Food security ; Food production ; Public policy ; Poverty ; Hunger ; Ecosystem services ; Information systems ; Gender ; Social aspects ; Income ; Population growth ; Water management ; Water scarcity
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046150)
(11.63 MB)
The global food security situation and outlook remains delicately imbalanced amid surplus food production and the prevalence of hunger, due to the complex interplay of social, economic, and ecological factors that mediate food security outcomes at various human and institutional scales. A growing population and rising incomes with the resultant nutritional transition of millions more people entering into the middle class are some of the unprecedented challenges that mankind has never handled before. Food production outpaced food demand over the past 50 years due to expansion in crop area and irrigation, as well as supportive policy and institutional interventions that led to the fast and sustained growth in agricultural productivity and improved food security in many parts of the world. However, future predictions point to a slow-down in agricultural productivity and a food-gap mainly in areas across Africa and Asia which are having ongoing food security issues. The problem of food insecurity is expected to worsen due to, among others, rapid population growth and other emerging challenges such as climate change and rising demand for biofuels. Climate change poses complex challenges in terms of increased variability and risk for food producers and the energy and water sectors. The major existing and emerging challenges to global food security are discussed in this chapter, giving relevant examples from around the world. Strategic research priorities are outlined for a range of sectors that underpin global food security, including: agriculture, ecosystem services from agriculture, climate change, international trade, water management solutions, the water-energy-food security nexus, service delivery to smallholders and women farmers, and better governance models and regional priority setting. There is a need to look beyond agriculture and invest in affordable and suitable farm technologies if the problem of food insecurity is to be addressed in a sustainable manner. This requires both revisiting the current approach of agricultural intervention and reorienting the existing agricultural research institutions and policy framework. Proactive interventions and policies for tackling food security are discussed which include issues such as agriculture for development, ecosystem services from agriculture, and gender mainstreaming, to extend the focus on food security within and beyond the agriculture sector, by incorporating cross-cutting issues such as energy security, resource reuse and recovery, social protection programs, and involving civil society in food policy making processes by promoting food sovereignty.
6 Waseem, M.; Jaffry, A. H.; Azam, M.; Ahmad, I.; Abbas, A.; Lee, J.-E. 2022. Spatiotemporal analysis of drought and agriculture standardized residual yield series nexuses across Punjab, Pakistan. Water, 14(3):496. (Special issue: The Impacts of Climate Change on Hydrologic Extremes) [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w14030496]
Drought ; Agriculture ; Crop production ; Wheat ; Crop yield ; Trends ; Time series analysis ; Soil moisture ; Climate change ; Meteorological factors ; Precipitation / Pakistan / Punjab
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050918)
(3.60 MB) (3.60 MB)
Food security for the growing global population is closely associated with the variations in agricultural yield at the regional scale. Based on this perspective, the current study was designed to determine the impacts of drought on wheat production in the Punjab province, which is the agricultural hub of Pakistan. Wheat is a staple food in Pakistan, and Punjab provides a major contribution to the total wheat production of the country. Therefore, Punjab is vital to scientific concerns regarding the evaluation of climatic impacts on the annual wheat yield. The current study offers a better understanding of the drought impacts on wheat in Punjab during 2001–2019. The Standardized Precipitation Index was used to assess the impact of drought stress on the wheat yield. Its temporal evolution indicates the recurrent appearance of drought episodes during the wheat cropping season. Furthermore, meteorological drought was noticed in all study years except for 2019. The results reveal that 2002 experienced severe drought conditions. The frequency of drought was calculated as 29% for SPI-12. The relationships between soil moisture, the Standardized Yield Residual Series (SYRS), and the detrended SPI at lags of 1–12 months indicate that zones 1 and 2 are more sensitive to dry conditions. The results presented in this study provide evidence to authorities responsible for developing policies in the context of natural hazards, particularly droughts, and for preparing drought mitigation plans and implementing the adaptation strategies to minimize the effects of drought on wheat yields.
7 de Oliveira-Junior, J. F.; Shah, M.; Abbas, A.; Iqbal, M. Shahid; Shahzad, R.; de Gois, G.; da Silva, M. V.; da Rosa Ferraz Jardim, A. M.; de Souza, A. 2022. Spatiotemporal analysis of drought and rainfall in Pakistan via Standardized Precipitation Index: homogeneous regions, trend, wavelet, and influence of El Nino-Southern Oscillation. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 149(1-2):843-862. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04082-9]
Drought ; Rain ; Precipitation ; Time series analysis ; El Nino-Southern Oscillation ; Trends ; Spatial distribution ; Meteorological stations / Pakistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051166)
(3.26 MB)
The phenomenon of drought is common in the world, especially in Pakistan. El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences the spatial and temporal variability of drought and rainfall in Pakistan. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to identify homogeneous rainfall regions and their trend regions, as well as the impact of ENSO phases. In this study, monthly rainfall data from 44 weather stations are used during 1980–2019. Moreover, descriptive and exploratory statistics tests (e.g., Pettitt and Mann-Kendall—MK), Sen method, and cluster analysis (CA) are evaluated along with the annual Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) on spatiotemporal scales. ENSO occurrences were classified based on the Oceanic Nino Index (ONI) for region 3.4. Using the cophenetic correlation coefficient (CCC) and a significance level of 5%, seven methods were applied to the rainfall series, with the complete method (CCC > 0.9082) being the best. According to the CA method, Pakistan has four groups of homogeneous rainfall (G1, G2, G3, and G4). Descriptive and exploratory statistics showed that G1 differs from the other groups in size and spatial distribution. Pettitt’s technique identified the most extreme El Niño years in terms of spatial and temporal drought variability, along with the wettest months (March, August, September, June, and December) in Pakistan. Non-significant increases in Pakistan’s annual precipitation were identified via the MK test, with exceptions in the southern and northern regions, respectively. No significant increase in rainfall in Pakistan was found using the Sen method, especially in regions G2, G3, and G4. The severity of the drought in Pakistan is intensified by El Niño events, which demand attention from public managers in the management of water resources, agriculture, and the country’s economy.
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