Irrigation in Mediterranean Agriculture

335 Pages·2015·11.01 MB·English

Irrigation in Mediterranean Agriculture:
challenges and innovation for the
next decades
Edited by:
Alessandr.o Santini, Nicola Lamaddalena,
Gerardo Severino, Mario Palladino
OPTIONS
mediterraneennes
SERIES A: Mediterranean Seminars
2008 - Number 84
•
CIHEAM

Contents
Foreword .......................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................5
Going from rain to gain: blue and green water management practices - Hamdy A. .............................7
European water directive evaluation and decision support system to improve irrigation
management: RISP-IDRIC Project - Rinaldi M., Ruggieri S., Marcucci C., Loreti F.,
Acutis M., Malagoli C. ....................................................................................................................................15
The Irrigation advisory plan of Campania Region: from research to operational support
for the Water Directive in Agriculture - D’Urso G., D’Antonio A., Vuolo F., De Michele C. ...................25
An integrated solution for superficial water resources management based on complex
distributed models and innovative web technologies - Fiori M., Cau P., Meloni G.C. ..........................33
The effects of mist irrigation on biological and productive behaviour of globe artichoke -
Mauro R., Di Nicola M., Longo A.M.G., Mauromicale G. ..............................................................................41
Ozone and water use efficiency - Mastrorilli M., Fagnano M., Katerji N., Rana G. ...............................47
Tillage system effects upon productivity of Menta x piperita L. - Frabboni L., -
de Simone G., Russo V. .................................................................................................................................55
Peach leaf physiology and irrigation water and light availability - Pliakoni E.,
Kalorizou H., Nanos G.D. .............................................................................................................................61
Crop water status estimated by remote sensing information - Palumbo A.D., Campi P.,
Modugno F., Mastrorilli M. ............................................................................................................................69
Effect of deficit irrigation on olive and olive oil quality during fruit storage - Nanos G.D. ,
Pliakoni E., Daenas D., Amodio M.L., Colelli G. .............................................................................................77
Unravelling the molecular cues of plant adaptation or survival to water deficit - Ambrosone A.,
Costa A., Frusciante L., Monti L., Leone A., Grillo S. ......................................................................................85
Estimating of water requirement and problems related to the application of a technique for rice
irrigation based on intermittent submersion and soil matric potential scheduling - Allavena L. .......93
Estimate of Evapotranspiration Using Surface Energy Fluxes from Landsat TM - Barbagallo S.,
Consoli S., Russo A. .....................................................................................................................................105
Field examination of the hydrological behaviour of a typical vertisol in a cropped area -
Cavazza L., Guarnieri A., Patruno A., Cirillo E., Lorenzini G., Piana S. ..........................................................115
Analysis of the reservoirs operation in on-demand irrigation systems - Elferchichi A.,
Lamaddalena N. ..........................................................................................................................................125
The evapotranspiration of crop protected by windbreak - Campi P., Palumbo A.D.,
Mastrorilli M. ...............................................................................................................................................135
WUE estimation by using direct and indirect modelling of water losses of sugar beet
cropped in a semi-arid environment - Ferrara R.M., Introna M., Martinelli N., Rana G. ........................143
Options Méditerranéennes, A n° 84, 2008 - Irrigation in Mediterranean Agriculture: challenges and
innovation for the next decades
Evaluation of different water content measurement methods to analyze soil water dynamics -
Ventrella D., Castellini M., Di Giacomo E., Giglio L., Campi P., Palumbo A.D., Mastrorilli M. ......................151
Terrain and climate change impact on WUE of durum wheat in a semi-arid hilly catchment -
Ferrara M.R., Introna M., Martinelli N., Rana G. ..........................................................................................161
Water management of olive trees (Olea europaea L.) in a hilly environment of
Central-South Italy - Lavini A., d’Andria R., Patumi M., Morelli G., Tognetti R., Sebastiani L. ....................169
Effects of deficit irrigation on two cherry tomato cultivars in hilly areas - Pulvento C.,
Riccardi M., d’Andria R., Lavini A., Calandrelli D. .......................................................................................177
Response of woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) to different irrigation levels to optimise leaf and
indigo production - Angelini L.G., Bertolacci M. ......................................................................................185
Irrigation strategies to optimise water use efficiency and production in Polygonum tinctorium
Ait, a new indigo delivering crop - Angelini L.G., Bertolacci M. ............................................................193
An evaluation of some drought indices in the monitoring and prediction of agricultura
drought impact in central Italy - Todisco F., Vergni L., Mannocchi F. .....................................................203
Analysis of the performances of methods for the evaluation of soil hydraulic parameters and
of their application in two hydrological models - Baroni G. , Facchi A., Gandolfi C., Ortuani B. ........213
Land surface temperature from remote sensing and from an energy water balance model
for irrigation management - Corbari C., Horeschi D., Ravazzani G., Mancini M. ....................................223
Soil physical quality in a Sicilian agricultural area - Bagarello V., Giangrosso A., Iovino M., Sgroi A. .235
Predicting the water retention characteristic of Sicilian soils by pedotransfer functions -
Antinoro C., Bagarello V., Castellini M., Giangrosso A., Giordano G., Iovino M., Sgroi A. ............................245
Water resource management at district level. First results of AQUATER research project -
Rinaldi M., Acutis M., Castrignanò A., D’Urso G., Mastrorilli M., Mattia F., Rana G., Ventrella D. ...............257
A comparison between a traditional and a geometrical supervised classifier to produce
land cover Maps from. POT5 images - Fiorentino C., Castrignanò A., Giglio L., Di Giacomo E.,
Castellini M., Lopez R., Ventrella D. .............................................................................................................267
Assessing agro-hydrological models to schedule irrigation for crops of Mediterranean
environment - Blanda F., Provenzano G., Rallo G., Minacapilli M., C. Agnese ..........................................275
Field and laboratory studies towards better use of saline irrigation water in NW.China -
Tedeschi A., Menenti M., Xian X., Basile A., Huang C., Zong Li, De Mascellis R., Orefice N. .......................285
Preliminary analysis of salinity distribution in a solute transport process at field-scale -
Comegna A., Severino G., Sommella A. .......................................................................................................297
Hydro-salinity balance to monitor soil salinity at field scale due to brackish irrigation water -
Libutti A., Florio M., Monteleone M., Disciglio G., Tarantino E. ....................................................................301
Effects of electrical conductivity of irrigation water on the growth and production of
Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme grown in greenhouse - Marchese M., Tuttobene R.,
Restuccia A., Longo A.M.G., Mauromicale G., Restuccia G. .........................................................................311
Spatial Variability of Solute Transport Mechanisms Based on
Generalized Transfer Function Model - Ciollaro G., Comegna A., Coppola A., Kassab M.,
Hassan S., Lamaddalena N. .........................................................................................................................317
2 Options Méditerranéennes A 84
Foreword
During recent years there has been much progress in understanding soil hydrological processes
and their parameterisation in the management of water resources. The advances in research
has produced the innovative methodologies which are ready for being transferred to operative
applications of great impact on the management of water and land resources. In the same time,
technological developments of new generation of measurement methods provide the opportunity
for new observational and modelling perspectives.
The aim of this International Conference is to provide a link between operational applications
and future trends in water and soil management for improving the sustainability of irrigation, also
considering the indication of U.E. Water Directive n.2000/60.
The Conference is organised in the framework of activities of GRU.S.I. (Gruppo Studio Irrigazione/
Irrigation Study Group), with the sponsorship of Italian Association of Agricultural Engineering
(AIIA- Section 1), European Association of Agricultural Engineering (EurAgEng), Italian Society of
Agronomy (SIA) and Italian Committee of ICID (Ital-ICID).
We would like to express to all the organizers and participants our deep gratitude for the invaluable
job they have been carrying out for long time within the framework of the GRU.S.I..
Alessandro Santini Cosimo Lacirignola
Professor at Napoli University - Federico II Director of IAMB
Options Méditerranéennes, A n° 84, 2008 - Irrigation in Mediterranean Agriculture: challenges and
innovation for the next decades

Introduction
This special issue of Options Méditerranéennes collects selected contributions presented at the
International Conference “Irrigation In Mediterranean Agriculture: Challenges And Innovation For
The Next Decades”, organised by the University of Naples Federico II and the Italian Group for
Studies on Irrigation. The conference has taken place at the Congress Centre “Partenope” of the
Naples University on 17th and 18th June 2008.
The Italian Group for Studies on Irrigation (Gru.S.I.) has been founded in 1962, starting as an
initiative of the National Research Council (C.N.R.) undertaken by a group of academic from
different Universities: Angiolo Crocioni (Torino), Raffaele Barbieri (Sassari and later Napoli),
Giampiero Ballatore (Palermo) and Luigi Cavazza (Bari and later Bologna). This group, originally
formed by scientists working in agronomy coordinated by Prof. Cavazza, has focused his activity
on the organisation of scientific meetings and conferences, which have been attracting throughout
the years a larger interdisciplinary audience. Following the solicitations of the chairs of the
National Committee of Agricultural Sciences of C.N.R., Franco Scaramuzzi and Gian Tommaso
Scarascia Mugnozza, the group has been extended with the participation of researchers from
different organisations and scientific areas i.e. agricultural hydraulics, chemistry, economy and
pathology among others.
At the very beginning, the group, named GRUCARAI and later on GRUSI, has held regular annual
meetings for coordinating the research activities financed by the C.N.R. in the field of irrigation and
for presenting the results of these researches. Later on, a second meeting has been added, every
time in a different location around Italy and recently in Mediterranean countries with technical
visits to irrigation areas and farms. During each meeting, invited seminars on agronomical and
engineering aspects of irrigation are followed by presentations of most recent research results
and projects output.
The participation to these scientific meetings has always been opened to researchers not directly
involved in C.N.R. funding; as such, the role of the group, initiated as a research coordination, has
evolved in a large interdisciplinary forum on irrigation research. Throughout the years, the GRUSI
has became an informal scientific association gathering, on a voluntary basis, many researchers
and technicians dealing with all different aspects of irrigation and related issues. Even during
a period of critical restrictions on funding, the GRUSI has kept his dynamism and enthusiastic
participation, thus representing an example of motivation based on genuine research interests,
which is in itself a guarantee of success and knowledge advancement.
Presently, the GRUSI involves a participation of about 70-80 people to each meeting, belonging
at 20-30 different Institutions and Organisations, from University to Agricultural Ministry Research
Departments, C.N.R., public and private research and technological centres, all of them dealing
with irrigation and water management in agriculture. Besides the two regular annual meetings, the
GRUSI has also organised 5 larger conferences, with the publication and distribution of proceedings:
in 1967, the conference on “Irrigation problems” (publication on “Quaderno n.50 C.N.R. Problemi
dell’Irrigazione”); in 1969, in Bari, on the “Soil water flow” (publication on “Quaderno n.80 Ricerca
scientifica del C.N.R.”) ; in 1974, in Rome, the “3rd Workshop on Agronomical problems in Irrigation
(publication on “Quaderno n.99 Ricerca scientifica del C.N.R.”); in 1988, in Bologna “Irrigation and

Research” (2 proceedings volumes); in 1998, in Bari, the “5thNational Conference on Irrigation
Research: progresses on the usage of water resources (publication of key-note presentations on
the journal “Irrigazione e Drenaggio”, 4, 2001; publication of proceeding volume).
The research topics have evolved during the GRUSI life. During early years, the focus was
on the production response of herbaceous crops and orchards to different irrigation volumes
throughout the season, and the influence of irrigation methods and scheduling application at
Options Méditerranéennes, A n° 84, 2008 - Irrigation in Mediterranean Agriculture: challenges and
innovation for the next decades