The impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand, grain yield, and biomass yield of wheat crop in Nepal

The Nepalese Sunsari Morang Irrigation district is the lifeblood of millions of people in the Koshi River basin. Despite its fundamental importance to food security, little is known about the impacts of climate change on future irrigation demand and grain yields in this region. Here, we examined the...

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Autores principales: Kaini, S., Harrison, M.T., Gardner, T., Nepal, Santosh, Sharma, A. K.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125137
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author Kaini, S.
Harrison, M.T.
Gardner, T.
Nepal, Santosh
Sharma, A. K.
author_browse Gardner, T.
Harrison, M.T.
Kaini, S.
Nepal, Santosh
Sharma, A. K.
author_facet Kaini, S.
Harrison, M.T.
Gardner, T.
Nepal, Santosh
Sharma, A. K.
author_sort Kaini, S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The Nepalese Sunsari Morang Irrigation district is the lifeblood of millions of people in the Koshi River basin. Despite its fundamental importance to food security, little is known about the impacts of climate change on future irrigation demand and grain yields in this region. Here, we examined the impacts of climate change on the irrigation demand and grain yield of wheat crop. Climate change was simulated using Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) of 4.5 and 8.5 for three time horizons (2016–2045, 2036–2065, and 2071–2100) in the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM). For the field data’s measured period (2018–2020), we showed that farmers applied only 25% of the irrigation water required to achieve the maximum potential grain yield. Actual yields were less than 50% of the potential yields. Projected irrigation water demand is likely to increase for RCP4.5 (3%) but likely to decrease under RCP8.5 (8%) due to the truncated crop duration and lower maturity biomass by the end of the 21st century. However, simulated yields declined by 20%, suggesting that even irrigation will not be enough to mitigate the severe and detrimental effects of climate change on crop production. While our results herald positive implications for irrigation demand in the region, the implications for regional food security may be dire.
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spelling CGSpace1251372025-12-08T10:29:22Z The impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand, grain yield, and biomass yield of wheat crop in Nepal Kaini, S. Harrison, M.T. Gardner, T. Nepal, Santosh Sharma, A. K. climate change irrigation water water demand crop yield biomass wheat cropping systems irrigation schemes irrigation management crop modelling forecasting water requirements extreme weather events farmers biochemistry The Nepalese Sunsari Morang Irrigation district is the lifeblood of millions of people in the Koshi River basin. Despite its fundamental importance to food security, little is known about the impacts of climate change on future irrigation demand and grain yields in this region. Here, we examined the impacts of climate change on the irrigation demand and grain yield of wheat crop. Climate change was simulated using Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) of 4.5 and 8.5 for three time horizons (2016–2045, 2036–2065, and 2071–2100) in the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM). For the field data’s measured period (2018–2020), we showed that farmers applied only 25% of the irrigation water required to achieve the maximum potential grain yield. Actual yields were less than 50% of the potential yields. Projected irrigation water demand is likely to increase for RCP4.5 (3%) but likely to decrease under RCP8.5 (8%) due to the truncated crop duration and lower maturity biomass by the end of the 21st century. However, simulated yields declined by 20%, suggesting that even irrigation will not be enough to mitigate the severe and detrimental effects of climate change on crop production. While our results herald positive implications for irrigation demand in the region, the implications for regional food security may be dire. 2022-09-01 2022-10-20T11:42:27Z 2022-10-20T11:42:27Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125137 en Open Access MDPI Kaini, S.; Harrison, M. T.; Gardner, T.; Nepal, Santosh; Sharma, A. K. 2022. The impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand, grain yield, and biomass yield of wheat crop in Nepal. Water, 14(17):2728. (Special issue: How Does Agricultural Water Resources Management Adapt to Climate Change?) [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w14172728]
spellingShingle climate change
irrigation water
water demand
crop yield
biomass
wheat
cropping systems
irrigation schemes
irrigation management
crop modelling
forecasting
water requirements
extreme weather events
farmers
biochemistry
Kaini, S.
Harrison, M.T.
Gardner, T.
Nepal, Santosh
Sharma, A. K.
The impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand, grain yield, and biomass yield of wheat crop in Nepal
title The impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand, grain yield, and biomass yield of wheat crop in Nepal
title_full The impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand, grain yield, and biomass yield of wheat crop in Nepal
title_fullStr The impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand, grain yield, and biomass yield of wheat crop in Nepal
title_full_unstemmed The impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand, grain yield, and biomass yield of wheat crop in Nepal
title_short The impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand, grain yield, and biomass yield of wheat crop in Nepal
title_sort impacts of climate change on the irrigation water demand grain yield and biomass yield of wheat crop in nepal
topic climate change
irrigation water
water demand
crop yield
biomass
wheat
cropping systems
irrigation schemes
irrigation management
crop modelling
forecasting
water requirements
extreme weather events
farmers
biochemistry
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125137
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