The Economics of Irrigation in Almond Orchards. Application to Southern Spain
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
In the article ‘The economics of water production functions in almond orchards’ authors provide microeconomic analysis of water use in the cultivation of almonds orchards when water is considered as the limiting factor. I find the work very valuable, especially due to the need for careful water management in the face of uncertainty imposed due to the changing climate’s influence on water resources and hence stable agricultural production. However, I have some comments which in my opinion would clarify the manuscript and that will help improve it. Overall, the manuscript is worth to be published in the journal after making some corrections.
L 2. The title is too general. It refers to the whole agricultural area of Spain, whereas the analysis is based on the region of Cordoba, the Guadalquivir river basin. In my opinion this specific location should be mentioned in the title. In this section I would expect some information regarding the scale of water volume, water deficits in Spain, but in a particular regions, because I believe there is a greater variability in water resources and water availability, and finally water use in different parts of the country. Please be more specific. I find in this section more elements of Discussion than the introductory to the subject of the study.
L 45-46 One part of the sentence is doubled.
L 50 The impact of water deficits on almond production has been studied by WHO [11] [12] and WHO [13] in the case of California. In this way of citation the Authors are pleased to insert the names of the referenced paper.
L 62 Australian or Australia?
L 162 and 164: 387-L or 19-L and in other places, I propose to delete the hyphens
L 177-181 How many readings for particular soil type and specific depth were collected by one SMS? The authors mentioned 3 samples in 19 L buckets and sampling 5 times after mixing the spoil. It makes 15 readings or am I wrong?
L 68 ….that farmers might be maximising the return to water…. I'm not sure if it is grammatically correct.
L 93 Why do the Authors use the expression "the case of Spain" It is second country in EU and very diverse. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to use the name of a specific region or regions of similar conditions of agricultural production, water resources and climate variables?
L 144 This study uses the water-yield response function elicited by WHO? [18] based on an agronomic…
Author Response
Please see attached file
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Authors
Writing. I have provided several comments that will help to improve the manuscript, however I do not have the time needed to fully provide the needed edits and editorial comments to raise the standard needed for publication in an English-language journal.
I am concerned that ideas the authors attempt to convey are not fully developed and candidly speaking, I don’t understand what they are trying to be convey.
The context of some sections is out of place.
The discussion and conclusion needs major revision. I fail to see how much of the discussion section supports the “results”. Lines 241 to 290 do not read well and I do not full understand how the context supports the "results" Not until the last paragraph do the authors support predictions given by the models employed.
Be mindful of word choice such as “elicit” e.g. line 48.
Phrases as “In the context of” are overused.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Please see attached file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Drought is a major factor in agricultural productivity, especially in arid regions. This manuscript entitled with “The economics of water production functions in almond orchards” analyzed the model of water-yield response for different irrigation treatment, aiming at finding the optimal irrigation dose when deficit irrigation is applied. This manuscript provides detailed steps in deriving their own model with numerous scientific research publications. Context and interpretation for figures and table is clear enough. It is in a pretty good shape now, and could provide valuable information for future almond research studies especially in water stress area if it is published. Only a miner wording problem need to be fixed. Other than that, the paper will be ready to publish.
- Page 43, Line 101, c(w) should be y(w).
Author Response
Please see attached file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Other than a few minor edits the manuscript is greatly improved.
The format i.e. the case study section is not familiar to me. Is it appropriate for the journal?
The overall merit of the manuscript is average but I believe that the subject is interesting. Especially for the California almond industry.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
We are grateful for the valuable comments received, which have significantly improved the revised version of the manuscript.
All comments have been addressed by the authors in the revised manuscript.
English-spelling has been checked by a professional English-editing service.
Kind regards,
The authors.
