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Rainwater Harvesting to Improve Agricultural Sustainability in Global Drylands
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Rainwater Harvesting to Improve Agricultural Sustainability in Global Drylands

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 7554

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Xining Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: rainwater use; soil and water conservation
Dr. Xiaodong Gao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: agricultural hydrology; sustainable intensification in drylands
Dr. Baoqing Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Interests: drought assessment and monitoring; impact of vegetation restoration on surface hydrologic cycle; high efficiency use of water resources
Prof. Dr. Bing Cheng Si

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A8, Canada
Interests: soil hydrology; agricultural ecosystems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Drylands cover nearly half of all terrestrial land surfaces, of which 72% are in developing countries and support over a quarter of the global population’s living space. They are the main contributor to global food production and a variety of fruit trees. However, water scarcity in drylands greatly constrains agricultural productivity, particularly in undeveloped rural areas where sophisticated irrigation systems are a luxury. Therefore, efficient use of rainwater through rainwater harvesting technologies (RHTs) is an effective avenue to alleviate water stress and improve agricultural productivity, which could contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals such as SDG 2, SDG 6, and SDG 15.

We invite multidisciplinary contributions that develop new RHTs and/or improve understanding of the effect and mechanism of RHTs in promoting agricultural sustainability in global drylands. Contributions can be related but are not necessarily limited to questions such as:

  1. Development of new RHTs and evaluation of their hydrological effects;
  2. Evaluation of the efficacy of different RHTs in improving soil water content/soil organic C/soil nutrients/agricultural productivity;
  3. The hydraulic and hydrological mechanisms of RHTs to improve agricultural sustainability;
  4. Evaluation of rainwater harvesting potential across spatial and temporal scales;
  5. The contribution of rainwater harvesting in promoting SDGs.

Prof. Dr. Xining Zhao
Dr. Xiaodong Gao
Dr. Baoqing Zhang
Prof. Dr. Bing Cheng Si
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • rainwater harvesting
  • soil water
  • soil organic carbon
  • SDGs
  • drylands

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 4117 KiB  
Article
Water Resources Allocation Based on Complex Adaptive System Theory in the Inland River Irrigation District
by Hua Xing, Shuhong Mo, Xiaoyan Liang and Ying Li
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8437; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158437 - 28 Jul 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2128
Abstract
Water resources are the key factors affecting the sustainable development of inland river irrigation districts. The establishment of a water resources management model is helpful to realize the coordinated development of water, society, and ecology. Aiming at the contradiction of water use and [...] Read more.
Water resources are the key factors affecting the sustainable development of inland river irrigation districts. The establishment of a water resources management model is helpful to realize the coordinated development of water, society, and ecology. Aiming at the contradiction of water use and ecological vulnerability, this study was based on the method of complex adaptive system (CAS) theory, and an agent-based modeling (ABM) method was adopted. Taking Huaitoutala irrigation district as the research object, a water resource management model considering ecological balance was established, with the water resources potentially tapping in the source area as an effective constraint. This study took 2016 as the datum year; the water consumption and comprehensive benefits of four water-saving irrigation scenarios in different characteristic years were simulated and optimized under the conditions of the current water supply and 10% and 15% potential water resources tapping. The results showed that the model considering the behavior and adaptability of the agent can well optimize and simulate the water use in the irrigation district. Under the application of water resources potential tapping and high-efficiency water-saving technology; the water utilization efficiency (WUE) of the irrigation area has been significantly improved. The comprehensive benefits of the irrigation district increased the proportion of ecological water, which was conducive to the sustainable development of the irrigation district and the ecological protection of inland rivers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainwater Harvesting to Improve Agricultural Sustainability in Global Drylands)
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11 pages, 2211 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Relative Elevation on Soil Nutrients and Apple Quality in the Hilly-Gully Region of the Loess Plateau, China
by Lei Hua, Jianen Gao, Meifang Zhou and Shilun Bai
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1293; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031293 - 26 Jan 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2277
Abstract
Relative elevation, as one of the decisive factors to the redistribution of soil water, nutrients, sunshine, and temperature in a region influences apple yield and quality by adjusting soil water and nutrients. To explore the impact of relative elevation on apple quality, this [...] Read more.
Relative elevation, as one of the decisive factors to the redistribution of soil water, nutrients, sunshine, and temperature in a region influences apple yield and quality by adjusting soil water and nutrients. To explore the impact of relative elevation on apple quality, this research investigated the conditions of soil moisture and nutrients at different elevations of terrace apple orchards in the hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau. The results showed that soil water content decreases when the elevation increased, whereas soil nutrients fluctuated significantly at different elevations of terrace orchards and the contents were lower than the standard level of the Loess Plateau, especially soil organic matter, but total potassium was higher. The apple firmness increased when the elevation increased and had a good linear relationship with elevation. Apple vitamin C content in weed-covered orchards was higher than in the ploughing and weeding management orchards. The impact of soil nutrients, including soil water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium on apple quality were concentrated in soluble solid and total acid. Irrational irrigation or partial use of nutrients, such as more use of nitrogen and less use of phosphorus and potassium, may deteriorate the apple quality. Therefore, we suggested that the amount of irrigation be increased appropriately with the raising of elevation. Moreover, part of the weed should be kept to cover the orchard, as well as mowing regularly and covering the surface. This would not only improve water use efficiency and increase soil organic matter content, it would also maintain apple quality and ensure sustainable development of the apple orchards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainwater Harvesting to Improve Agricultural Sustainability in Global Drylands)
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13 pages, 21892 KiB  
Article
Mulching Measures Improve Soil Moisture in Rain-Fed Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) Orchards in the Loess Hilly Region of China
by Min Tang, Hongchen Li, Chao Zhang, Xining Zhao, Xiaodong Gao and Pute Wu
Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 610; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020610 - 11 Jan 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2330
Abstract
Water shortage is the main bottleneck restricting the sustainable development of rain-fed jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) orchards in the loess hilly region of China. Given the effect of mulching on soil moisture conservation, straw mulching (SM) and jujube branch mulching (BM) were [...] Read more.
Water shortage is the main bottleneck restricting the sustainable development of rain-fed jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) orchards in the loess hilly region of China. Given the effect of mulching on soil moisture conservation, straw mulching (SM) and jujube branch mulching (BM) were applied to a rain-fed jujube orchard in this study. Soil moisture dynamics, soil water storage, water consumption, and soil moisture attenuation after typical rainfall under SM, BM, and clean tillage (CT) were studied. The results showed the following: (1) The 0–60 cm soil layer was the seasonal fluctuation layer of soil moisture under SM, BM, and CT in both the normal precipitation year and the dry year studied. The moisture contents of the 0–60, 60–160, and 160–280 cm soil layers under SM and BM were higher than that under CT in the three experimental years studied, and SM showed the most obvious effect of increasing soil moisture. (2) SM and BM showed a significant soil water storage effect in all of the jujube growth stages, and SM had a better water storage effect than BM. (3) SM reduced the amount of water consumption by 94.3, 60.8, and 121.3 mm compared to CT in the whole jujube growth period in 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. The amount of water consumption of BM decreased by 34.8 and 31.0 mm compared to that of CT in the whole growth period in 2014 and 2015, respectively. (4) CT had the maximum soil moisture loss rate under continuous drought after rainfall. The soil moisture loss rate of CT was above 37.3% on the eleventh day after typical rainfall in 2014, 2015, and 2016. With the extension of drought, the soil moisture loss rate under SM increased slowly. This study suggests that SM is the best mulching measure for rain-fed jujube orchards, and pruned jujube branches can also be used for in situ mulching to obtain a certain moisture conservation effect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rainwater Harvesting to Improve Agricultural Sustainability in Global Drylands)
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