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The paddy field water recharge system and the mechanism of its stability are key scientific issues related to reducing the threat to global food security and enhancing the well-being of humans. In this study, we sampled the field water, precipitation, and groundwater in the Hani terrace areas and measured the values of hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes. The results indicated that precipitation and groundwater were the main sources of terrace water recharge in the Hani terrace area. Spatially, the terrace areas were divided into rain-fed terraces, which were mainly recharged by precipitation, and spring-fed terraces, where groundwater was the primary source of recharge. Temporally, there were two different recharge periods: the rain-fed season (>70% recharge from precipitation) and the spring-fed season (>30% recharge from groundwater). The temporally alternating recharge periods of the spring-fed and rain-fed seasons and the interconnected spatial distribution of rain-fed and spring-fed types were essential to maintain stable water sources in the Hani terraces. Meanwhile, the spatial heterogeneity of groundwater recharge and the timing of agricultural cultivation adjusted the system to some extent. Rice cultivation will be sustainable if the changes in monsoonal precipitation due to global climate change align with the anthropogenic agricultural cultivation cycle, including land preparation, planting, growing, and harvesting. This is the key reason that the mountainous rice cultivation systems of the Hani terraces have lasted for thousands of years under the influence of the East Asian monsoon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urgent water and food security challenges, particularly in continental and boreal regions, need to be addressed by initiatives such as the Horizon 2020-funded project WATer retention and nutrient recycling in soils and streams for improved AGRIcultural production (WATERAGRI). A new methodological framework for the sustainable management of various solutions resilient to climate change has been developed. The results indicate that the effect of the climate scenario is significantly different for peatlands and constructed wetlands. The findings also highlight that remote-sensing-based yield prediction models developed from vegetation indices have the potential to provide quantitative and timely information on crops for large regions or even at the local farm scale. Verification of remotely sensed data is one of the prerequisites for the proper utilization and understanding of data. Research shows that current serious game applications fall short due to challenges such as not clarifying the decision problem, the lack of use of decision quality indicators and limited use of gaming. Overall, WATERAGRI solutions improve water and food security by adapting agriculture to climate change, recycling nutrients and providing educational tools to the farming community. Farmers in small agricultural catchments benefit directly from WATERAGRI, but over the long-term, the general public does as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paddy field water recharge system and the mechanism of its stability are key scientific issues related to reducing the threat to global food security and enhancing the well-being of humans. In this study, we sampled the field water, precipitation, and groundwater in the Hani terrace areas and measured the values of hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes. The results indicated that precipitation and groundwater were the main sources of terrace water recharge in the Hani terrace area. Spatially, the terrace areas were divided into rain-fed terraces, which were mainly recharged by precipitation, and spring-fed terraces, where groundwater was the primary source of recharge. Temporally, there were two different recharge periods: the rain-fed season (>70% recharge from precipitation) and the spring-fed season (>30% recharge from groundwater). The temporally alternating recharge periods of the spring-fed and rain-fed seasons and the interconnected spatial distribution of rain-fed and spring-fed types were essential to maintain stable water sources in the Hani terraces. Meanwhile, the spatial heterogeneity of groundwater recharge and the timing of agricultural cultivation adjusted the system to some extent. Rice cultivation will be sustainable if the changes in monsoonal precipitation due to global climate change align with the anthropogenic agricultural cultivation cycle, including land preparation, planting, growing, and harvesting. This is the key reason that the mountainous rice cultivation systems of the Hani terraces have lasted for thousands of years under the influence of the East Asian monsoon.

Urgent water and food security challenges, particularly in continental and boreal regions, need to be addressed by initiatives such as the Horizon 2020-funded project WATer retention and nutrient recycling in soils and streams for improved AGRIcultural production (WATERAGRI). A new methodological framework for the sustainable management of various solutions resilient to climate change has been developed. The results indicate that the effect of the climate scenario is significantly different for peatlands and constructed wetlands. The findings also highlight that remote-sensing-based yield prediction models developed from vegetation indices have the potential to provide quantitative and timely information on crops for large regions or even at the local farm scale. Verification of remotely sensed data is one of the prerequisites for the proper utilization and understanding of data. Research shows that current serious game applications fall short due to challenges such as not clarifying the decision problem, the lack of use of decision quality indicators and limited use of gaming. Overall, WATERAGRI solutions improve water and food security by adapting agriculture to climate change, recycling nutrients and providing educational tools to the farming community. Farmers in small agricultural catchments benefit directly from WATERAGRI, but over the long-term, the general public does as well.

In order to avoid environmental pollution and eliminate the need for using fertiliser, this study assessed for the first time the optimum performance of mature (in operation since 2011) vertical flow constructed wetlands in treating domestic wastewater (with and without hydrocarbon) and the subsequent recycling of the outflow to irrigate chillies (De Cayenne; Capsicum annuum (Linnaeus) Longum Group 'De Cayenne') grown in a greenhouse. Various variables were investigated to assess the treatment performance. Concerning chilli fruit numbers, findings showed that the highest fruit yields for all wetland filters were associated with those that received inflow wastewater with a high loading rate, reflecting the high nutrient availability in treated wastewater, which is of obvious importance for yield production. Findings also indicated that wetlands without hydrocarbon, small aggregate size, low contact time and low inflow loading rate provided high marketable yields (expressed in economic return). In comparison, chillies irrigated by filters with hydrocarbon contamination, small aggregate size, high contact time and high loading rate also resulted in high marketable yields of chillies, which pointed out the role of high contact time and high inflow load for better diesel degradation rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to water scarcity in many arid countries, there is considerable interest in recycling various wastewater streams such as treated urban wastewater for irrigation in the agricultural sector. The aim was therefore to assess if domestic wastewater treated by different wetlands can be successfully recycled to water commercially grown crops. The objectives were to assess variables and boundary conditions impacting on the growth of two different types of peppers fed by domestic wastewater pre-treated by diverse mature constructed treatment wetlands. The growth of both Sweet Pepper (California Wonder; cultivar of Capsicum annuum Linnaeus Grossum Group) and Chilli (De Cayenne; C. annuum (Linnaeus) Longum Group ‘De Cayenne’) fed with different treated and untreated wastewater types were assessed. A few plants suffered from either a shortage and/or excess of some nutrients and trace minerals. The overall growth development of Sweet Peppers was poor due to the high concentrations of nutrients and trace minerals. In contrast, Chilies did reasonably well, but the growth of foliage was excessive and the harvest was delayed. High yields were associated with tap water and an organic growth medium, and a wetland with a high aggregate size, leaving sufficient space for biomass. Low fruit numbers correlated well with inorganic growth media and irrigation water contaminated by hydrocarbons. Findings indicate that nutrient concentrations supplied to the Chillies by a combination of compost and treated waste water are usually too high to produce a good harvest. However, as the compost is depleted of nutrients after about eight months, the harvest increased for pots that received pre-treated wastewater. The project contributes to ecological sanitation understanding by closing the loop in the food and water chain. Findings will lead to a better understanding of the effects of different wetland treatment processes on the recycling potential of their outflow waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an integrated framework is proposed for agricultural water and land resources management under uncertain circumstances and energy-water nexus. The framework has two components: the optimized interval solutions generation of unknown market quotation and environment situation through the novel interval fuzzy-expectation programming, and the post-optimization decision-making of the tradeoff between system risk and return through risk-explicit interval programming. An optimization model based on the framework was developed from a real description for agricultural water resources system of Guangdong province under considering various crop, multiple water sources, and the related energy consumption in irrigation and drainage. The impact of energy consumption and risk level control on water resources allocation among different crops and system benefits were analyzed. The results indicated that the preference for surface water resources as the main water sources can effectively reduce regional irrigation energy consumption, and the planting area of each crop would have different variations duo to resources endowment constraints. Risk tradeoff-based results can provide valuable information and additional concern for developing low carbon-oriented agricultural water resources management schemes. [Display omitted] • An integrated framework for agricultural water resources management under uncertainty. • Influence of energy consumption on agricultural water resources allocation are explored. • Risk tradeoff-based results are obtained from risk explicit-interval fuzzy-expectation programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]