The blind angle: Performance assessment of drip irrigation-in-use in a large-scale irrigation scheme in Morocco

Boularbah Sara, Kuper Marcel, Hammani Ali, Mailhol Jean-Claude, Taky Abdelilah. 2019. The blind angle: Performance assessment of drip irrigation-in-use in a large-scale irrigation scheme in Morocco. Irrigation and Drainage, 68 (5) : 925-936.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.2369

Article de revue ; Article de revue à facteur d'impact

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Résumé : The need for lasting returns on the large investment in state‐sponsored drip irrigation projects and the ambitious objectives aimed to achieve requires thorough and continuous assessment of the performance of irrigation systems in use. However, few studies have evaluated the performance of systems once they have been installed, leading to overestimation of actual drip irrigation performance. This study focuses on the Tadla Irrigation Scheme, where a 10 000‐ha drip irrigation project had two objectives: improving water productivity and reducing pressure on groundwater resources. The results of the study show a satisfactory but progressively declining distribution uniformity at field level, after 3–4 years of functioning, pointing to potential dysfunction if the equipment is not renewed. The current over‐irrigation of crops results in hefty water bills and debts of farmers, no water savings at the field scale, some savings at the scheme scale, but increased tension concerning water delivery. Farmers continued to use groundwater after converting to drip irrigation to avoid surface water shortage. The challenge is to ensure that groundwater is only tapped in exceptional cases to avoid overexploitation. The first step is ensuring more efficient irrigation practices, underlining the need for continuous performance assessment.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : irrigation goutte à goutte, contrôle de performance, pratique agricole, eau souterraine

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Maroc

Mots-clés libres : Drip irrigation, Performance, Farmer practices, Morocco, Groundwater

Classification Agris : F06 - Irrigation
P10 - Ressources en eau et leur gestion

Champ stratégique Cirad : CTS 2 (2019-) - Transitions agroécologiques

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