Agricultural Water Footprint of Southern Highbush Blueberry Produced Commercially with Drip Irrigation and Sprinkler Frost Protection

A study was conducted from 2010 to 2017 to determine the water footprint for producing blueberries in the Entre Ríos province of Argentina. Three cultivars of southern highbush blueberry (hybrid cross of Vaccinium sp.) were evaluated in the study, including “Star”, “Emerald”, and “Snowchaser”. In each case, the plants were irrigated by drip and protected from frost using overhead sprinklers. Water requirements for irrigation and frost protection varied among the cultivars due to differences in the timing of flowering and fruit development. The annual water footprint for fruit production in each cultivar is expressed in units of cubic meters of water used to produce one ton of fresh fruit and ranged from 212 - 578 m3∙t−1 for “Star”, 296 - 985 m3∙t−1 for “Emerald”, and 536 - 4066 m3∙t−1 for “Snowchaser”. “Snowchaser” flowered earlier than the other cultivars and, therefore, needed more water for frost protection. “Star”, on the other hand, ripened the latest among the cultivars and required little to no water for frost protection. Frost protection required a minimum of 30 m3∙h−1 of water per hectare and in addition to drip irrigation was a major component of the water footprint.

Water Footprint of Soybean, Maize and Wheat in Pergamino, Argentina

Nowadays more than 70% of the fresh water available worldwide is used for agriculture. In Argentina, extensive crops are not usually irrigated, so the cropping production depends mostly on rainfall water. In order to know how many liters of water are needed to produce a ton of soybeans, wheat and maize in the Pergamino district, Province of Buenos Aires, its Water Footprint was estimated by the Hoekstra method. Evaporation and rainfall data was obtained from SIGA INTA platform and production data was obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture. The results indicated that the average annual total water footprint values for soybean, corn and wheat crops for the period 2013-2018 in the Pergamino district, province of Buenos Aires, are 1,388 l∙kg−1, 693 l∙kg−1 and 1,249 l∙kg−1 respectively. These were lower than the global average reference values. The obtained results allowed future analysis advancing in the knowledge of the use of water productivity in grain production.