Integrating Irrigation Decision Support Systems for Efficient Water Use: A Case Study on Mediterranean Agriculture
Irrigation plays a pivotal role in Southern Europe, and its importance is expected to further increase due to rising climatic variability. Concurrently, the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) mandates the safeguarding of water bodies and the implementation of incentive pricing strategies to pr...
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MDPI AG
2024-12-01
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| author | Raffaella Zucaro Silvia Baralla Andrea Arzeni Antonella Bodini Roberta Ciaravino Nadia Salato Pietro Chinnici Nunzia Gabriella Fasolino Emilia Pellegrini Emanuela Sarzotti Elisa Ascione Antonio Coppola Myriam Ruberto |
| author_facet | Raffaella Zucaro Silvia Baralla Andrea Arzeni Antonella Bodini Roberta Ciaravino Nadia Salato Pietro Chinnici Nunzia Gabriella Fasolino Emilia Pellegrini Emanuela Sarzotti Elisa Ascione Antonio Coppola Myriam Ruberto |
| author_sort | Raffaella Zucaro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Irrigation plays a pivotal role in Southern Europe, and its importance is expected to further increase due to rising climatic variability. Concurrently, the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) mandates the safeguarding of water bodies and the implementation of incentive pricing strategies to promote efficient water management. Within this context, Irrigation Scheduling Decision Support Systems (IS-DSS) could contribute to the achievement of these objectives, although there are still obstacles to their adoption due to uncertainties regarding their potential benefits. This paper aims to derive a pricing model that reflects actual water use through the adoption of an IS-DSS. The innovation of this study lies in showing that adopting an IS-DSS to reduce irrigation volumes can potentially lower concession fees in collective irrigation systems. Thus, it contributes to the fulfilment of the WFD’s objectives regarding incentive water pricing. Notably, the tool is evaluated using the case study of a farm located in the Mediterranean region. The results demonstrate the dual benefits of IS-DSS adoption: on the one hand, it helps preserve water resources with a 24% reduction in irrigation volumes; on the other, it decreases irrigation costs by 20% at the farm level and by 9.4% at the irrigation district level. Therefore, the presented study provides insights into the potential of IS-DSS to enhance water pricing policies to promote efficient water management in Southern European agriculture in alignment with the WFD requirements. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bfa9c002c3324aeebf40053b8f5edf21 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj-art-bfa9c002c3324aeebf40053b8f5edf212025-01-24T13:37:31ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2024-12-01141510.3390/land14010005Integrating Irrigation Decision Support Systems for Efficient Water Use: A Case Study on Mediterranean AgricultureRaffaella Zucaro0Silvia Baralla1Andrea Arzeni2Antonella Bodini3Roberta Ciaravino4Nadia Salato5Pietro Chinnici6Nunzia Gabriella Fasolino7Emilia Pellegrini8Emanuela Sarzotti9Elisa Ascione10Antonio Coppola11Myriam Ruberto12Canale Emiliano Romagnolo, 40137 Bologna, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy, 00187 Rome, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy, 60027 Osimo, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy, 60027 Osimo, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy, 80143 Napoli, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy, 80143 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Sciences, Università Degli Studi di Palermo, 90123 Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, ItalyEnte di Gestione delle Aree Protette del Ticino e del Lago Maggiore, 28062 Cameri, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy, 80143 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Chemical and Geological Sciences (DCGS), University of Cagliari, 09127 Cagliari, ItalyCanale Emiliano Romagnolo, 40137 Bologna, ItalyIrrigation plays a pivotal role in Southern Europe, and its importance is expected to further increase due to rising climatic variability. Concurrently, the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) mandates the safeguarding of water bodies and the implementation of incentive pricing strategies to promote efficient water management. Within this context, Irrigation Scheduling Decision Support Systems (IS-DSS) could contribute to the achievement of these objectives, although there are still obstacles to their adoption due to uncertainties regarding their potential benefits. This paper aims to derive a pricing model that reflects actual water use through the adoption of an IS-DSS. The innovation of this study lies in showing that adopting an IS-DSS to reduce irrigation volumes can potentially lower concession fees in collective irrigation systems. Thus, it contributes to the fulfilment of the WFD’s objectives regarding incentive water pricing. Notably, the tool is evaluated using the case study of a farm located in the Mediterranean region. The results demonstrate the dual benefits of IS-DSS adoption: on the one hand, it helps preserve water resources with a 24% reduction in irrigation volumes; on the other, it decreases irrigation costs by 20% at the farm level and by 9.4% at the irrigation district level. Therefore, the presented study provides insights into the potential of IS-DSS to enhance water pricing policies to promote efficient water management in Southern European agriculture in alignment with the WFD requirements.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/1/5water pricingirrigation efficiencywater managementwater meteringvolumetric tariffs |
| spellingShingle | Raffaella Zucaro Silvia Baralla Andrea Arzeni Antonella Bodini Roberta Ciaravino Nadia Salato Pietro Chinnici Nunzia Gabriella Fasolino Emilia Pellegrini Emanuela Sarzotti Elisa Ascione Antonio Coppola Myriam Ruberto Integrating Irrigation Decision Support Systems for Efficient Water Use: A Case Study on Mediterranean Agriculture Land water pricing irrigation efficiency water management water metering volumetric tariffs |
| title | Integrating Irrigation Decision Support Systems for Efficient Water Use: A Case Study on Mediterranean Agriculture |
| title_full | Integrating Irrigation Decision Support Systems for Efficient Water Use: A Case Study on Mediterranean Agriculture |
| title_fullStr | Integrating Irrigation Decision Support Systems for Efficient Water Use: A Case Study on Mediterranean Agriculture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integrating Irrigation Decision Support Systems for Efficient Water Use: A Case Study on Mediterranean Agriculture |
| title_short | Integrating Irrigation Decision Support Systems for Efficient Water Use: A Case Study on Mediterranean Agriculture |
| title_sort | integrating irrigation decision support systems for efficient water use a case study on mediterranean agriculture |
| topic | water pricing irrigation efficiency water management water metering volumetric tariffs |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/1/5 |
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