ACP SUGAR RESEARCH PROGRAMME PROJECT 2.4 E FFICIENT CONJUNCTIVE USE OF WATER FOR SUSTAINABLE SUGAR CANE PRODUCTION

1. ACP SUGAR RESEARCH PROGRAMME PROJECT 2.4 EFFICIENT CONJUNCTIVE USE OF WATER FOR SUSTAINABLESUGAR CANE PRODUCTION Mid-term Review - 2 October 2012

2. MOTIVATION - Increased competition for water. - Need for higher productivity per unit of water applied. - Integrated approach to water management. • Use rainfall in conjunction with irrigation to increase water use • efficiency (WUE) and reduce operation costs. • Develop a decision-making tool for management of different • irrigation systems in a farm.

3. OBJECTIVES • Contribute towards sustainable management of water • resources to optimize sugarcane production • Improve WUE through rational conjunctive use of rainfall & • irrigation water resources to ensure long-term viability of • sugarindustry • Provide a decision support tool for management of water • resources for sugarcane production

4. PRODUCTS Decision-making tool is main product: IMIS (Irrigation Management Information System). IMIS: user-friendly & site-specific irrigation management tool for ACP countries.

5. HUMAN RESOURCES Multidisciplinary project with multiple inputs: • MSIRI Team (Project leader, Irrigation & GIS specialists) • Consultant • IT Specialists: • UoM team • Opda Consulting • Corporate planters from Mauritius • Sugar estates from Cote d’Ivoire, Swaziland, Tanzania

6. Features of IMIS under development: • GIS-based and integrating biophysical factors related • to irrigation in a farm • provision of standard format for data capture, • storage & manipulation enable unbiased decision-making in irrigation management. Geographical Information System Irrigation practices Water resources Cropping systems Crop details IMIS Soil / Crop / Logistical modelling

7. Modeling the system The SoilMoisture Balance (SMB) Irrigation ETc Rainfall Input Output Run off Ruissellement Variation du stock d’eau du sol Soilmoisture reserve Percolation Limit of root zone Drainage Capillaryrise

8. SMDt - SMDt-1 = ETct-1- EffIrrt-1- EffRaint-1 SMDt = Soilmoisturedeficit in rootzoneat end of givenperiod (mm) SMDt-1 = Soilmoisturedeficitatbeginning of period (mm) EffIrr = effective irrigation (mm) Effrain = effective rainfall (mm) ETc = crop water requirement (mm) Modeling the system The SMB model used ETc = Epan x pan factor x crop factor

9. Effective Rainfall Rainfall converted to Effective rainfall as follows: 0.9 x (Total Rainfall – 2) < SMD Eff Rain = SMD = Soil Moisture Deficit Modeling the system

10. ETa CWS = ETc Modeling the system Crop water satisfaction (CWS)

11. Water readily available ETa = ETc 1 SMD < RAW SMD - RAW Water consumed, soil dried up ETa < ETc 1 - f = RAW < SMD < TAW TAW - RAW 0 SMD > TAW Modeling the system Actualevapotranspiration (ETa) TAW RAW 1.0 f 0.5 ETa 0.0 Soil moisture deficit – SMD (mm) FC PWP

12. Crop Growth stages Planting & Harvest dates Irrigation Devices Soil C. Pivots Drip Water Holding capacity Dragline Weather Rainfall Management Evaporation Irrigation applied Complexities associated with irrigation planning taken on board Decision making for optimized irrigation Water sources Flow rate supply Constraints

13. The Entity Relationship Diagram

14. Prioritization of irrigation application at times of water scarcity based on crop susceptibility to water stress developed.

15. TIME TABLE OF ACTIVITIES Project duration: 4 years *: weight of activity in terms of man month per quarter

16. TIME TABLE OF ACTIVITIES Project duration: 4 years *: weight of activity in terms of man month per quarter

17. PROJECT STATUS Still work in progress Data collection & development of models completed A first working prototype will soon be completed Continuous testing & interaction with IT specialists Aim to maximize user-friendliness

18. Software initialization: Administrator

19. Software initialization: loading the shape file

20. Initial data input: detailed soil information

21. Initial data input: water sources

22. Initial data input: irrigation devices

23. Initial data input: raingauges and evaporation pans

24. Initial data input: detailed field data

25. Initial data input: Irrigation Management Units

26. Daily data input by user: rainfall, Epan & irrigation 0 0 20 9 0

27. Output: GIS display of Irrigation Management Units - GIS based - Standardized irrigation datasets - Display degree of SMD Comfort zone Stress zone

28. Output: Graphical report on rainfall, irrigation & SMD data

29. Features currently under development for irrigation management Must answer the following questions: - What to do after a rainfall event? - Is rainfall enough to skip an irrigation? - When to resume irrigation? - Which system & which sequence to favour? Output: Software to provide guidelines

30. PROMOTION CAMPAIGN & TRAINING COMPONENT The objectives, principles and status of the project have been presented at the 2012 ISSCT Agronomy/ Agricultural Engineering workshop in Australia

31. PROMOTION CAMPAIGN & TRAINING COMPONENT A training component for prospective IMIS users is also scheduled for final part of the project Aim to train 15 persons from at least 10 other ACP countries Training to be carried out at MSIRI

32. PROJECT STAFF Ronald Ng Cheong Mohan Teeluck Maryse Chung Daniel Ah Koon OveeyenMoonian& colleagues from UoM David Tin from Opda Consulting

33. CONCLUSIONS Work in progress: Prototype to be tested in 4 ACP countries prior to distribution. Benefits to ACP member countries: • Flexible & user-friendly software for irrigation of whole farm • Easy visualization of SMD for different IMUs • Functional linkage among ACP institutions

34. Thank you