Blue and green water use in crop production in Cyprus; exploring pathways towards climate change adaptation

1. Blue and green water use in crop production in Cyprus; exploring pathways towards climate change adaptation A. Bruggeman1, C. Zoumides2, Stelios Pashiardis3, Panos Hadjinicolaou1, M.A. Lange1 and Theodoros Zachariadis2 1Energy, Environment and Water Research Center, The Cyprus Institute 2Dept of Environmental Science & Technology, Cyprus University of Technology 3Cyprus Meteorological Service

2. Green and blue water resources in Cyprus Research objective To assess the effect of climate variability and changes in water supply on changes in agricultural land use, production and irrigation water demand in Cyprus

3. Methods: a daily soil water balance model, based on the FAO dual crop coefficient approach, was developed to compute the crop water use, originating from precipitation (green water) and from irrigation (blue water)

4. Methods: daily meteorological data from 34 stations and precipitation data from 70 gauges from the Cyprus Meteorological Service (Oct 1980 – Dec 2010)

5. Methods: soil physical data based on 1:250,000 soil map of Cyprus

6. Methods: crop area and production data for 87 different crops and 30 seasons (1979/80-2008/09) from the Cyprus Agricultural Statistics

7. Methods: location of crops in 431 communities from the Agricultural Census (2003) and the Cyprus Agricultural Payment Organization

8. Results

9. Results

10. Results

11. Results

12. Results

13. Conclusions • Crop production in Cyprus makes efficiently use of the precipitation, which may otherwise evaporate back to the atmosphere with little local benefit. • Land use change, water policies and climate change may reduce national crop production by 46-49% for rain-fed crops and by 38-42% for irrigated crops, for 2014-2020, relative to 1981-2009. • Computations indicate that the value of crop production could range from 0.02 €/m3 for alfalfa to 35 €/m3 for cucumbers. • Research is ongoing to identify climate-resilient, environmentally-friendly, and economically-efficient crop production options for Cyprus and the Mediterranean region.

14. References Allen, R.G., L.S. Pereira, D. Raes, and M. Smith. 1998. Crop evapotranspiration - Guidelines for computing crop water requirements, Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, FAO, Rome. Bos, M. G., R.A.L. Kselik, R.G. Allen, D. Molden. 2009. Water requirements for irrigation and the environment. Springer, New York. Bruggeman, A., C. Zoumides, S. Pashiardis, P. Hadjinicolaou, M.A. Lange, and T. Zachariadis. 2011. Effect of climate variability and climate change on crop production and water resources in Cyprus. Study for the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, led by the Agricultural Research Institute of Cyprus, June 2011. Cyprus Meteorological Service. 2010. Cyprus average annual precipitation 1901-2008. Cyprus Meteorological Service. 2011. Monthly rainfall in Cyprus during the hydrometeorological year 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. Hadjiparaskevas, C. 2005. Soil survey and monitoring in Cyprus. European Soil Bureau-Research Report 9, 97-101. Statistical Service. 2006. Census of agriculture 2003. Agricultural Statistics, Series I, Report 7. Republic of Cyprus Printing Office, Nicosia. Statistical Service. 1982-2010. Agricultural statistics 1980-2008. Agricultural Statistics, Series II (individual reports for each year). Republic of Cyprus Printing Office, Nicosia. Water Development Department (WDD). 2002. Use and conservation of water in Cyprus. WDD, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment.

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