Crop Water Deficit and Supplemental Irrigation Requirements for Potato Production in a Temperate Humid Region (Prince Edward Island, Canada)

The global increase in potato production and yield is expected to lead to increased irrigation needs and this has prompted concerns with respect to the sustainability of irrigation water sources, such as groundwater. The magnitude, and inter- and intra-annual variation, of the crop water requirements and irrigation needs for potato production together with their impact on aquifer storage in a temperate humid region (Prince Edward Island, Canada) were estimated by using long-term (i.e., 2010-2019) daily soil water content (SWC). The amount of supplemental irrigation required for the minimal irrigation scenario (SWC = 70% of field capacity; 0.7 FC) was relatively small (i.e., 17.0 mm); however, this increased significantly, to 85.2 and 189.6 mm, for the moderate (SWC = 0.8 FC) and extensive (SWC = 0.9 FC) irrigation scenarios, respectively. The water supply requirement for the growing season (GS) increased to 154.9 and 344.7 mm for a moderately efficient irrigation system (55% efficiency) for the SWC = 0.8 FC and SWC = 0.9 FC irrigation scenarios, respectively. Depending on the efficiency and the areal extent of the irrigation system, the irrigation water supply requirement can approach or exceed both the GS and annual groundwater recharge. The methodology developed in this research has been translated into a free online tool (SWIB-Soil Water Stress, Irrigation Requirement and Water Balance), which can be applied to other areas or crops where an estimation of soil water deficit and irrigation requirement is sought.

Automated summary

The global increase in potato production is expected to result in higher irrigation needs, raising concerns about the sustainability of groundwater sources. This study estimated the crop water requirements and irrigation needs for potato production in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and evaluated their impact on aquifer storage. Depending on the efficiency and extent of the irrigation system, the irrigation water supply requirement can approach or exceed the groundwater recharge.