Water management and crop selection for intensive gardens in arid regions

Abstract

Agricultural development projects in arid regions are hampered by lack of knowledge surrounding the efficient use of water and an understanding of the indigenous people. A method, using computer models, is presented for analyzing water management and selecting a crop mix for intensive gardens in arid regions. The crop mix is constrained by land and water availability and the nutritional requirements of a family. Model results indicate that an intensive garden grown during the entire year in Tucson, Arizona (annual precipitation of 285 mm), would require approximately 140 cm of water per unit area of land with an irrigation application efficiency of 73%. Results are based on irrigating the entire garden using the water requirement of the crop which has the highest demand for water since the previous irrigation. A table showing the nutritional content of five crops per unit of water applied during the growing season is presented.