Water allocation under deficit irrigation using MIKE BASIN model for the mitigation of climate change

Irrigated agriculture is likely to be affected by the changes in temperature and precipitation patterns due to climate change. Particularly in Greece, on account of higher temperatures and reduced precipitation, the irrigation water management is essential to the viability of agriculture in areas already facing water scarcity. In this paper, two deficit distribution methods, the equal shortage (ES) and the yield stress (YS), are evaluated for the mitigation of climate change in the irrigation networks of Nestos River, Greece. The two methods were applied in the irrigation module of the MIKE BASIN model to analyze the effect of water deficit on crop yield and net profit for the periods 1980--2000, 2030--2050 and 2080--2100. In comparison with the ES method, the YS method, in which the water is by priority distributed to the crop that is more sensitive to water shortage, increases the yield in most of the crops, estimates higher net profit to farmers and secures more water for the downstream ecosystems.