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This paper falls within the framework of the FAO-INA Agreement that was entered into to "identify new potential irrigated and supplementary-irrigated areas in the basins of northeastern Argentina". The agreement seeks to collect information on monthly reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo), analyze its variability, and show it on isoline maps. The study comprised the central northeastern part of Argentina; the program used was CROPWAT 8.0 – FAO; and climate data were obtained from CLIMWAT 2.0. The information was plotted with ArcView 3.2ª and the variables of interest were interpolated with the Kriging method. Results show that: a) Santiago del Estero is the station with the highest annual ETo: 1767 mm.year-1, while the lowest ETo value is found in Loreto (Misiones) with 1150 mm.year-1; b) the average ETo in January ranges between 160 to 200 mm.month-1, while in July it is between 35 - 90 mm.month-1; c) the average ETo in January in the northeastern part of Cordoba ranges between 165 - 185 mm. month-1 while in July the variability is less pronounced; and d) rainfall in an average hydrological year ranges between 605 and 1825 mm.year-1 with an effective rainfall of 500 and 1400 mm.year-1 that tends to increase towards the northeast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to get to know the amount of water used by the canned tomato and peach industries in Mendoza, Argentina, at basin level. To this end, the raw material was calculated using data on cultivated area and yields provided by the Registro Permanente de Uso de la Tierra de Mendoza y del Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Water volume coefficients per unit of processed raw material ranged from 5 to 25 kg-1 of processed product (excluding irrigation water use in farms). Results were analyzed for different coefficient values related to water use efficiency under optimistic and pessimistic scenarios. It is concluded that the canned tomato and peach industries in Mendoza use between 0.66 and 6.15 hm3/year. The largest amount of water used by the tomato industry is drawn from the Northern basin, reaching 64.9% of the total volume required by such industries. The largest amount of water used by the peach industry is drawn from the Southern basin, reaching 46% of the total volume required by such industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to estimate, at basin level, the volume of water used by the wineries in Mendoza, which consists mainly of groundwater. This information can be used to calculate the water balance in the context of industrial water use. Estimates were based on winemaking data provided by the Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura. Coefficients of liters of water per liter of wine were obtained through qualified informants as well as by local and international literature; they were applied to wine production per basin. The said coefficients ranged between 1.5 and 6 liters of water/liters of wine, excluding the use of water for irrigation. To analyze the impact of water use on efficieny, consumption, the results were sensitized for three coefficient values. It has been estimated that wineries in Mendoza use between 1.66 and 6.66 hm3/year, depending on water use efficiency. Out of the total volume of water used by wineries, 85.2% is drawn from the Northern Basin of Mendoza, comprising the Mendoza river and the lower reach of the Tunuyan river [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of complementary irrigation on maize dry matter yield. A randomized complete design with 5 treatments and 4 replications was used. In order to schedule irrigations, the crop cycle was divided in three stages (pre-critical, critical and post-critical). Irrigation scheduling was based on a water balance calculated from weather data furnished by the meteorological station at the experimental field site. Irrigation was performed using lateral move pressurized systems. Maize matured in 138 days with all treatments and took 1660,6 degree days to attain physiological maturity. Dry matter yield showed significant differences (α = 0.05) among plots irrigated with the different treatments and between irrigated and control plots. Maximum production values ranged between 34,628 kg.ha-1 with T1 and 20,414 kg. ha-1 in the rain fed plots. The amount of water applied ranged between 360 and 300 mm; total crop water use, according to the water balance, was 575 mm ± 15 mm in the case of irrigated treatments, and 308 mm with the control treatments. Dry matter water use efficiency showed significant differences (α = 0.05) between irrigated treatments (5.7 kg.m-3) and rain fed (control) plots (6.6 kg.m-3). The harvest index was 0.49. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]