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Water Footprint of Industrial Tomato Cultivations in the Pinios River Basin: Soil Properties Interactions.

Authors :
Evangelou, Eleftherios
Tsadilas, Christos
Tserlikakis, Nikolaos
Tsitouras, Alexandros
Kyritsis, Aristotelis
Source :
Water (20734441); Nov2016, Vol. 8 Issue 11, p515, 13p
Publication Year :
2016

Abstract

Industrial tomatoes are cultivated in about 4000 ha of the Pinios river basin (central Greece), providing significant income to the farmers. In this study, the water footprint (WF) of industrial tomatoes between planting and harvest was estimated in 24 different farms for three consecutive years. The selected farms were representative of the main agro-climatic zones and soil textural classes within the river basin. Green, blue and grey WF calculations were based on datasets of the experimental plots for each farm, including irrigation water volume, meteorological, soil, and crop yield data. The results showed that the WF of tomatoes ranged from 37 to 131 m<superscript>3</superscript> water/ton tomatoes with an average of 61 m<superscript>3</superscript>/ton. The WF variation depended mainly on crop yield, local agro-climatic and soil conditions. The green, blue, and grey WF components averaged 13, 27 and 21 m<superscript>3</superscript>/ton, respectively. The results reveal the importance of WF in understanding how tomato production relates to the sustainable use of freshwater and pollution at local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20734441
Volume :
8
Issue :
11
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Water (20734441)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
119922495
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/w8110515