OC-11.2: Biophysical water use productivity (Basic)

Owned by Enrico Bonaiuti
May 05, 2020
3 min read

Definition: This indicator will measure crop and/or livestock output per unit of water supplied. The indicator shall consider the volumes of water used and the source, i.e rainfall and/or irrigation (whether from surface water or groundwater).
Crop: Crop output may either be the dry weight of grains/seeds or the above-ground dry biomass for crops such as maize, soybean and sunflower. For cotton, the crop output referes to the weight of lint, whereas for fruits such as bell peppers and eggplant, it refers to the weight of the fruits which may either be the fresh or dry weight.
Livestock: Livestock output to be measured for this indicator will be both milk and meat, where applicable, because often farms maintain dual-purpose herds.
Water-use: The indicator will encompass water use for growing fodder, to its conversion into feed biomass, and the effectiveness of diets ingested by cattle (e.g. nutrient contents and impacts on both milk production and live weight gain).

Unit of Measure: kilograms per cubic meter

Disaggregated by: Production system, Main crop/livestock, geographic location (national, sub-national)
Production system: Crop, livestock, integrated crop-livestock
If crop or integrated crop-livestock system:

  • Main crop: Chickpea, lentil, faba beans, grass pea, spring barley, winter barley, durum wheat, spring bread wheat

    • Soil type: Heavy, light

    • Crop management: Good management, poor management

      • Good management practice: Break crops, summer weed control, early sowing, wider rows, irrigation timing/deficit irrigation regime, disease control, sub-soil manuring

    • Production/input system: Rain-fed only, mainly irrigated, mainly rain-fed with limited irrigation

    • Output estimation method: Whole plot harvest, crop cut method, farmer recall, farmer prediction, sampling of harvest units, expert assessment, crop diary and crop diary with telephone calls, crop cards, crop modelling
      Main livestock: Goats, sheep, cattle

Method of Calculation: Field level measurement of soil water, rainfall and irrigation amount, crop productivity; secondary data or literature review
WUPCrop=Crop output (kg)Rainfall m3+Irrigation (m3)

WUPLivestock=Livestock output as either milk or meat (kg)Rainfall m3+Irrigation m3

WUPIntegrated=Average (WUPcrop; WUPLivestock)

Data sources: Farm households, weather stations

Data collection method: Farm household surveys, routine recording of weather (rainfall) information at meteorological stations, document review
Crop-specific data collection notes: See guidance here on the use of different methods for estimating crop output.
Livestock-specific data collection notes: Measure water volumes used to produce forage; forage biomass from irrigated plots; and the annual output of milk and live weight gain obtained per farm.

  • To determine forage biomass weighing plant samples harvested from each plot within a 1 m² quadrat at each harvest. Compute the nutrients (net energy and digestible protein) supplied by the biomass by using appropriate conversion factors from reputable publications that closely match the area of study as much as possible.

  • Milk volumes and live weight gains should be recorded for each farm.

  • Milk used by suckler calves should not be taken into account since it is considered an intermediary input for live weight gain.

  • The growth performance of livestock should be estimated heart girth measurements.

    Water measurement notes:

  • Measure total irrigation and rainfall amount for each site/ area during the crop/livestock growing season/cycle. It is recommended that water volumes be estimated through frequent measurement of water supply from points of supply (e.g wells) and at the entry point of irrigated plots, and combined with regular enquiries about the durations of irrigation applications.

  • Rainfall data ought to be obtained from the nearest meteorological station.

Data collection and reporting responsibility: Program leader, project leader, project M&E focal point person

Data Collection and Reporting Frequency: Annual, bi-annual, baseline, mid-term, end-term.

Evidence required:
For internal evaluation or research studies: Study protocol, data collection tools, dataset, report;
For external evaluation or research studies: Request for proposals (RFP) document, final report, dataset

Rationale: Information generated by tracking this indicator will be useful in understanding the benefits that accrue from ICARDA'S work of identify and promotion of genotypes with better water-use efficiency and the associated agronomic and/or livestock management practices. In addition, the measurement of this indicator for integrated crop-livestock systems will provide insight on the complementarity between the two systems promoted for ensuring farming sytems resilience.

Comments and limitations: