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Optimal Ratios of Saline and Nonsaline Irrigation Waters for Crop Production¹

ABSTRACT

Increased demands for freshwater in irrigated agriculture might be offset in some instances by substituting saline waters when they are available. The purpose of this paper is to present a quantitative method for determining the optimal mix of saline and nonsaline waters for crop production. Equal yield curves (isoquants), which quantify the extent of substitutability between waters of different qualities when constant yield is sought, were derived from crop-water production functions for waters of different qualities computed from a previously published model. Isoquants were derived for several crops for relative yield (RY) values of 1.0, 0.9, and 0.8. The waters considered for mixing were nonsaline waters and waters of electrical conductivity (EC) equal to 4, 6, or 11 dS/m. Extending the supply of water by combining nonsaline and saline water is not always technically or economically feasible, and depends on specific crop and water pricing situations. The technical and economic feasibility of mixing waters of different quality increases as the EC of the saline water decreases, crop tolerance to salinity increases, desired RY decreases, or the relative price of saline to nonsaline water decreases.

¹ Contribution of the Dep. of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521. This study was supported by the Univ. of California Kearney Foundation of Soil Science.

² Postdoctoral Research Agricultural Economist, Professor of Soil Physics, and Professor of Resource Economics, respectively.

Received for publication July 15, 1985.

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