Revolutionizing Water Management in Agriculture: A Photovoltaic Solar Irrigation Model for Sustainable Citrus Cultivation

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture system is also based on the approach that through methods focusing on environmental conservation and resource efficiency — food and agricultural resources could suffice for the present generation and continue to be able to meet this need of future generations. The study investigates the water footprint of orange cultivation and photovoltaic solar-driven irrigation as one of the approaches to assuring energy-water security in a water-scarce region such as Latakia Governorate, Syria. Since water has become so difficult to access, and the cost of energy is still high, one of the challenges for most agricultural operators who would like to produce oranges continues to be the lack of an adequate water supply. The output implies that the orange trees in Latakia need to eat 15,000-18,000 m3/yr of water during the growing season. Compared to surface irrigation with 60% and drip irrigation which runs between 70–85% efficiency if the energy is reliable, solar irrigation systems can use as much as 90% of the water input. The annual water consumption rates are minimized to 12,000 m3/acre and equivalent surface irrigation cut back of solar irrigation systems because the common floor area in western Iran is said to be about30–40% of the hour riverine groundwater extraction sectors [4]. As there is no fuel or power drawn to the electronic grid, solar systems require low maintenance and operation costs making them an affordable solution providing a payback period of three to five years. The results of the research leads to an understanding of the citrus water requirements in Latakia, and show that solar irrigation represents an appropriate sustainable method for using these available water resources with low cost saving non-renewal sources and providing a non-dependent cultivation.