Sustainable water management in agriculture: Windbreaks

Sustainable agricultural irrigation is the effective, efficient, and conscious use of water resources in accordance with the principles of environmental, economic, and social sustainability. This approach ensures that the needs of current agricultural production are met while also guaranteeing that water resources can be transferred to future generations. Sustainable agricultural irrigation is based on determining water needs, using water efficiently, and reducing the amount of water required. The aim of this thesis is to use windbreaks to reduce wind speed, which plays an effective role in evaporation, in order to reduce water requirements. Therefore, the water requirements before and after the installation of windbreaks were compared in Mardin Province, which was selected as the study area. For this purpose, potential evapotranspiration was calculated using Penman-Monteith based on minimum and maximum air temperature, sunshine duration, relative humidity percentage, and wind speed data. The water requirement was recalculated using the wind data calculated after the windbreak, while all other parameters were kept the same. It was found that if a windbreak is used in this irrigation area, the reference crop water consumption would decrease by an average of 24.5%. Furthermore, it was calculated that the greatest reduction occurred in July, when water demand is highest. In addition to the water savings that can be achieved through the use of windbreaks, wind erosion is also prevented, and they contribute to biodiversity by creating a suitable environment for life. For this reason, the use of windbreaks is particularly necessary in regions such as our province of Mardin, where both evapotranspiration and wind erosion are high. This will provide economic benefits and increase food security. Considering the increasing risk of drought due to climate change and the rising demand for food due to population growth, windbreaks have great potential as sustainable nature-based solutions.