Influenza delle caratteristiche geometriche degli appezzamenti sulle performance delle irrigazioni per espansione superficiale

Judicious use of water in the agricultural sector has become an increasingly im-portant aspect of the national agri-food production system. Various factors such as climate change, improper agricultural water management, and, most importantly, the low operational efficiency of water distribution systems, have contributed to amplify its importance in the last decades. A paradigm shift towards strategies aimed at improving the design and management of field layouts and irrigation practices should be explored to promote water conservation at the field and farm scale, especially where surface irrigation practices are adopted. In this study, we investigate the effect of microtopography on irrigation performances to achieve wa-ter conservations. The analysis of the actual performance of border irrigation was carried out on a maize field located in the Padana Plain (Northern Italy) in the agri-cultural seasons 2022 and 2023. Based on this information, irrigation dynamics were studied using IrriSurf2D model, which was properly developed and calibrated by measures of waterfront advance and recession on the study domain. The results show that the microtopography, modified by the effects of traditional land prepara-tion, can significantly affect the performance of irrigation interventions, and has a noticeable impact on the irrigation efficiency and adequacy indices. In conclusion, the results of this work show how a correct land preparation car-ried out before the beginning of the irrigation season could allow a significant im-provement in the performance of the irrigation interventions, and thus an increase in the efficiency and adequacy indices.