Blue and green water use in crop production in Cyprus;
exploring pathways towards climate change adaptation
A. Bruggeman1, C. Zoumides2, Stelios Pashiardis3,
Panos Hadjinicolaou1, M.A. Lange1 and Theodoros Zachariadis2
1Energy,
Environment and Water Research Center, The Cyprus Institute
2Dept of Environmental Science & Technology, Cyprus University of Technology
3Cyprus Meteorological Service
Green and blue water resources in Cyprus
Renewable water resources
Crop water demand
1971-2000
Oct 1980 – Sep 2009
Precipitation (mm)
460
461
Green water (Mm3)
2300
168 – 440
Blue water (Mm3)
370
150 – 219
Source
WDD, 2002
Bruggeman et al, 2011
Research objective
To assess the effect of climate variability and changes in water
supply on changes in agricultural land use, production and
irrigation water demand in Cyprus
Methods: a daily soil water balance model, based on the FAO dual crop
coefficient approach, was developed to compute the crop water use,
originating from precipitation (green water) and from irrigation (blue water)
Methods: daily meteorological data from 34 stations and precipitation data
from 70 gauges from the Cyprus Meteorological Service (Oct 1980 – Dec 2010)
Methods: soil physical data based on 1:250,000 soil map of Cyprus
Methods: crop area and production data for 87 different crops and 30
seasons (1979/80-2008/09) from the Cyprus Agricultural Statistics
Methods: location of crops in 431 communities from the Agricultural
Census (2003) and the Cyprus Agricultural Payment Organization
Results
Results
Results
Results
Results
Conclusions
• Crop production in Cyprus makes efficiently use of the
precipitation, which may otherwise evaporate back to the
atmosphere with little local benefit.
• Land use change, water policies and climate change may
reduce national crop production by 46-49% for rain-fed crops
and by 38-42% for irrigated crops, for 2014-2020, relative to
1981-2009.
• Computations indicate that the value of crop production could
range from 0.02 €/m3 for alfalfa to 35 €/m3 for cucumbers.
• Research is ongoing to identify climate-resilient,
environmentally-friendly, and economically-efficient crop
production options for Cyprus and the Mediterranean region.
References
Allen, R.G., L.S. Pereira, D. Raes, and M. Smith. 1998. Crop evapotranspiration - Guidelines for
computing crop water requirements, Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, FAO, Rome.
Bos, M. G., R.A.L. Kselik, R.G. Allen, D. Molden. 2009. Water requirements for irrigation and the
environment. Springer, New York.
Bruggeman, A., C. Zoumides, S. Pashiardis, P. Hadjinicolaou, M.A. Lange, and T. Zachariadis. 2011.
Effect of climate variability and climate change on crop production and water resources in Cyprus.
Study for the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, led by the Agricultural
Research Institute of Cyprus, June 2011.
Cyprus Meteorological Service. 2010. Cyprus average annual precipitation 1901-2008.
Cyprus Meteorological Service. 2011. Monthly rainfall in Cyprus during the hydrometeorological year
2008-2009 and 2009-2010.
Hadjiparaskevas, C. 2005. Soil survey and monitoring in Cyprus. European Soil Bureau-Research
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Statistical Service. 1982-2010. Agricultural statistics 1980-2008. Agricultural Statistics, Series II
(individual reports for each year). Republic of Cyprus Printing Office, Nicosia.
Water Development Department (WDD). 2002. Use and conservation of water in Cyprus. WDD,
Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment.
Thank you