Environmental impacts on water resources from summer crops in rainfed and irrigated systems

Irrigation is an intensification technology to increase productivity in agricultural systems, but the impacts of irrigation on the environmental performance of crops are not well understood. We evaluated impacts on water use and quality of rainfed and irrigated systems for corn and soybean production in temperate South America using nonparametric ANOVA tests for small sample sizes. We modeled blue water footprint, ecotoxicity, N and P balance, and eutrophication potential for six farms producing corn and soybean in rainfed and irrigated systems in Uruguay. Crop yields were 5948 and 7862 kg ha⁻¹ for corn and 2482 and 3423 kg ha⁻¹ for soybean, under rainfed and irrigation, respectively. The average blue water footprint for irrigated systems was 264 m³ ton⁻¹ and zero for rainfed systems, with no difference between corn and soybean. The ecotoxicity was greater for soybean than for corn (1679 vs 325 CTUe kg⁻¹) but there were no statistically significant differences in ecotoxicity between rainfed and irrigated systems. Based on Usetox methodology, insecticides had a greater ecotoxic effect (3.2 × 10⁶ CTUe ha⁻¹) than herbicides (7.3 × 10⁴ CTUe ha⁻¹), despite the lower doses applied (insecticides: 0.51 kg ha⁻¹; herbicides: 6.83 kg ha⁻¹). The aquatic eutrophication potential (based on Impact 2002 + methodology) among rainfed and irrigated systems presented no differences (29 vs 24 kgPO₄₋ₑq ha⁻¹ for corn and 19 vs 27 kgPO₄₋ₑq ha⁻¹ for soybean). The standardized environmental impacts for corn calculated per ha were similar than those per kg of grain when comparing rainfed vs irrigated systems. For soybean, however, standardized environmental impacts per ha were greater in the irrigated than in the rainfed systems, but were similar per kg of grain (except for water footprint). In summary, irrigation resulted in higher productivity and increased blue water footprint than rainfed, but in the set of farms analyzed it did not significantly increase inputs use, so no differences were detected in nutrient balance, eutrophication potential, or ecotoxicity. Soybeans had greater environmental impacts than corn in ecotoxicity and N excess per unit of area, but no statistically significant difference was found in the other indicators. These indicators may be useful as a predictive tool for resource management. Decision makers should consider the trade-offs between productivity, water use, and water quality when using irrigation for intensification of crop production.