Irrigation & Drainage Systems Engineering

Water scarcity poses a significant challenge to sustainable agriculture, particularly in regions reliant on irrigation. This article critically reviews innovations and perspectives aimed at providing adequate water for sustainable irrigation. It explores technological advancements, policy frameworks, and management strategies to address water scarcity while ensuring agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. Through a comprehensive analysis, this review elucidates key challenges, emerging solutions, and future directions in achieving sustainable irrigation practices.

Pediatric infections pose significant challenges due to the limited options for antimicrobial therapies, concerns about antibiotic resistance, and potential adverse effects on child development. In response, researchers are exploring alternative antimicrobial irrigation strategies to effectively treat infections in children while minimizing these risks. This abstract provides an overview of promising approaches in this emerging field. Firstly, probiotic irrigation presents a novel approach by harnessing the beneficial effects of probiotic bacteria to restore microbial balance in pediatric infections. Probiotics can outcompete pathogens and modulate immune responses, offering a targeted and potentially safer alternative to traditional antibiotics. Secondly, nanoparticle-based irrigation holds promise for its antimicrobial properties and targeted action. Nanoparticles, such as silver nanoparticles, exhibit potent antimicrobial activity against a wide range of pathogens while minimizing systemic side effects. Incorporating nanoparticles into irrigation solutions could offer a targeted and efficient treatment option for pediatric infections.

Soils are often overlooked, yet they are the fundamental component of terrestrial ecosystems, supporting life above and below the ground. Their significance in sustaining life, mitigating climate change, and providing essential ecosystem services cannot be overstated. In this article, we delve into the multifaceted role of soils in promoting sustainability, combating climate change, and delivering vital ecosystem services.

Halophilic plant-associated bacteria inhabit extreme saline environments and have evolved unique mechanisms to thrive under such conditions. This study explores the potential of these bacteria as bioinoculants for enhancing plant growth in saline soils. We isolated halophilic bacteria from the rhizosphere of halophytic plants and characterized their plant growth-promoting traits, including production of indole acetic acid, siderophores, and phosphate solubilization ability. Furthermore, the salt tolerance of these bacteria was assessed to ensure their efficacy in saline soils. Inoculation experiments were conducted with selected strains on various crops grown under saline conditions. Results demonstrate that halophilic plant-associated bacteria significantly improved plant growth parameters, including biomass accumulation, nutrient uptake, and salt stress tolerance. Additionally, microbial community analysis revealed shifts in the rhizosphere microbiome following bacterial inoculation, indicating potential ecological implications. Harnessing the potential of halophilic plant-associated bacteria presents a promising approach for sustainable agriculture in saline environments, offering a novel strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of soil salinity on crop productivity.

Our suite of QGIS tools addresses the vital aspects of subsurface drainage systems, crucial for water management in agriculture, civil engineering, and land development. Accurate depth placement and sizing of drainage pipes significantly impact system efficiency, enhancing overall land productivity. Developed to meet this demand, our tools specialize in burying and sizing sub-surface drainage systems. The primary objective is to generate buried elevation depths and pipe sizes for each line segment within the drainage network, sequencing downstream-to-upstream and upstream-to-downstream, respectively. Determining minimum drainage main sizes relies on factors like burying order, end-point elevations, distances, and specified elevation depths and slopes. These user-friendly QGIS tools, utilizing Tile Order, Cumulative Flow Lengths, Burying Slope, and specifications like drain spacing and material, are vital for accurate pipe sizing. Burying and sizing data is exportable in various formats for drain installation machines, and with built-in cost analysis features, they facilitate informed decision-making and budget planning for drainage projects. Optimized for compatibility with all QGIS3 versions, these tools are freely available for download from the QGIS Plugin Repository. Successfully tested with a University of Illinois' South Farm drainage system, they effectively simplify the burying and sizing processes for drainage networks.