Defining Spatial Priorities for Irrigation Development Using the Soil Conservation and Water Use Efficiency Criteria

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology for defining spatial priorities for irrigation development in Vojvodina Province (Serbia). The purpose of the methodology is to take into account several UN Sustainable Development Goals and to try to minimize land degradation, while maximizing water use efficiency. In the first step, areas that can be irrigated over long-term periods with minimal risk of soil degradation were selected in the geographic information system (GIS) environment. Then, three experts used the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to define the weights of four criteria related to water use efficiency. After that, the consensus model was used to obtain group weights of the criteria. These criteria were standardized and presented as GIS layers. Finally, cell values in all the layers were multiplied by corresponding consensus weights of the criteria. The weighted layers are summarized in the final map representing spatial priorities for irrigation development.

Keywords

irrigation; spatial priorities; GIS; AHP; UN Sustainable Development Goals

Published in

Agronomy
2019, Volume: 9, number: 6, article number: 324
Publisher: MDPI

SLU Authors

• Blagojevic, Bosko

  • Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Novi Sad

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG6 Clean water and sanitation
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production
SDG15 Life on land


UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science
Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9060324

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/101056