Assessing the Performance of a Subsurface Water Retention System (SWRS) Prototype: First Evaluation of Work Productivity and Costs
| Main Authors: | luigi pari, Walter Stefanoni, nadia palmieri, francesco latterini |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article Journal |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/6220517 |
Daftar Isi:
- The potential to use Subsurface Water Retention Systems (SWRSs) to combat desertification and improve agriculture in arid and semiarid areas has already been investigated and proved promising. Nevertheless, a lack of specific machinery has prevented this technology from demonstrating its effectiveness on vast areas. In the present study, a specific prototype is presented along with the results obtained from a preliminary study conducted to assess effectiveness, performance and associated cost. During the test, the machinery permitted the construction of a SWRS 100 cm belowground using a 140 kW tractor. The effective field capacity (EFC) averaged at 0.19 ha h−1 whilst total cost was estimated to be as high as 4800.00 € ha−1 . However, 93% of the cost was associated with the purchase cost of the removable impermeable film. A removal operation was also investigated using a 42 kW excavator for evaluating the EFC and cost which averaged at 0.2 ha h−1 and 655.79 € ha−1 , respectively