The adoption of water-saving irrigation technologies is a crucial measure for promoting agricultural green transformation and building a strong agricultural sector. Based on survey data from 537 wheat-maize farmers in across four major grain-producing counties in Henan Province, this study empirically analyzes the influence mechanisms of government promotion, perceived value, and social interaction on farmers' adoption of water-saving irrigation technologies. The results indicate that: ① Government promotion significantly and positively affects farmers' behavior, serving as a key external driver. ② Perceived value plays a partial mediating role between government promotion and farmers' adoption of water-saving irrigation technology. ③ Social interaction exhibits a U-shaped moderating effect on the relationship between perceived value and adoption behavior. Specifically, at low and medium levels of social interaction, it weakens the positive impact of perceived value on adoption behavior; after surpassing a threshold, it strengthens this effect. Accordingly, it is recommended to optimize the government promotion system, enhance the cultivation of perceived value, and guide the orderly development of social interaction to support sustainable agricultural development and comprehensive rural revitalization.

To reveal the synergistic response mechanisms among agricultural development, water regulation, and ecological response in the Heihe River Basin, this study integrates multisource data from 2000-2021 to analyze the correlation between the evolution of irrigation patterns in the midstream Zhangye City and the water area of the downstream Juyan Lake. The results indicate that the expansion of water-saving irrigation area in the midstream was significant, reaching 210 600 hectares in 2020, boosting grain yield by 204.7% compared to 2000 (r=0.782). However, the inefficient expansion of cultivated land after 2013 may increase the risk of land desertification. Hydrologically, the runoff variations at Yingluoxia and Zhengyixia showed significant synchrony (r=0.948), and the water discharge from Zhengyixia was highly correlated with the area of Juyan Lake (r=0.800). Under the combined effects of water transfer policies and midstream water-saving construction, the area of Juyan Lake reached a historical peak in 2017. Difference analysis revealed potential hydrological contradictions: while EVI and NDBI confirmed synchronized vegetation recovery and cultivated land expansion, NDWI revealed a general decline in surface humidity in midstream farmlands, confirming that water-saving measures have hindered the water cycle. The study concludes that synergistic management involving engineering regulation, technology promotion, and policy guidance achieves an economic-ecological win-win, laying a solid foundation for national security.

As irrigation districts serve as the core support for agricultural production, food security, and ecological civilization construction in China, scientifically evaluating their development status is the key to optimizing management strategies and enhancing operational efficiency. At present, in the evaluation of irrigation districts, single weighting methods have obvious limitations. Subjective weighting methods are easily influenced by human experience biases, while objective weighting methods often fail to reflect actual management needs. This leads to unreasonable index weights, thus making the evaluation results lack pertinence. This paper focuses on the core issue of "how to construct a comprehensive evaluation system for irrigation districts that takes into account both subjective and objective factors", and proposes a comprehensive integration weighting method. By re-weighting the weights determined by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (subjective) and the Coefficient of Variation method (objective) , the relative importance of the subjective and objective weights can be quantified, thereby enhancing the scientific nature of the index weights. Using 9 medium-sized irrigation districts in Changji Prefecture, Xinjiang as the research objects, an evaluation index system comprising 12 indicators was constructed from four dimensions: water usage, engineering facilities, management level, and production efficiency, and the evaluation results were compared and verified by combining the grey correlation method and the approximate ideal point method. The results show that the three methods are basically consistent in evaluation ranking, and the comprehensive integration weighting method can more accurately reflect the differences in the multi-dimensional development of irrigation districts, providing a clear direction for identifying their shortcomings.

This study addresses the problems of insufficient water control accuracy, uneven spraying, and reliance on manual management in plug seedling irrigation for facility agriculture by designing and implementing a PLC-based integrated intelligent sprinkling irrigation system. The system adopts an S7-1200 PLC as the control core and establishes a closed-loop control model using photoelectric and flow sensors to achieve real-time monitoring and dynamic regulation of spraying flow. Dual-mode nozzles (fan-type and cone-type) are designed and optimized through CFD simulation to improve spray uniformity and droplet size distribution. In addition, the system integrates a water–fertilizer–pesticide proportional mixing unit and is equipped with a touch-screen human–machine interface (HMI) for parameter setting, operation monitoring, and on-site control. Experimental results show that under a working pressure of 0.2 MPa, the spray angle reaches 72°, the Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) is 0.38 mm, and the coefficient of variation of spray uniformity is controlled within 10%. Compared with manual sprinkling, the proposed system achieves a water-saving rate of 25%–30% and improves the seedling survival rate by approximately 12%. The results indicate that the system effectively enhances irrigation precision and automation levels, providing a feasible path for water conservation and intelligent management in facility agriculture.

During water distribution in multi-source irrigation districts, neglecting the hydraulic response time requirement can lead to delayed water distribution plans, local supply-demand imbalances, and difficulties in achieving the global optimization of water resources. Taking Xihe Irrigation District in Yongchang County, Jinchang City, Gansu Province as the research object, this paper constructs an optimal water distribution model for multi-source irrigation canal systems that considers hydraulic response time requirements. Based on an improved reference crop evapotranspiration method, the model accurately calculates the water demand of the irrigation district, and introduces the water volume method to quantitatively characterize the hydraulic response time during the water delivery process. With the goals of maximizing farmers' economic benefits, minimizing hydraulic response time, and minimizing water demand, an optimization function is established, and an improved whale optimization algorithm is used to obtain the optimal solution. Tests conducted in the Xihe Irrigation District have shown that the model is capable of generating optimized solutions that balance water supply equilibrium and delivery timeliness. The hydraulic response time during the water distribution process meets the expected demands of each canal system, and the difference between actual water supply and demand is controlled within ±0.001 (10 000 m3/irrigation cycle). This not only ensures the timely arrival of water during critical crop water demand periods but also effectively alleviates local water conflicts, achieving global optimization of water distribution in multi-source irrigation canal systems, and providing technical support for the efficient utilization and refined management of water resources in irrigation districts.

Agricultural irrigation systems often operate under complex and variable conditions. Fluctuations in pump head cause the pump's characteristic frequencies in the time domain to shift. However, this shift is often obscured by significant background noise. Consequently, the control system fails to track these dynamic frequency variations promptly and accurately, leading to a degradation in control precision. To address this limitation, this paper proposes an adaptive self-tuning control strategy for agricultural pumps driven by Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) under varying head conditions. By analyzing the pump's flow-rate variations under different heads, we identified the parameters affecting the flow rate and established a flow-rate function based on the pump affinity laws. This function defines the relationship between the pump's rotational speed and flow rate, forming the basis for the controller's adjustment law. A variable frequency speed controller was designed, and its parameters were self-tuned based on an identified model of the pump system. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively stabilizes the flow rate, suppressing both the amplitude and frequency of fluctuations to a low level. The average overshoot across various working conditions is only 4.45%, indicating high control accuracy. Consequently, this approach enhances irrigation efficiency while concurrently lowering energy consumption and irrigation costs, promoting the sustainability of agricultural irrigation systems.

To improve the accuracy of water level forecasting of the pump station forebay and extend the forecasting horizon, this paper takes the Ningxia Guhai Irrigation Cascade Pump Station as the research object and proposes an LSTM prediction model that integrates Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) and the Optuna hyperparameter optimization method. Through GRA, four key influencing factors were identified: the flow rate of the Kuosan pump station, the water level in the outflow pool of the Kuoer pump station, the flow rate of the Kuoer pump station, and the flow difference between the two pump stations. Optuna was used to automatically optimize the LSTM hyperparameters, and the prediction results under different forecasting horizons (1, 2, 3 and 4 h) were compared with LSTM, Optuna-XGBoost, and Optuna-BP models. The results show that the Optuna-LSTM model has the lowest error metrics, significantly outperforming the comparative models, demonstrating superior accuracy and generalization capability, thus providing a high-precision and highly generalizable data-driven solution for short-term forecasting of pump station water levels.

To explore the effects of different film mulching materials and irrigation quotas on maize growth, yield, and water-nitrogen use efficiency, with the aim of determining the optimal film mulching method and irrigation quota for drip-irrigated maize in the Shizuishan region of Ningxia, a field randomized block experiment was conducted. The experiment included four film mulching methods (N: no mulching, D: fully biodegradable film, O: ordinary white ordinary plastic film, B: ordinary black ordinary plastic film) and three irrigation quotas [W1: 225 m3/(hm²·次), W2: 270 m3/(hm²·次), W3: 300 m3/(hm²·次)], resulting in a total of 12 treatments. Systematic analyses were performed on maize plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index, dry matter accumulation, yield, and water-nitrogen use efficiency in response to film mulching methods and irrigation quotas. The results showed that with increasing irrigation quotas, maize plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index, yield, water use efficiency, irrigation water use efficiency, and nitrogen accumulation initially increased and then decreased. In contrast, nitrogen use efficiency, nitrogen harvest index, and nitrogen uptake efficiency generally declined, while partial factor productivity of nitrogen fertilizer exhibited an overall increasing trend. All film mulching treatments promoted maize growth, improved water use efficiency, and increased aboveground nitrogen accumulation, with ordinary black ordinary plastic film demonstrating the most significant improvements. Under the W2 irrigation quota, film mulching treatments B, O, and D increased yield by 30.62%, 22.51%, and 14.86%, respectively, compared to the no-mulching treatment, while water use efficiency improved by 35.53%, 27.33%, and 17.40%, respectively. Total nitrogen accumulation at maturity increased by 35.44%, 24.44%, and 11.52% compared to the no-mulching treatment. The optimal treatments for key indicators were as follows: nitrogen use efficiency (W1O, 0.54 kg/kg), nitrogen harvest index (W1N, 0.55 kg/kg), nitrogen uptake efficiency (W1N, 2.37 kg/kg), and partial factor productivity of nitrogen fertilizer (W2B, 62.53 kg/kg). Overall, the W2B treatment performed best, with plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index, aboveground dry matter accumulation, yield, and water use efficiency reaching 348.9 cm, 288.66 mm, 3.78 m2/m2, 493.06 g/plant, 18,759.92 kg/hm2 and 38.60 kg/m3, respectively. These values represented improvements of 3.48%~12.96%, 3.67%~19.32%, 1.07%~23.88%, 5.49%~77.36%, 5.2%~38.78%, and 6.44%~35.52% compared to the other treatments, respectively. Based on principal component analysis and comprehensive evaluation, it is recommended that the combination of black ordinary black plastic film and an irrigation quota of 270 m3/hm2 be adopted for drip-irrigated maize under film mulching in the Shizuishan region of Ningxia.

To investigate the effects of applying organic water-soluble fertilizers under seepage irrigation and drip irrigation on the growth, yield, and quality of greenhouse tomatoes, two irrigation methods (seepage irrigation, S; drip irrigation, D), two organic water-soluble fertilizers (Carbonase Seaweed Fruit Enlargement 100, F1; Fruit Enlargement 100%, F2), and three fertilization rates (150 kg/hm2, N1; 225 kg/hm2, N2; 300 kg/hm2, N3) were set up, along with two controls (SCK, DCK), totaling 14 treatments. The effects of different treatments on tomato plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index (LAI), relative chlorophyll content (SPAD value), yield, and quality were investigated. Results indicate that tomato growth and quality metrics under the N2 fertilization level outperformed other treatments. The SF2N2 treatment significantly enhanced tomato quality, with single-fruit weight, vitamin C, lycopene, soluble sugars, and the sugar-acid ratio increasing by 26.98%, 73.86%, 104.25%, 50.42%, and 95.08%, respectively, compared to the SCK treatment. Nitrate content remained within acceptable limits, while titratable acid decreased by 22.81% compared to the SCK treatment. Under identical irrigation and fertilization conditions, the F2 organic water-soluble fertilizer demonstrated superior enhancement effects on tomato indicators compared to the F1 fertilizer, increasing yields by 16.74% to 21.39%. Under other identical conditions, the yield and WUE under seepage irrigation were higher than those under drip irrigation, showing superior performance in water conservation, yield enhancement, and quality improvement. Collectively, these findings provide a water-saving irrigation method and a reasonable fertilization scheme for protected-culture tomato cultivation in Shanxi Province.

Characterizing the spatiotemporal variations of soil salinization and groundwater depth is crucial for controlling salinization and optimizing water use in irrigation districts. This study investigated a typical irrigation district in Ningxia—the lower Qingtongxia Irrigation District-using a combination of geostatistics and GIS to analyze the spatiotemporal changes and relationships between soil salinization in the 0~20 cm layer (2017 and 2024) and groundwater depth (2016-2023). Results showed that in 2017, salinized soil in the 0~20 cm layer accounted for 97.34% of the study area, with moderate and severe salinization covering 70.45%, exhibiting a continuous distribution from southwest to northeast. By 2024, the proportion of mildly or non-salinized soil increased from 31.55% to 68.51%, while moderate and severe salinization decreased from 70.45% to 31.56%. In 2024, soil salinity was highly concentrated at the surface (0~10 cm layer), primarily in the form of chlorides and sulfates, with carbonate ions being the main contributor to alkalization. From 2016 to 2023, the annual average groundwater depth showed an increasing trend, reaching 2.82 m in 2023-an increase of 0.34 m compared to 2016. Intra-annual monthly variations in groundwater depth consistently reflected irrigation patterns. Spatially, shallow groundwater depth increased over the years, decreasing from southwest to northeast and increasing from southeast to northwest within the study area. Statistical analysis identified that the critical groundwater depth thresholds for the occurrence of moderate and mild salinization were 2.16 m and 2.64 m, respectively. These findings provide a scientific basis for the graded and targeted control of soil salinization and the determination of appropriate groundwater depth thresholds in the lower Qingtongxia Irrigation District.

Crescent Lake serves as a barometer of the ecological "health status" of Dunhuang. Strengthening its scientific conservation and comprehensive management is a crucial measure to improve the ecological environment of the Dunhuang region and advance the protection and transmission of Dunhuang culture. Based on an analysis of the causes of groundwater decline and corresponding countermeasures, combined with infiltration test studies, this paper proposes a water replenishment plan centered on "river channel infiltration fields and groundwater extraction restrictions." Through the establishment of a regional water infiltration and replenishment system, the natural form and ecological functions of Crescent Lake can be gradually restored, providing a replicable technical paradigm for the protection of renowned springs in arid regions.

This study investigates the vertical migration and transformation of nitrogen in response to rainfall events under dryland and paddy farming systems in a vulnerable karst agricultural area in the Huixian Wetland, Guilin. Through in-situ monitoring and Pearson correlation analysis, distinct patterns were identified between the two systems. In dryland conditions, rainfall leaching led to significant nitrate-nitrogen (NO {}_{\mathrm{3}}^{-}-N) accumulation in the 60 cm soil layer (peak: 41.138 mg/L), with rapid leaching into groundwater. In contrast, paddy systems exhibited a marked decrease in the NO {}_{\mathrm{3}}^{-}-N/TN ratio and an increase in the NH {}_{\mathrm{4}}^{+}-N/TN ratio in the top 30 cm soil. However, NO {}_{\mathrm{3}}^{-}-N dominated (up to 80.78% of TN) in deeper soil layers (>60 cm) and groundwater, driven by redox interface shifts associated with water table dynamics. The 60~100 cm soil horizon was identified as a critical buffer zone for nitrogen migration. Optimizing irrigation and fertilization timing to avoid rainfall peaks is recommended to mitigate groundwater contamination.

In paddy ecosystems, lateral seepage constitutes a key hydrological pathway for nitrogen transportation, which not only directly affects nutrient use efficiency but also serves as a significant contributor to agricultural non-point source pollution. To systematically investigate the mechanisms through which irrigation and drainage management influences this lateral seepage process, this study set up four treatments: controlled irrigation and controlled drainage, controlled irrigation and free drainage, shallow-wet irrigation and controlled drainage, and shallow-wet irrigation and free drainage. By monitoring the nitrogen concentrations in soil solutions at different depths in the paddy field-bund area, the effects of irrigation and drainage regulation on the distribution of nitrogen in the paddy field-bund system were analyzed. The findings indicate that compared with shallow-wet irrigation and free drainage, controlled irrigation and controlled drainage significantly decreased the total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen concentrations in the soil solution in the 0~20 cm layer of the bunds, but had no significant effect on ammonium nitrogen. Under controlled irrigation conditions, paddy field-bund soils exhibited a limited downward migration trend of nitrogen. Controlled irrigation led to the translocation of the peak enrichment depths of total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen in the soil solution of bund soils from the surface layer (0~10 cm) under shallow-wet irrigation conditions to the deeper layer (10~20 cm). For the remaining treatments and different soil depths, no significant vertical migration of nitrogen in bund soils was observed. Further analysis showed that controlled irrigation and controlled drainage reduced the positive correlations among total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen concentrations between paddy fields and bunds by changing the nitrogen migration pathways and transformation environments. Specifically, the positive correlation for ammonium nitrogen was most strongly weakened, even reversing to a negative one in some periods. In conclusion, the controlled irrigation and drainage strategy demonstrates dual advantages by not only effectively mitigating nitrogen losses through lateral seepage in paddy fields but also enhancing in-situ nitrogen retention capacity while generating substantial environmental co-benefits.

Based on measured soil moisture data and meteorological station data from 1992 to 2020, a segmented linear model was employed to identify the key time nodes of soil moisture trend changes. Theil-Sen trend analysis and the Mann-Kendall trend test were employed to evaluate the trend of soil moisture. Correlation analysis and standardized multiple regression models were used to quantitatively evaluate the correlation and degree of contribution between the four meteorological factors (precipitation, air temperature, wind speed, and evapotranspiration) and the change of soil moisture. The findings indicated three instances of trend shifts in soil moisture during 2003, 2007, and 2011, suggesting a discernible trend in the area's soil moisture dynamics. Subsequent analysis revealed significant spatial and temporal variations in soil moisture, with positive correlations with precipitation and negative correlations with air temperature, wind speed, and evapotranspiration. Notably, the absolute value of the correlation coefficient with wind speed was lower than 0.24 in all time segments, indicating the weakest correlation. A total of 71.84% of the sites included in the standardized multiple regression exhibited significant regression models, 96.55% exhibited non-significant results in the test of independence of the residuals of the equations, and 90.80% exhibited non-significant results in the test of normality of the residuals of the equations. These findings suggest that the four meteorological factors were all significant in the construction of the model and exhibited a close relationship with the spatial and temporal changes of soil moisture. The study indicates that the primary factors influencing soil moisture variations are precipitation and air temperature. Precipitation and evapotranspiration exhibit the highest relative contributions, and soil moisture demonstrates heightened sensitivity and responsiveness to them. The responses to air temperature and wind speed exhibit more pronounced east-west variations, and wind speed can indirectly affect changes in soil moisture through a more intricate combination of effects.

Based on daily precipitation observations from 10 meteorological stations in the Qingjiang Basin from 1993 to 2022, this study systematically analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution and variation characteristics of Precipitation Concentration Degree (PCD) and Precipitation Concentration Period (PCP) using multiple methods, including Rescaled Range Analysis (R/S), nonparametric statistical tests, wavelet transforms, and Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) decomposition. The results indicate that from 1993 to 2021, the PCD in the Qingjiang Basin fluctuated between 0.24 and 0.55, with a multi-year average of 0.41, which is significantly higher than the national average, showing a slowly increasing trend. The PCP varied between 15.1 and 21.2 dekads, with a multi-year average of 18.5, indicating that precipitation is mostly concentrated from mid-June to late July, with a slowly decreasing trend over time. Abrupt changes in PCD and PCP occurred around 2020 and 2001, respectively. Additionally, the PCP exhibits a distinct Hurst phenomenon, suggesting that the precipitation concentration period in the basin is expected to continue shifting earlier in the future, while precipitation concentration intensity will further increase. The spatial distribution of the first EOF mode of both PCD and PCP in the Qingjiang Basin is highly consistent, showing an opposite variation pattern between the upstream and middle and downstream regions. This characteristic highlights the significant influence of basin topography on the spatial heterogeneity of precipitation.

To investigate the impacts of waterlogging stress on the leaf senescence characteristics and yield of rice, the medium-season rice variety "Yangxianyou 418" was employed as the experimental material. In 2024, under barrel-test conditions, seven treatments were established: light waterlogging for 5 days during the jointing stage (LW-5), moderate waterlogging for 5 days (MW-5), heavy waterlogging for 5 days (HW-5), light waterlogging for 7 days (LW-7), moderate waterlogging for 7 days (MW-7), heavy waterlogging for 7 days (HW-7), and conventional irrigation (CK). The chlorophyll content, antioxidant enzyme (SOD, POD, CAT) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and soluble protein content of the flag leaves of rice at the jointing-booting, heading-flowering, and grain-filling stages, as well as the yield per pot and its components at maturity under different treatment combinations, were determined. The results showed that compared with CK, the chlorophyll content, SOD and CAT activity, and soluble protein content of the flag leaves of rice at the heading and grain filling stages, as well as the panicle weight, grain number per panicle, 1 000-grain weight, and seed setting rate at maturity in the LW-5 and LW-7 treatments were not significantly different, and the yield per pot was maintained at a relatively high level (62.61 g, 62.58 g), indicating that light waterlogging did not accelerate the senescence of the flag leaves of rice, thereby stabilizing the yield per pot. However, other water stress treatments reduced the chlorophyll content, SOD and CAT activity, and soluble protein content of the flag leaves of rice at each monitoring period, significantly increased the MDA content, and reduced the panicle weight, grain number per panicle, 1000-grain weight, and seed setting rate, ultimately reducing the yield. Overall, HW-5 and HW-7 treatments significantly accelerated the senescence of the flag leaves of rice, and the rice yield was significantly reduced by 24.95% and 55.06% compared with CK, severely inhibiting the rice yield. Light waterlogging at the jointing stage had no significant effect on the chlorophyll content, antioxidant enzyme activity, and soluble protein content of the flag leaves of rice, and did not significantly reduce the rice yield. The research results provide a theoretical basis for coping with flood disasters in rice and for irrigation and drainage management.