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ECONOMIC RISK ANALYSIS OF TOMATO IRRIGATION USING DESALINATED WATER BY REVERSE OSMOSIS
Author(s) -
Soares T. M.,
Almeida C.D.G.C.,
Frizzone J. A.,
Silva E. F. F.,
Duarte S. N.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.1764
Subject(s) - desalination , irrigation , saline water , environmental science , reverse osmosis , environmental engineering , salinity , mathematics , agronomy , chemistry , biology , ecology , biochemistry , membrane
Groundwater desalination by reverse osmosis is an alternative being used more and more in Brazil, especially in the north‐east region, and aims to provide fresh water in isolated communities. Desalination to produce water for irrigation is a subject on which there has been minimal study. This research evaluated the economic feasibility of desalination for tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) irrigation. By the Monte Carlo method, applied to the net present worth (NPW), a probabilistic analysis of risk was accomplished for tomato irrigation using 21 scenarios, comprising different irrigation waters (EC (electrical conductivity) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 dS m ‐1 ), desalinated water and three yield levels (100, 70 and 40 Mg ha ‐1 ) obtained under non‐saline water conditions. For each scenario, 5000 values of NPW were simulated, and net present worth expectation, E (NPW), was estimated. Desalination for tomato irrigation is just justified for waters with salinity levels higher than its salinity threshold. Tomato irrigation with desalinated water presents economic feasibility dependent on the yield level which would be reached under non‐saline conditions. Even using water with 6 dS m ‐1 , there was economic feasibility above 75% in desalination for tomato irrigation at all the levels of the designed yield. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.