Winter Potato Water Footprint Response to Climate Change in Egypt

Abstract

The limited amount of freshwater is the most important challenge facing Egypt due to increasing population and climate change. The objective of this study was to investigate how climatic change affects the winter potato water footprint at the Nile Delta covering 10 governorates from 1990 to 2016. Winter potato evapotranspiration (ETC) was calculated based on daily climate variables of minimum temperature, maximum temperature, wind speed and relative humidity during the growing season (October–February). The Mann–Kendall test was applied to determine the trend of climatic variables, crop evapotranspiration and water footprint. The results showed that the highest precipitation values were registered in the northwest governorates (Alexandria followed by Kafr El-Sheikh). The potato water footprint decreased from 170 m3 ton−1 in 1990 to 120 m3 ton−1 in 2016. The blue-water footprint contributed more than 75% of the total; the remainder came from the green-water footprint. The findings from this research can help government and policy makers better understand the impact of climate change on potato crop yield and to enhance sustainable water management in Egypt’s major crop-producing regions to alleviate water scarcity.