Lache et al. (2025) Performance of controlled drainage in tile-drained agricultural fields: An exploratory scenario analysis with the soil-plant model SWAP

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Water Management
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-20
• Authors: Erika Lucía Rodríguez Lache, Guillaume Blanchy, Ali Mehmandoost Kotlar, Sarah Garré
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109973

Research Groups

• Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Merelbeke, Belgium
• University of Liège (ULiege), Liège, Belgium
• F.R.S-FNRS (Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique), Brussels, Belgium

Short Summary

This study used the SWAP model to conduct an in silico scenario analysis comparing regular drainage (RD) with manual controlled drainage (MCD) and climate-adaptive drainage (CAD) over 30 years in maize cultivation across different soil textures and management practices. It found that MCD significantly increases groundwater recharge (28-45%) and reduces drainage flux (17-25%) compared to RD, with minimal and soil-dependent effects on maize transpiration, while CAD offered fewer benefits than MCD.

Objective

• To systematically analyze the performance of manual controlled drainage (MCD) and climate-adaptive drainage (CAD) on crop transpiration, groundwater recharge, and pipe drainage compared to regular drainage (RD) under various realistic environmental conditions (soil, hydrogeology), distinct management options (drainage timing and levels), and weather variability in Flanders, Belgium.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: In silico experiment representing agricultural fields in Flanders, Belgium, using a one-dimensional soil-plant-atmosphere model.
• Temporal Scale: 30-year historical daily weather dataset (1994–2023); simulations covered 485 days per year, including the 160-day maize growing season.

Methodology and Data

• Models used:
  • SWAP (Soil–Water–Atmosphere–Plant) model v4.2.0 (one-dimensional hydrological model)
  • Penman Monteith equation (for potential evapotranspiration)
  • Feddes et al. (1976) function (for root water uptake under optimal and drought conditions)
  • Bartholomeus et al. (2008) approach (for water uptake in oxygen deficient conditions)
  • Jarvis (2011) root water compensation
• Data sources:
  • Historical daily weather data from Uccle, Belgium (1994–2023) from the Joint Research Centre.
  • Soil hydraulic parameters for loamy sand, loam, and clay from the Rosetta database (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2019).
  • Maize crop parameters (static/simple crop module of SWAP).
  • Drainage base levels based on expert knowledge and local farmer insights in Flanders.

Main Results

• Manual controlled drainage (MCD) increased groundwater recharge by a median of 28 % for coarser soils and 45 % for finer soils compared to regular drainage (RD).
• MCD reduced drainage flux by a median of 22–26 % for loamy sand and approximately 18 % for loam and clay soils compared to RD.
• MCD resulted in a minimal median increase in maize transpiration (+0.5 %) only in loamy sand soils when drainage management started early (15 April); in finer soils, transpiration was often reduced due to increased oxygen stress.
• Climate-adaptive drainage (CAD) did not show significant improvements in crop transpiration compared to MCD over the 30-year simulation period in loam soil.
• CAD led to less groundwater recharge (reduced by 0.4 cm) and more drainage (increased by 0.7 cm) compared to MCD over the 30-year period.
• The effectiveness of controlled drainage is highly dependent on soil texture, weather conditions, and the timing of drainage management.

Contributions

• This study provides the first systematic in silico scenario analysis quantifying the effects of controlled drainage (MCD and CAD) on the entire water budget (crop transpiration, groundwater recharge, and pipe drainage) and crop development in Flanders, Belgium.
• It explores the complex interactions between drainage types, soil textures, hydrogeological conditions, and drainage management practices over a 30-year period, going beyond commonly studied aspects like drainage discharge and nutrient leaching.
• The research offers valuable insights for farmers and water managers, supporting informed decision-making for sustainable drainage techniques in agricultural systems.
• Open user-friendly Python codes are provided to encourage reuse and reproducibility, allowing adaptation to other soil-crop-drainage design and management scenarios.

Funding

• Flemish Government through the OP-PEIL project (VLAIO HBC.2020.3159).
• Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS (CR: 1.B.044.22F) for Guillaume Blanchy.

Citation

@article{Lache2025Performance,
  author = {Lache, Erika Lucía Rodríguez and Blanchy, Guillaume and Kotlar, Ali Mehmandoost and Garré, Sarah},
  title = {Performance of controlled drainage in tile-drained agricultural fields: An exploratory scenario analysis with the soil-plant model SWAP},
  journal = {Agricultural Water Management},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109973},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109973}
}