Assessing future drought impacts on yields based on historical irrigation reaction to drought for four major crops in Kansas

Evaluation of how historical irrigation reactions can adapt to future drought is indispensable to irrigation policy, however, such reactions are poorly quantified. In this paper, county-level irrigation data for maize, soybean, grain sorghum, and wheat crops in Kansas were compiled. Statistical models were developed to quantify changes of irrigation and yields in response to drought for each crop. These were then used to evaluate the ability of current irrigation to cope with future drought impacts on each crop based on an ensemble Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) prediction under the Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 scenario. Results indicate that irrigation in response to drought varies by crop; approximately 10 to 13% additional irrigation was applied when PDSI was reduced by one unit for maize, soybean, and grain sorghum. However, the irrigation reaction for wheat exhibits a large uncertainty, indicating a weaker irrigation reaction. Analysis of future climate conditions indicates that maize, soybean, and grain sorghum yields would decrease 2.2-12.4% at the state level despite additional irrigation application induced by drought (which was expected to increase 5.1-19.0%), suggesting that future drought will exceed the range that historical irrigation reactions can adapt to. In contrast, a lower reduction (-0.99 to -0.63%) was estimated for wheat yields because wetter climate was projected in the central section of the study area. Expanding wheat areas may be helpful in avoiding future drought risks for Kansas agriculture.