Water and Irrigation Management in Arid and Semiarid Zones

Dear Colleagues,

Research on irrigation in arid and semiarid environments has mainly been aimed at reducing crop water consumption. However, in recent years, approaches aimed at reducing crop water requirements have significantly changed. Remote sensing with satellites or unmanned vehicles, and vegetation spectral measurements, among others, in fact represent the newest frontier of existing technologies.

The so-called modernization of irrigation systems, mainly directed at shifting surface irrigation to pressurized irrigation, has meant a significant increase in energy demand. The energy cost has so far not been considered in the cost of farmers, so exploring new energy sources, especially renewable ones like wind and solar radiation, has become a major goal for researchers in irrigation.

Alternative water sources (regenerated urban water and desalinated water) are necessary given the scarcity of conventional resources, but their influence on the soil and the crop itself should be considered before they can be adopted and generalized. As if that were not enough, some external factors such as the threat of climate change or ups and downs of agricultural policies, in particular European agricultural policy, significantly affect the water needs of crops, sometimes with opposite effects on water consumption, which seems to increase in the first case and to reduce in the second.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to report, in more detail, research of water resources management in the frame of sustainable development.

Prof. Dr. José Roldán-Cañas
Prof. Dr. María Fátima Moreno-Pérez
Guest Editors

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