Agricultural Practices to Improve Irrigation Sustainability
A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2023) | Viewed by 21606
Special Issue Editors
Interests: environmental risk assessment; water quality; ecotoxicology bioassays; pesticides
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: soil and water conservation; water use efficiency; soil salinity; irrigation water quality; irrigation management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Water is the main limiting factor in agricultural production in regions affected by water scarcity, where annual or seasonal rainfall is insufficient to satisfy the water requirements of crops. In fact, food production and water use are inextricably linked. Globally, agriculture accounts for 72% of water withdrawals, mainly for irrigation. Irrigated agriculture plays a key role in feeding the world’s population, responsible for 40% of the global food production in only 20% of cultivated land.
An increase in irrigated land productivity in recent years has been achieved thanks to the technological development of agriculture; however, pressures on the world’s land, soil, and water resources have also been derived. An increase in the use of plant protection products and fertilizers, the uptake of farm mechanization, or inadequate irrigation management may lead to the loss of soil health by salinization, erosion, or contamination, as well as an increase in pollution processes in surface or groundwater resources. Therefore, the misuse of irrigation through inadequate practices can affect ecosystems and the services they provide.
To ensure food security and to mitigate the effects of water scarcity resulting from climate change, it is essential to improve the efficiency and productivity of water use for crop production, while preserving natural resources from the negative environmental impact that can be associated with irrigation.
Rather than focusing on the problems, this Special Issue focuses on the available agroecological practices, deciphers which options are better, explores which soil indicators are most sensitive to irrigation practices, and assesses the advances in technology in order to improve the sustainability of irrigation agriculture with the most effective management actions.
Therefore, we invite researchers to contribute to this Special Issue on “Agricultural practices to improve irrigation sustainability” and to develop a set of reference publications on this subject in order to promote the resilience and the efficiency of irrigated agroecosystems.
Prof. Dr. Patrícia Palma
Dr. Alexandra Tomaz
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- irrigation efficiency
- agroecology in irrigated agriculture
- irrigation management practices
- advances in irrigation technologies
- soil health indicators
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