TY - JOUR

T1 - A short overview of measures for securing water resources for irrigated crop production

AU - Jensen, Christian Richardt

AU - Ørum, Jens Erik

AU - Pedersen, Søren Marcus

AU - Andersen, M.N.

AU - Plauborg, Finn

AU - Liu, Fulai

AU - Jacobsen, Sven-Erik

N1 - Special Issue: Food Production in Dry Areas of the Mediterranean Region Guest Editor: Sven-Erik Jacobsen

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Agriculture is the main user of limited fresh water resources in the world. Optimisation of agricultural water resources and their use can be obtained by both agronomical and political incentives. Important options are: reduction of the loss of irrigation water in conveyance before it reaches the farm; selection of water-efficient irrigation methods such as drip and micro-irrigation saving 30-40 % water compared to furrow irrigation; improvement of irrigation scheduling using plant and soil sensors and remote sensing-based models; deficit irrigation (DI) raising the water productivity in the range of 10-50 %; use of saline and wastewater for which modelling tools lately have been developed; introduction of drought and salt-tolerant crops eases the use of DI and use of saline water; improvement of cropping systems with development of conservation agriculture. Further options are: use of the 'virtual water' principles so that water-rich regions secure food supply to dry regions; reduction in waste of food, feed and biofuel from post-harvest to the end consumer; changing of food composition to less water-consuming products; regulating amount of irrigation water by rationing, subsidies or water pricing to support water-saving measures such as use of drip, irrigation scheduling and DI. The potential for water saving for different measures is discussed and estimated. Reduction in waste of food and loss of irrigation water from conveyance source to farm both has a great potential for water saving compared to other measures. How to choose the measures will depend on the local situation, which is ultimately a political choice.

AB - Agriculture is the main user of limited fresh water resources in the world. Optimisation of agricultural water resources and their use can be obtained by both agronomical and political incentives. Important options are: reduction of the loss of irrigation water in conveyance before it reaches the farm; selection of water-efficient irrigation methods such as drip and micro-irrigation saving 30-40 % water compared to furrow irrigation; improvement of irrigation scheduling using plant and soil sensors and remote sensing-based models; deficit irrigation (DI) raising the water productivity in the range of 10-50 %; use of saline and wastewater for which modelling tools lately have been developed; introduction of drought and salt-tolerant crops eases the use of DI and use of saline water; improvement of cropping systems with development of conservation agriculture. Further options are: use of the 'virtual water' principles so that water-rich regions secure food supply to dry regions; reduction in waste of food, feed and biofuel from post-harvest to the end consumer; changing of food composition to less water-consuming products; regulating amount of irrigation water by rationing, subsidies or water pricing to support water-saving measures such as use of drip, irrigation scheduling and DI. The potential for water saving for different measures is discussed and estimated. Reduction in waste of food and loss of irrigation water from conveyance source to farm both has a great potential for water saving compared to other measures. How to choose the measures will depend on the local situation, which is ultimately a political choice.

KW - Cropping systems

KW - Deficit irrigation

KW - Low-quality water

KW - Virtual water

KW - Waste of food and feed

KW - Water pricing and rationing

U2 - 10.1111/jac.12067

DO - 10.1111/jac.12067

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84906944948

VL - 200

SP - 333

EP - 343

JO - Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science

JF - Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science

SN - 0931-2250

IS - 5

ER -