The viability of commercial potato production is influenced by spatial and temporal variability in soils and agroclimate, and the availability of water resources where supplementary irrigation is required. Soil characteristics and agroclimatic conditions greatly influence the cultivar choice, agronomic husbandry practices and the economics of production. Using the latest (UKCP09) scenarios of climate change for the UK, the present paper describes a methodology using pedo-climatic functions and a geographical information system (GIS) to model and map current and future land suitability for potato production in England and Wales. The outputs identify regions where rainfed production is likely to become limiting and where future irrigated production would be constrained due to shortages in water availability. The results suggest that by the 2050s, the area of land that is currently well or moderately suited for rainfed production would decline by 88 and 74%, respectively, under the 'most likely' climate projections for the low emissions scenario and by 95 and 86%, respectively, for the high emissions scenario, owing to increased likelihood of dry conditions. In many areas, rainfed production would become increasingly risky. However, with supplementary irrigation, c. 0·85 of the total arable land in central and eastern England would remain suitable for production, although most of this is in catchments where water resources are already over-licensed and/or over-abstracted; the expansion of irrigated cropping is thus likely to be constrained by water availability. The increase in the volume of water required due to the switch from rainfed-to irrigatedpotato cropping is likely to be much greater than the incremental increase in water demand solely on irrigated potatoes. The implications of climate change on the potato industry, the adaptation options and responses available, and the uncertainty associated with the land suitability projections, are discussed.

6There is growing scientific interest in the potential role that precision irrigation (PI) can make 7 towards improving crop productivity, and increasing water and energy efficiency in irrigated 8 agriculture. Most progress has been made in arid and semi-arid climates for use in high value 9crop production where irrigation costs coupled with concerns regarding water scarcity have 10 stimulated PI innovation and development. In temperate and humid climates where irrigation 11 is supplemental to rainfall, PI is less developed but nevertheless offers scope to make more 12 effective use of rainfall, help reduce the non-beneficial losses associated with irrigation (deep 13 drainage, nitrate leaching) and provide farmers with evidence to demonstrate environmentally 14 sustainable practices to processors and retailers. This paper reports on recent experiences in 15 developing precision irrigation in UK field-scale agriculture, drawing on evidence from field 16 research and modelling studies. By combining data from these sources, a critical evaluation 17 focusing on selected technical, agronomic and engineering challenges that need to be 18 overcome are described, including issues regarding PI scheduling, and the delineation of 19 irrigation management zones to ensure compatibility with existing methods of overhead 20 irrigation. The findings have relevance to other countries where irrigation is supplemental and 21 where precision agriculture is gaining popularity. 22 Please refer to any applicable publisher terms of use. three locations in England on soils with low, medium and high available water capacity.

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In many countries where water resources are under stress, there is a perception that irrigating golf courses causes significant additional abstraction, and that this has major impacts on the environment and other abstractors, including irrigated agriculture. This paper provides a quantitative assessment of water use within the golf sector in Spain, and compares it with irrigated agriculture. It is based on literature review, a national survey of golf course irrigation practices, and a correlation of reported irrigation consumption against agroclimate. Using a geographical information system (GIS), the water consumption for all golf courses in Spain was modelled and mapped, and the total water consumption estimated.The results show that the volume of water used for golf irrigation is extremely small compared to agricultural irrigation. Furthermore, a significant portion comes from wastewater reuse (41%) and desalination (7%), rather than direct abstraction, which competes with agriculture. However, it is concentrated in particular tourist areas and could cause local problems. The average economic productivity of the water used for golf, estimated at around 9 s m À3 in direct benefits (course fees) and 28 s m À3 if including the benefits to the tourist industry, is very much higher than for even high-value agricultural crops. These results suggest that irrigating golf courses for tourism purposes is an economically rational water use in Spain, even though the transfer of resources from agriculture is controversial. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. est concentrée sur des secteurs très touristiques et pourrait poser des problèmes locaux. La productivité économique moyenne de l'eau utilisée pour le golf, estimée à environ 9 s m À3 en avantages directs (honoraires de cours) et 28 s m À3 en incluant les avantages allant au secteur du tourisme, est beaucoup plus élevée que pour les cultures, même à haute valeur ajoutée. Ces résultats suggèrent que l'irrigation des terrains de golf pour touristes est un usage économiquement raisonnable de l'eau en Espagne, bien que le transfert de ressources à partir de l'agriculture soit controversée.

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