Agricultural water management in water-starved countries: challenges and opportunities

Qadir, Muhammad Farhan; Boers, Th.M.; Schubert, Sven; Ghafoor, Abdul; Murtaza, Ghulam

doi:10.1016/s0378-3774(03)00146-x

Cited by 148 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Increasing water scarcity and drought, however, point to the necessity for a more sustainable approach to water resource management in agriculture at the global, regional and local level [59]. In addition, in some countries (e.g., the Mediterranean region), irrigation is mainly applied during the summer, which coincides with the main tourism period and results in a competition between these two sectors.…”

Section: Sustainable Use Of Water In Agriculture: More Food With Lessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Scarcity and Future Challenges for Food Production

Mancosu

Snyder

Kyriakakis

et al. 2015

Water

509

236

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Present water shortage is one of the primary world issues, and according to climate change projections, it will be more critical in the future. Since water availability and accessibility are the most significant constraining factors for crop production, addressing this issue is indispensable for areas affected by water scarcity. Current and future issues related to "water scarcity" are reviewed in this paper so as to highlight the necessity of a more sustainable approach to water resource management. As a consequence of increasing water scarcity and drought, resulting from climate change, considerable water use for irrigation is expected to occur in the context of tough competition between agribusiness and other sectors of the economy. In addition, the estimated increment of the global population growth rate points out the inevitable increase of food demand in the future, with an immediate impact on farming water use. Since a noteworthy relationship exists between the water possessions of a country and the capacity for food production, assessing the irrigation needs is indispensable for water resource planning in order to meet food needs and avoid excessive water consumption.Keywords: internal and external water resources; agricultural water demand; land grabbing; water footprint; water for food; sustainable water use OPEN ACCESSWater 2015, 7 976

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Section: Sustainable Use Of Water In Agriculture: More Food With Lessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Scarcity and Future Challenges for Food Production

Mancosu

Snyder

Kyriakakis

et al. 2015

Water

509

236

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In most developing countries the amount of water supplied to irrigated field is typically 2-3 times that of actual irrigation requirement by crops (FAO, 2004b). Over 50-80% of the water supplied is lost through evaporation from soil surface and during the conveyance, leakage during storage and transport to the fields, runoff and uncontrolled drainage (Postel, 1999;Qadir et al, 2003). At the basin level, although part of the losses on specific irrigation sites can recharge the aquifers or can be used by downstream users and ecosystems, the real losses are nevertheless significant.…”

Section: Uncertainties In the Virtual Water Accountingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual water trade: an assessment of water use efficiency in the international food trade

Yang

Wang

Abbaspour

et al. 2006

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

223

151

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Abstract.Amid an increasing water scarcity in many parts of the world, virtual water trade as both a policy instrument and practical means to balance the local, national and global water budget has received much attention in recent years. Building upon the knowledge of virtual water accounting in the literature, this study assesses the efficiency of water use embodied in the international food trade from the perspectives of exporting and importing countries and at the global and country levels. The investigation reveals that the virtual water flows primarily from countries of high crop water productivity to countries of low crop water productivity, generating a global saving in water use. Meanwhile, the total virtual water trade is dominated by green virtual water, which constitutes a low opportunity cost of water use as opposed to blue virtual water. A sensitivity analysis, however, suggests high uncertainties in the virtual water accounting and the estimation of the scale of water saving. The study also raises awareness of the limited effect of water scarcity on the global virtual water trade and the negative implications of the global water saving for the water use efficiency and food security in importing countries and the environment in exporting countries. The analysis shows the complexity in evaluating the efficiency gains in the international virtual water trade. The findings of the study, nevertheless, call for a greater emphasis on rainfed agriculture to improve the global food security and environmental sustainability.

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“…Agriculture is by far the largest consumer of water with about 70% of the renewable resource used for irrigation [3]. Water-scarce countries are often not able to meet their food requirements using the water resource available within their boundaries [4,5], and the number of countries and regions without enough water to produce their food is continually rising as the population increases and as climatic variability is greater than ever. Low latitude semi-arid areas are specifically in jeopardy, with a likelihood of reduced precipitation, more variable rainfall distribution and more frequent extreme events as a consequence of climatic change [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Sowing Date on Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Wheat Analyzed through Spatial Modeling and FORMOSAT-2 Images

et al. 2015

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Regional analysis of water use efficiency (WUE) is a relevant method for diagnosing the performance of irrigation systems in water-limited environments. In this study, we investigated the potential of FORMOSAT-2 images to provide spatial estimates of WUE over irrigated wheat crops cultivated within the semi-arid Yaqui Valley, in the northwest of Mexico. FORMOSAT-2 provided us with a unique dataset of 36 images at a high resolution (8 m) encompassing the wheat growing season from November 2007 to May 2008. Time series of green leaf area index were derived from these satellite images and used to calibrate a simple crop/water balance model. The method was applied over an 8 × 8 km 2 irrigated area on up to 530 wheat fields. It allowed us to accurately reproduce the time courses of Leaf Area Index and dry aboveground biomass, as well as evapotranspiration and soil moisture. In a second step, we analyzed the variations of WUE as the ratio of accumulated dry aboveground biomass to seasonal evapotranspiration. Despite the study OPEN ACCESSRemote Sens. 2015, 7 5952 area being rather small and homogeneous (soil, climate), we observed a large range in wheat biomass production, from 5 to 15 t·ha −1 , which was primarily related to the timing of plant emergence. In contrast, the seasonal evapotranspiration only varied from 350 to 450 mm, with no evident link with sowing practices. A significant gain in crop water productivity was found for the fields sown the earliest (maximal WUE around 3.5 kg·m −3 ) compared to those sown the latest (minimal WUE around 1.5 kg·m −3). These results demonstrated the value of the FORMOSAT-2 images to provide spatial estimates of crop production and water consumption. The detailed information provided by such high space and time resolution imaging systems is highly valuable to identify agricultural practices that could enlarge crop water productivity.

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Agricultural water management in water-starved countries: challenges and opportunities

Cited by 148 publications

References 56 publications

Water Scarcity and Future Challenges for Food Production

Water Scarcity and Future Challenges for Food Production

Virtual water trade: an assessment of water use efficiency in the international food trade

Impact of Sowing Date on Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Wheat Analyzed through Spatial Modeling and FORMOSAT-2 Images

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