Water Management Strategies in Agriculture

Description

Approximately 70 per cent of global freshwater consumption is used in the agricultural sector, yet water use efficiency in many countries is below 50 per cent. Nuclear and isotopic techniques provide data on water use including losses through soil evaporation and help optimize irrigation scheduling and improve water use efficiency. Global freshwater is becoming increasingly scarce, due to improper management, indiscriminate use and a changing climate. Water scarcity and quality problems in many parts of the world are a serious challenge to future food security and environmental sustainability. Addressing these issues requires an improved management of land and water. To ensure food security and sustainable water management for agriculture, there is an urgent need to produce more crops per drop of water used in the agricultural sector and hence ensure that water use efficiency is increased without negative impacts on downstream water quantity and quality. This book “Water Management Strategies in Agriculture” covers all ideal concepts to manage water for agriculture in order to ensure healthy growth of crops.