IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/waterr/v31y2017i10d10.1007_s11269-017-1664-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water, Agriculture and Food: Challenges and Issues

Author

Listed:
  • Luis Santos Pereira

    (Universidade de Lisboa)

Abstract

Population growth, increasing demands for food, ever-growing competition for water, reduced supply reliability, climate change and climate uncertainty and droughts, decline in critical ecosystems services, competition for land use, changing regulatory environments, and less participatory water resources governance are contributing to increasing difficulties and challenges in water resource management for agriculture and food. The need for sustainable food security for our global population and the need for preserving the environment, namely natural and man-made ecosystems and landscapes, have created an increased need for integrated, participative and scalable solutions focusing the various levels of irrigation and nature water management, from the field crop to the catchment and basin scales. Meanwhile, challenges and issues relative to water management for agriculture and food have evolved enormously in the last 30 years and the role of active management of the components of the water cycle is assuming an increased importance since their dynamics are key to assure water use sustainability, mainly agriculture and natural ecosystems sustainability. However, different regions face context-specific challenges associated with water scarcity, climate, governance, and population requirements. The main and first challenge is producing enough food for a growing population, which is intimately related with challenges placed to agricultural water management, mainly irrigation management. This paper revises challenges and progress achieved in the last 30 years focusing on irrigated agriculture, mainly water management, and its contribution to food security and the welfare of rural communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Santos Pereira, 2017. "Water, Agriculture and Food: Challenges and Issues," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(10), pages 2985-2999, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:31:y:2017:i:10:d:10.1007_s11269-017-1664-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-017-1664-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11269-017-1664-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11269-017-1664-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pereira, Luis S., 1999. "Higher performance through combined improvements in irrigation methods and scheduling: a discussion," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(2-3), pages 153-169, May.
    2. Karlberg, Louise & Rockstrom, Johan & Annandale, John G. & Steyn, J. Martin, 2007. "Low-cost drip irrigation--A suitable technology for southern Africa?: An example with tomatoes using saline irrigation water," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(1-2), pages 59-70, April.
    3. Lamaddalena, Nicola & Pereira, Luis Santos, 2007. "Assessing the impact of flow regulators with a pressure-driven performance analysis model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-2), pages 27-35, May.
    4. Dennis Wichelns, 2010. "Virtual Water: A Helpful Perspective, but not a Sufficient Policy Criterion," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(10), pages 2203-2219, August.
    5. Narendra Gontia & Kamlesh Tiwari, 2010. "Estimation of Crop Coefficient and Evapotranspiration of Wheat (Triticum aestivum) in an Irrigation Command Using Remote Sensing and GIS," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(7), pages 1399-1414, May.
    6. M. Kumar & O. Singh, 2005. "Virtual Water in Global Food and Water Policy Making: Is There a Need for Rethinking?," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 19(6), pages 759-789, December.
    7. Qiu, Rangjian & Du, Taisheng & Kang, Shaozhong & Chen, Renqiang & Wu, Laosheng, 2015. "Assessing the SIMDualKc model for estimating evapotranspiration of hot pepper grown in a solar greenhouse in Northwest China," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 1-9.
    8. C. Cammalleri & G. Ciraolo & M. Minacapilli & G. Rallo, 2013. "Evapotranspiration from an Olive Orchard using Remote Sensing-Based Dual Crop Coefficient Approach," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(14), pages 4877-4895, November.
    9. Xu Xu & Guanhua Huang & Zhongyi Qu & Luis Pereira, 2011. "Using MODFLOW and GIS to Assess Changes in Groundwater Dynamics in Response to Water Saving Measures in Irrigation Districts of the Upper Yellow River Basin," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(8), pages 2035-2059, June.
    10. Ignacio Lorite & Margarita García-Vila & María-Ascensión Carmona & Cristina Santos & María-Auxiliadora Soriano, 2012. "Assessment of the Irrigation Advisory Services’ Recommendations and Farmers’ Irrigation Management: A Case Study in Southern Spain," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(8), pages 2397-2419, June.
    11. Eli Feinerman & Meira Falkovitz, 1997. "Optimal Scheduling of Nitrogen Fertilization and Irrigation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 11(2), pages 101-117, April.
    12. Qadir, M. & Sharma, B.R. & Bruggeman, A. & Choukr-Allah, R. & Karajeh, F., 2007. "Non-conventional water resources and opportunities for water augmentation to achieve food security in water scarce countries," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 2-22, January.
    13. Zhao, Peng & Li, Sien & Li, Fusheng & Du, Taisheng & Tong, Ling & Kang, Shaozhong, 2015. "Comparison of dual crop coefficient method and Shuttleworth–Wallace model in evapotranspiration partitioning in a vineyard of northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 41-56.
    14. Nastaran Chitsaz & Ali Azarnivand, 2017. "Water Scarcity Management in Arid Regions Based on an Extended Multiple Criteria Technique," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(1), pages 233-250, January.
    15. Salvi, B.L. & Subramanian, K.A., 2015. "Sustainable development of road transportation sector using hydrogen energy system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1132-1155.
    16. Gao, Yang & Yang, Linlin & Shen, Xiaojun & Li, Xinqiang & Sun, Jingsheng & Duan, Aiwang & Wu, Laosheng, 2014. "Winter wheat with subsurface drip irrigation (SDI): Crop coefficients, water-use estimates, and effects of SDI on grain yield and water use efficiency," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1-10.
    17. Rathmann, Régis & Szklo, Alexandre & Schaeffer, Roberto, 2010. "Land use competition for production of food and liquid biofuels: An analysis of the arguments in the current debate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 14-22.
    18. Rosa, R.D. & Ramos, T.B. & Pereira, L.S., 2016. "The dual Kc approach to assess maize and sweet sorghum transpiration and soil evaporation under saline conditions: Application of the SIMDualKc model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 77-94.
    19. Wei, Zheng & Paredes, Paula & Liu, Yu & Chi, Wei Wei & Pereira, Luis S., 2015. "Modelling transpiration, soil evaporation and yield prediction of soybean in North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 43-53.
    20. Neumann, Kathleen & Verburg, Peter H. & Stehfest, Elke & Müller, Christoph, 2010. "The yield gap of global grain production: A spatial analysis," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(5), pages 316-326, June.
    21. Allen, Richard G. & Pruitt, William O. & Wright, James L. & Howell, Terry A. & Ventura, Francesca & Snyder, Richard & Itenfisu, Daniel & Steduto, Pasquale & Berengena, Joaquin & Yrisarry, Javier Basel, 2006. "A recommendation on standardized surface resistance for hourly calculation of reference ETo by the FAO56 Penman-Monteith method," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 81(1-2), pages 1-22, March.
    22. Mohamed Elhag & Aris Psilovikos & Ioannis Manakos & Kostas Perakis, 2011. "Application of the Sebs Water Balance Model in Estimating Daily Evapotranspiration and Evaporative Fraction from Remote Sensing Data Over the Nile Delta," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(11), pages 2731-2742, September.
    23. Raziei, Tayeb & Pereira, Luis S., 2013. "Estimation of ETo with Hargreaves–Samani and FAO-PM temperature methods for a wide range of climates in Iran," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 1-18.
    24. A. S. Giannikopoulou & F. K. Gad & E. Kampragou & D. Assimacopoulos, 2017. "Risk-Based Assessment of Drought Mitigation Options: the Case of Syros Island, Greece," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(2), pages 655-669, January.
    25. Atul Singh & S. Sharma & A. Upadhyaya & A. Rahman & A. Sikka, 2010. "Performance of Low Energy Water Application Device," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(7), pages 1353-1362, May.
    26. Hanjra, Munir A. & Qureshi, M. Ejaz, 2010. "Global water crisis and future food security in an era of climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 365-377, October.
    27. R. Khadra & M. A Moreno & H. Awada & N. Lamaddalena, 2016. "Energy and Hydraulic Performance-Based Management of Large-Scale Pressurized Irrigation Systems," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(10), pages 3493-3506, August.
    28. Guo, Mingxin & Song, Weiping & Buhain, Jeremy, 2015. "Bioenergy and biofuels: History, status, and perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 712-725.
    29. Charlotte Fraiture, 2007. "Integrated water and food analysis at the global and basin level. An application of WATERSIM," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(1), pages 185-198, January.
    30. Nathaniel D. Mueller & James S. Gerber & Matt Johnston & Deepak K. Ray & Navin Ramankutty & Jonathan A. Foley, 2012. "Closing yield gaps through nutrient and water management," Nature, Nature, vol. 490(7419), pages 254-257, October.
    31. Mateos, L. & González-Dugo, M.P. & Testi, L. & Villalobos, F.J., 2013. "Monitoring evapotranspiration of irrigated crops using crop coefficients derived from time series of satellite images. I. Method validation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 81-91.
    32. Juan Córcoles & José Tarjuelo & Pedro Carrión & Miguel Moreno, 2015. "Methodology to Minimize Energy Costs in an On-Demand Irrigation Network Based on Arranged Opening of Hydrants," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(10), pages 3697-3710, August.
    33. Khan, S. & Khan, M.A. & Hanjra, M.A. & Mu, J., 2009. "Pathways to reduce the environmental footprints of water and energy inputs in food production," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 141-149, April.
    34. Pereira, Luis Santos & Oweis, Theib & Zairi, Abdelaziz, 2002. "Irrigation management under water scarcity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 175-206, December.
    35. Vuolo, Francesco & D’Urso, Guido & De Michele, Carlo & Bianchi, Biagio & Cutting, Michael, 2015. "Satellite-based irrigation advisory services: A common tool for different experiences from Europe to Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 82-95.
    36. Hamid Safavi & Mehrdad Esfahani & Ahmad Zamani, 2014. "Integrated Index for Assessment of Vulnerability to Drought, Case Study: Zayandehrood River Basin, Iran," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(6), pages 1671-1688, April.
    37. Zhao, Nana & Liu, Yu & Cai, Jiabing & Paredes, Paula & Rosa, Ricardo D. & Pereira, Luis S., 2013. "Dual crop coefficient modelling applied to the winter wheat–summer maize crop sequence in North China Plain: Basal crop coefficients and soil evaporation component," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 93-105.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paredes, Paula & Pereira, Luis S. & Rodrigues, Gonçalo C. & Botelho, Nuno & Torres, Maria Odete, 2017. "Using the FAO dual crop coefficient approach to model water use and productivity of processing pea (Pisum sativum L.) as influenced by irrigation strategies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 5-18.
    2. Jovanovic, N. & Pereira, L.S. & Paredes, P. & Pôças, I. & Cantore, V. & Todorovic, M., 2020. "A review of strategies, methods and technologies to reduce non-beneficial consumptive water use on farms considering the FAO56 methods," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    3. Miao, Qingfeng & Rosa, Ricardo D. & Shi, Haibin & Paredes, Paula & Zhu, Li & Dai, Jiaxin & Gonçalves, José M. & Pereira, Luis S., 2016. "Modeling water use, transpiration and soil evaporation of spring wheat–maize and spring wheat–sunflower relay intercropping using the dual crop coefficient approach," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 211-229.
    4. Rosa, R.D. & Ramos, T.B. & Pereira, L.S., 2016. "The dual Kc approach to assess maize and sweet sorghum transpiration and soil evaporation under saline conditions: Application of the SIMDualKc model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 77-94.
    5. Haofang Yan & Song Huang & Jianyun Zhang & Chuan Zhang & Guoqing Wang & Lanlan Li & Shuang Zhao & Mi Li & Baoshan Zhao, 2022. "Comparison of Shuttleworth–Wallace and Dual Crop Coefficient Method for Estimating Evapotranspiration of a Tea Field in Southeast China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-17, September.
    6. Darouich, Hanaa & Karfoul, Razan & Eid, Haitham & Ramos, Tiago B. & Baddour, Nisreen & Moustafa, Ali & Assaad, Mahmoud I., 2020. "Modeling Zucchini squash irrigation requirements in the Syrian Akkar region using the FAO56 dual-Kc approach," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    7. Liu, Minguo & Wu, Xiaojuan & Yang, Huimin, 2022. "Evapotranspiration characteristics and soil water balance of alfalfa grasslands under regulated deficit irrigation in the inland arid area of Midwestern China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    8. Peddinti, Srinivasa Rao & Kambhammettu, BVN P, 2019. "Dynamics of crop coefficients for citrus orchards of central India using water balance and eddy covariance flux partition techniques," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 68-77.
    9. Paredes, Paula & Rodrigues, Gonçalo C. & Cameira, Maria do Rosário & Torres, Maria Odete & Pereira, Luis S., 2017. "Assessing yield, water productivity and farm economic returns of malt barley as influenced by the sowing dates and supplemental irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 132-143.
    10. Pôças, I. & Calera, A. & Campos, I. & Cunha, M., 2020. "Remote sensing for estimating and mapping single and basal crop coefficientes: A review on spectral vegetation indices approaches," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    11. Pereira, L.S. & Paredes, P. & Melton, F. & Johnson, L. & Wang, T. & López-Urrea, R. & Cancela, J.J. & Allen, R.G., 2020. "Prediction of crop coefficients from fraction of ground cover and height. Background and validation using ground and remote sensing data," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    12. Pereira, L.S. & Paredes, P. & Jovanovic, N., 2020. "Soil water balance models for determining crop water and irrigation requirements and irrigation scheduling focusing on the FAO56 method and the dual Kc approach," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    13. Darouich, Hanaa & Karfoul, Razan & Ramos, Tiago B. & Moustafa, Ali & Shaheen, Baraa & Pereira, Luis S., 2021. "Crop water requirements and crop coefficients for jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius L.) using the SIMDualKc model and assessing irrigation strategies for the Syrian Akkar region," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    14. Calzadilla, Alvaro & Rehdanz, Katrin & Tol, Richard S.J., 2008. "Water scarcity and the impact of improved irrigation management: A CGE analysis," Conference papers 331788, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    15. Pereira, L.S. & Paredes, P. & Melton, F. & Johnson, L. & Mota, M. & Wang, T., 2021. "Prediction of crop coefficients from fraction of ground cover and height: Practical application to vegetable, field and fruit crops with focus on parameterization," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    16. Palatnik, Ruslana & Shechter, Mordechai, 2008. "Can Climate Change Mitigation Policy be Beneficial for the Israeli Economy? A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis," Conference papers 331792, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    17. Marta Antonelli & Martina Sartori, 2014. "Unfolding the Potential of the Virtual Water Concept. What is still under debate?," IEFE Working Papers 74, IEFE, Center for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    18. Liu, Meihan & Paredes, Paula & Shi, Haibin & Ramos, Tiago B. & Dou, Xu & Dai, Liping & Pereira, Luis S., 2022. "Impacts of a shallow saline water table on maize evapotranspiration and groundwater contribution using static water table lysimeters and the dual Kc water balance model SIMDualKc," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    19. Pereira, L.S. & Paredes, P. & Hunsaker, D.J. & López-Urrea, R. & Mohammadi Shad, Z., 2021. "Standard single and basal crop coefficients for field crops. Updates and advances to the FAO56 crop water requirements method," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    20. Shao, Guomin & Han, Wenting & Zhang, Huihui & Zhang, Liyuan & Wang, Yi & Zhang, Yu, 2023. "Prediction of maize crop coefficient from UAV multisensor remote sensing using machine learning methods," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:31:y:2017:i:10:d:10.1007_s11269-017-1664-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.