Improving water management in agriculture: Irrigation and food production [Hardcover]

• Provides a comprehensive overview of the interventions available to optimise water management in agriculture, including rainwater harvesting and farm reservoirs
• Considers the development and application of alternative irrigation techniques which carry a reduced environmental impact, such as solar powered irrigation
• Addresses the importance of diversification and collaboration in securing water resources for a rapidly growing population

Irrigated agriculture accounts for around 70% of global water use.However, an estimated 60% of irrigated cropland remains highly water-stressed, a problem intensified by the effects of climate change.

Improving water management in agriculture: Irrigation and food productionconsiders ways of addressing this challenge. It reviews advances in monitoring and optimising irrigation efficiency, ways of retaining and re-using water resources as well as how farmers can work collaboratively with other stakeholders to manage watersheds more sustainably.

The book highlights key areas where innovation is required to ensure that water use is optimised at farm and watershed scales. The book also encourages farmers to reassess their current irrigation models and implement alternative practices which improve efficiency with a reduced environmental impact.

This collection considers current challenges facing irrigated agriculture and reviews the wealth of research on the range of interventions which can be applied to address these challenges, from understanding and managing water flows at the watershed scale, through to improved use of water resources.

The book does exceptionally well in linking the myriad of issues which are relevant to agricultural water management, covering biophysical and engineering aspects together with socioeconomics. In doing this, the editor and the books contributing authors have presented an excellent state of the art analysis of irrigation and fooló%