engleski

Sustainable Water and Land Management Strategies for the Improvement of Food Production in Agro-ecosystems

In the majority of world agro-ecosystems water relations in the soil-plant continuum are not optimal during the vegetation period. Hence, agricultural crops are usually exposed to one or both (at various times of a growing season) of the water imbalances such as water scarcity (deficit) and/or waterlogging/inundation. Both water stresses endanger food production, often contributing to various additional constrains (soil salinity/alkalinity, organic matter depletion). Managing the optimal water relations in the root zone in the agro- ecosystems is becoming increasingly challenging due to global climate change and variability, deterioration of environmental resources, as well as insufficient investments in the management of the land and water resources in croplands. Under waterlogging conditions crop production can be efficiently improved by implementing an adequate drainage system(s), currently in existance on ~200 Mha world-wide (mostly on hydromorphic and/or halomorphic soils). Given the complexity of waterlogging and the related constrains (e.g. shallow groundwater table, non-uniform soil stratigraphy, poor soil permeability), one of the most promising remedial strategies was shown to be a combined drainage system (open drainage channels and tile drainage, e.g. central and south-eastern European agro- ecosystems) with additional periodic land measures (mole draining, deep ripping). Modern sustainable agricultural strategies for water- deficient conditions, either in irrigated or rain-fed agriculture, are directed at managing the natural potential of agro-ecosystems, with the aim to improve the efficiency of water resource usage. Irrigation and conservation agricultural practices are currently implemented world-wide on around ~300 Mha and ~120 Mha respectively. Even though irrigation is one of the most effective strategies against the water deficit, it is unlikely it will be implemented on increasing acreage in the future because of strong competition for good-quality water, but there are opportunities for improved efficiency of water usage (e.g. transition from traditional to more efficient modern irrigation systems).

water stress; waterlogging; rain-fed and irrigated cropping; water use efficinecy

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