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Agronomic options for water demand management in
the Mediterranean
R.Casaa, G. Russellb, B. Lo Cascioa a
Dipartimento di Produzione Vegetale, Università
degli Studi della Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de
Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy b Institute of
Ecology and Resource Management, The University
of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG,
Scotland, UK
Summary The wide range of options available for
reducing agricultural water demand in the
Mediterranean stems from the variation in
climatic, soil and technological (agricultural
development) conditions existing in the countries
of the Mediterranean basin. In this poster we
list some agronomic possibilities for reducing
agricultural water use and examine the their
applicability to Mediterranean conditions. The
options considered include changes of irrigation
methods, improvements in the efficiency of
irrigation methods, irrigation scheduling,
changes of crops or cropping systems, dryland
farming practices, wastewater use for irrigation.
Social and economic constraints are very
important but have not been considered here.
Introduction There are many agronomic options for
reducing water demand from the agricultural
sector in the Mediterranean. Their suitability
varies with climate, soil, cropping system and
farmers level of skill and knowledge and so
these factors must be considered when policy
choices aimed at reducing agricultural water
demand management are taken.
Methods A review of the literature was carried
out and experts were consulted. The resulting
data have been tabulated below to show the
situations in which the the various practices
would be most effective in making better use of
water.
Results and discussion Water demand in
agriculture can be reduced by using a combination
of measures aimed at improving irrigation
efficiencies, reducing water use or other options
such as use of low quality water. However, most
of the options listed require farmers to possess
a high level of skill, and medium to high
investment of money.
Conclusions, future research needs Although
social and economic factors were not fully
considered here, it is apparent that they form a
major constraint for the adoption of any of the
listed options. In particular, policies aimed at
promoting improvement in farmers skills should
increase the successful implementation of
agronomic practices to reduce agricultural water
use. Although the options listed here are well
known, a co-ordinated quantitative evaluation of
their relative water saving potential has not yet
been carried out for the entire range of
Mediterranean conditions and should be
investigated by specific research.