About this Research Topic

Background

The quality of water used for irrigation purposes is of paramount importance for environmental and public health protection, in both developing and developed countries around the globe. Irrigation water is an invaluable and limited resource, the quality of which is decreasing and is expected to deteriorate more in the future. More water types and sources are being increasingly explored for use in irrigation. Water quality of irrigation systems is a complex issue which involves technical, managerial, institutional and agronomic parameters, and differs in various locations, regions, and countries. Different chemical, physical and microbiological parameters affect the yield and quantity of crops, the maintenance of soil productivity, and the environmental and public health, making the study of irrigation water quality a significant research area.
Increasing water demands are currently recorded worldwide which are forecasted to further increase in the near future, mainly due to the rapidly increasing population, the change in lifestyle and climatic change. Emerging contaminants (e.g. pharmaceuticals, pesticides, personal care products, microplastics, etc.) contribute to the significant deterioration of irrigation water, a precious and limited resource. Moreover, although irrigation water quality principally refers to the chemical composition of the water, many known and unknown microbiological agents (bacteria, virus, protozoa, and fungi) constitute a significant public and environmental health issue since they may be transmitted by irrigation water and cause disease outbreaks. New water supplies are explored for irrigation purposes with wastewater reuse being a widely adopted practice worldwide. Improved innovative irrigation technology and management, could be a more successful and sustainable strategy for the protection of irrigation water resources.
This Research Topic focuses on different aspects of irrigation water quality (chemical, physical, microbiological). It aims to bring together researchers from various disciplines, from both industry and academia, dealing with recent advancements on irrigation water quality analysis, emerging contaminants, trends, and challenges of promising approaches for irrigation water resource protection, and mitigation strategies. Surface water, groundwater, wastewater and other water types and sources currently being explored for use in irrigation are of interest, as well as the wide variety of pollutants in these sources, impacting water, soil and food quality. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited.

Keywords: Irrigation water, agricultural water, foodborne outbreaks, food safety, water disinfection, crops production, water quality, standards, microbial quality, pathogen detection, agrochemicals, heavy metals, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, public health, environmental health, water management

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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