About this Research Topic
• Hydro-informatics for Sustainable Water Management in Agrosystems vol I
Food production systems are increasingly being challenged by environmental factors (e.g., climate change) as well as socio-economic factors (e.g., population growth, manpower shortages, and changing consumers behaviour). These factors are increasingly intensifying water resources withdrawal for food production which, in turn, amplifies conflicts between the agricultural sector and other sectors (municipal, institutional, commercial, and industrial) at various spatio-temporal scales. Beyond the socio-economic issues, food production systems have raised significant environmental concerns due to the prevailing role of water as a vehicle for environmental degradation through soil erosion and associated contaminant transport. All these have led to widespread discussion and consensus on the urgent need for sustainability-oriented water management practices in agriculture.
A variety of efficiency-based and market-based strategies for water management in agriculture (irrigated and rainfed) have been successfully implemented throughout the world to meet sustainable agricultural development goals. A common denominator to these approaches is that technological, social, and institutional innovations around water resources planning and management at different scales are instrumental for major sustainable transformations in agricultural water management. In such a context, the application of innovative water-centered approaches, thus Hydroinformatics in general, represents a viable path forward to achieve sustainable agriculture.
Volume II of this Research Topic calls for papers on scientific and practical development related to the application of Hydroinformatics for agricultural water management. The potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Data acquisition systems and tools for spatio-temporal crop water stress monitoring.
• Emerging approaches (social and/or technical) to agricultural water management (e.g., crowdsourcing, indigenous).
• Field-scale to regional-scale management of agricultural water-resources.
• Environmental effects of agricultural water use and management.
• Smart irrigation technologies and climate-smart food production.
• Climate change effects on agricultural water management.
• Irrigation management and plant diseases control.
• Water recycling and reuse for food production purposes.
• Sustainable groundwater management.
• Water cycle modelling in agroecosystems.
Keywords: Hydro-informatics, Water Management, Agrosystems, Hydrological Modelling, Soil Water Dynamics
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