**1. Introduction**

Agriculture plays a vital economic role in the Mediterranean region. It employs more than a fifth of the population in 50% of the countries and contributes >10% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in eight countries alone [1]. The Mediterranean region in this study refers to the 21 countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea in addition to Portugal. Mild winter temperatures and long hot dry summers that are characteristic of this region make it ideal for growing a diverse range of crops including olives, citrus, vineyards, and cereals, as well as high-value horticulture.

As precipitation across the region is subject to high inter-annual and seasonal variability, irrigation is an essential component of production for many farmers as it supports crop diversification, helps assure yield and quality, and helps to stabilize food supplies [2]. Water scarcity and droughts are frequent, widespread phenomena that affect more than 100 million people and around a third of the European territory. Global change (climate change and change in land use) is expected to aggravate this situation, especially in Mediterranean countries, such as Spain and Portugal [3].

Climate change is a diffuse and gradual phenomenon. Several factors intervene in it, although we can synthesize it in two in particular: that referred to the natural variability of the climate itself (with recurring events throughout history, famines with droughts due to temperature rises and a decrease in rainfall) and the actions of man who affect it (anthropic effects). Along these lines, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines it as "a climate change attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is added to the natural variability of the climate observed during periods comparable time periods [4]. Another aspect of climate change that particularly affects irrigation is the increase in the frequency of extreme events: torrential rainfall and droughts. The recent DANAs (Isolated Depression in High Levels) have caused important floods in the Spanish Mediterranean in recent dates (like 2019), and in the Ebro, with social, economic, and environmental losses. At the same time, periods of drought have occurred with excessive frequency in both countries. Both phenomena entail significant social and economic costs to deal with them. Crops are essential to mitigate desertification and temper climate change. They contribute to avoiding or at least cushioning the succession of extreme phenomena. The concentration of CO2 eq (CO2 equivalent) in the atmosphere has not stopped increasing, since in 1880 it was about 280 ppm and today it reaches 408 ppm [5]. Irrigated crops are in a greater proportion than rainfed crops as they produce more biomass.

Agriculture defends itself from drought by improving the efficiency of water application in irrigation and with improved management. Obviously, irrigation requires significant energy consumption in most cases. For this reason, water stress reduces the productivity of crops, and avoiding water stress is the reason for the practice of irrigation, as old as agriculture itself [6].

Spanish irrigation has already begun to take measures to adapt to and mitigate climate change. The first of these has been related to the improvement of irrigation efficiency through the modernization processes of irrigated areas. This has meant that in the period 2002–2016 there have been significant savings both in total consumption (112.5%) and in unit consumption 118.24%). The installation of control networks has also contributed to this through the installation of agrometeorological stations, (e.g. SIARI Network to determine ETo values), such as that of irrigation water quality control networks (for example RECAREX in Extremadura to estimate the degree to which irrigation pollutes water masses). Irrigation is regarded as one of the main adaptations to support crop production in response to climate change and population growth [2]. However, any increase in irrigation demand will correspondingly impact energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions suggesting potential conflicts in terms of mitigation and adaptation policies [7].

The availability and reliability of water resources is a limiting factor for economic development in many water-stressed countries. The Mediterranean region is one of the most water-scarce regions globally. Water is particularly scarce in Southern and Eastern countries and in some catchments in the North, such as Southeast Spain and

*Resilience of Irrigated Agriculture to Face the Challenges in Mediterranean Climatic Conditions… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107882*

the Ebro Depression, where the expansion of irrigated production, coupled with tourism and urbanization has created significant water supply challenges [8]. The improvement of agricultural water management, through irrigation systems modernization and application of information and communication technologies to increase crop productivity and reduce the influence of drought and promoting water conservation is one of the main objectives of current irrigated agriculture in Mediterranean countries [9]. Another challenge in intensive agricultural systems, such as irrigated agriculture, is the necessary compatibility of soil and water as natural resource and as well production factors [10].
