Contents


Preface

Choices for irrigation system development and management include a large range of technical, operational, economic, and social factors. Irrigation, as a complex socio-ecological system, deals with both the uncertainty of human-nature nexus dynamics and the interdependencies resulting from climate change. Irrigation systems have been under pressure to produce more with lower supplies of water. Globally, irrigation was by far the largest water consumer with between 90–94% of global water consumption. In addition, agriculture is the sector most affected by water scarcity, as it accounts for 70% of global freshwater use. Debates over irrigation system management in the Anthropocene have increasingly been framed in relation to social, economic, and environmental impacts and benefits, stimulating policy framework changes at different scales. In order to ensure irrigation system maintenance and development, technical innovation and social approaches should be understood and analyzed as complementary, as it happens in the water-energyfood nexus. This integrated approach addresses the different gaps by: (a) promoting water and food integrated approaches; (b) improving water efficiency and management at plot scale; (c) ensuring sustainable management of natural ecosystems; and (d) adapting irrigation systems to face water scarcity and environmental risks under climate change scenarios. This book, entitled *Irrigation – Water productivity and operation, sustainability and climate change*, aims to provide examples of consistent progress on mechanisms and approaches related to irrigation system challenges and gaps, such as water productivity, alternative water sources, environmental impacts, and climate change. This collection emphasizes the relevance of innovation and case study analysis to improve knowledge on some of the benefits and limitations of

The first chapter, entitled "*Agronomic operation and maintenance of field irrigation systems*" presented by Luis A. Gurovich and Luis F. Riveros, starts from the consideration that field irrigation system projects are generally adequately designed and installed, considering soil, climate and crop characteristics, with theoretical high water application and distribution efficiencies. However, in most projects, the actual operation and maintenance strategies do not accurately include these characteristics, resulting in excessive water depths applied, generally exceeding crop water needs, unnecessary energy costs, as well as constraints on reaching potential crop yields and marketable crop quality. To address this gap, this chapter describes an approach to dynamic integration of soil hydrodynamic characteristics, potential evapotranspiration, and crop leaf area index evolution throughout the irrigation season, oriented to integrate smart water management strategies and techniques in the operation and maintenance of farm irrigation systems. In addition, this chapter presents how this dynamic integrative platform has been used by farming companies producing table grapes, wine grapes, and avocados in Perú and México. In line with this first chapter, Willians Riberiro Mendes, Fábio Meneghetti U. Araújo and Salah Er-Raki present the chapter "*Integrating remote sensing data into fuzzy control system for variable rate irrigation estimates*" to discuss the necessity of developing precise management zones to apply efficient variable rate irrigation technologies. The authors propose the use of an intelligent fuzzy inference system based on precision irrigation knowledge, for example, by creating perspective maps to control

irrigation systems at different geographical contexts.
