It is no longer a secret that by 2050 it will be necessary to double food production for a growing population that will exceed 8000 billion people. It is also not new that the impact of climate change is mainly affecting the lack of water resources for human consumption and for food production.

The use of science in agriculture and the application of new technologies linked to technical and sustainable irrigation can help to face one of the greatest social challenges of the XNUMXst century with minimal environmental impacts.

a great initiative

In this context, it is worth mentioning the initiative developed by Blueberries Consulting, in conjunction with the University of Almería, for the realization of an "International Diploma in Conventional Production and cultivation without soil in blueberries: Use of substrates and fertigation", and the program of highest academic degree: "International Expert in Irrigation and Nutrition in Blueberries: Conventional production and cultivation without soil", which will be taught through the Agricultural Seminars platform, starting on October 17, 2022.

This academic and training initiative is aimed mainly at technicians, professionals and blueberry producers, but without a doubt the knowledge imparted is applicable to the whole of fruit growing and agriculture in general.

An urgent challenge

The impact of climate change advances as the population continues to grow, creating challenges that must be faced urgently, because demographic trends indicate that we will need to double global food production by 2050, in a planet that is getting warmer and warmer. with less water available.

If we go to the numbers and percentages, currently irrigated agriculture represents around 90% of the anthropogenic consumption of fresh water and is implemented in 22% of the cultivated land, providing 40% of the world's food production.

As climate change is affecting rainfall patterns, irrigation is a vital tool for maintaining and increasing the world's food supply without converting wilderness to farmland, according to a study on the biophysical potential of irrigation sustainable published in Environmental Research.

More land?

"To double food production, we will have to clear more land or farm more efficiently, despite the greater tensions of a warming world," says Lorenzo Rosa, author of the research. The expert points out that the conversion of undeveloped land to farms exacerbates climate change and decreases biodiversity. But low crop yields on existing farmland can be improved with modern technology. The use of substrates replacing the soil and growing in containers, whether bags or pots, are modern systems that have proven to be very effective.

smart irrigation

Two-thirds of the world's crops are currently rain-limited, but climate change forces us not to rely solely on rainfall. A strategy to improve the productivity of agricultural land is irrigation and especially smart irrigation. Studies show that irrigated crops are twice as productive as those that rely solely on rainfall.

The researcher maintains that, under current conditions, there is enough water available from local renewable sources to expand sustainable irrigation on more than 35% of agricultural land around the world, thus increasing crop productivity. However, climate change will make this calculation more complex.

Research

As the world warms, Rosa's analysis indicates that in addition to heat stress and changes in rainfall, climate change could also cause water to evaporate faster, lowering irrigation efficiency. On the other hand, elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide could cause crops to grow somewhat more productively, which could offset this concern. All of these competing factors mean that additional research is needed to comprehensively understand the feasibility of sustainable irrigation to increase food production.