Dear Colleagues,

The expected growth of the world population will lead to a high increase in demand for food, but available land upon which to expand agricultural areas on a large scale is limited. In addition, as most areas utilize rainfed agriculture, the solution may be augmenting crop yields, enhancing the efficiency of irrigated agriculture, and promoting the transition from rainfed to irrigated agriculture under water-scarce conditions. In arid and sub-arid regions, where increased crop production is probably more needed, the availability of water is chronically short, and the possibility of extracting freshwater from new sources has high marginal costs. These regions will be also the most affected by climate change.

The intensification and expansion of irrigated agriculture will inflict negative environmental impacts upon already fragile regions. Alternative water sources, such as irrigation of low-quality water, treated effluents, and desalinated water, can help to mitigate the pressure on the demand for water and the competition with domestic use. However, the environmental costs associated with the salinity of soils and the contamination of groundwater and surface water are high.

This Special Issue focuses on the sustainable development of irrigated agriculture. The aim is to present original research articles providing highlights of key issues, such as the risks associated with the expansion of irrigated areas in arid and semiarid regions, interactions between agricultural production and the availability of land and water resources, economic efficiency of irrigation, assessment of climate change impacts on irrigated agriculture, and design of water policies and water markets.

Thus, considering previous studies, the challenge is to design strategies for increasing crop yields while preserving soil and water resources for agricultural use. Thus, advanced models that measure irrigation efficiency and simulate the complex interactions between physical, chemical, biological, and socio-economic processes are welcome contributions to this Special Issue.

Prof. Rui Manuel de Sousa Fragoso
Prof. Rui Cunha Marques
Guest Editors

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• Sustainable irrigated agriculture
• Water scarcity
• Climate change
• Irrigation efficiency
• Irrigation performance
• Irrigation technology
• Modeling
• Economic impact
• Water policies
• Water markets
• Drought
• Adaptation
• Stochastic
• Multi-objective