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© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. Ouda et al., Deficit Irrigation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35586-9_1
Chapter 1
Water Scarcity Leads to Food Insecurity
Samiha Ouda and Abd El-Hafeez Zohry
Abstract This chapter provides an overview on the interrelation between water
scarcity and food production. A general perception has been existed worldwide that
agricultural water, as the major user, is often wasteful and has less value, compared
to other uses. Additionally, water scarcity became more acute in many part of the
world. Thus, there is a need to manage water resources more efficiently to produce
more food with the same amount of water. Although irrigation is important to attain
stable food production, over-irrigation is prevailing in many areas worldwide and it
has many disadvantages. On the contrary, under-irrigation with less than crop water
requirements causes stressful conditions to the growing plants leading to lower
yield and consequently food insecurity. One of the effective water management
practices is deficit irrigation application. It can use water resources more efficiently
in the agricultural sector. It can maintain reasonable levels of production and it
could improve yield quality. One might wonder whether application of deficit irrigation could contribute in increasing food availability. Although application of deficit irrigation involves loss in crop productivity, it also secures water to be use in
cultivating more lands. However, on national level, will the production resulted
from the new added area can compensate the loss attained by application of deficit
irrigation. In this book, we answer the above question and shed the light on the role
of deficit irrigation in securing food under water scarcity. We also tested whether
deficit irrigation practice could positively contribute in reducing the loss in production of crops under the impact of climate change in 2030.
Keywords Water stress · Irrigation water management · Deficit irrigation ·
Climate change and food production · Climate change and agricultural soils
S. Ouda (*)
Water Requirements and Field Irrigation Research Department, Soils, Water and Environment
Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt
A. E.-H. Zohry
Crop Intensification Research Department, Field Crops Research Institute, Agricultural
Research Center, Giza, Egypt
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. Ouda et al., Deficit Irrigation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35586-9_1
Chapter 1
Water Scarcity Leads to Food Insecurity
Samiha Ouda and Abd El-Hafeez Zohry
Abstract This chapter provides an overview on the interrelation between water
scarcity and food production. A general perception has been existed worldwide that
agricultural water, as the major user, is often wasteful and has less value, compared
to other uses. Additionally, water scarcity became more acute in many part of the
world. Thus, there is a need to manage water resources more efficiently to produce
more food with the same amount of water. Although irrigation is important to attain
stable food production, over-irrigation is prevailing in many areas worldwide and it
has many disadvantages. On the contrary, under-irrigation with less than crop water
requirements causes stressful conditions to the growing plants leading to lower
yield and consequently food insecurity. One of the effective water management
practices is deficit irrigation application. It can use water resources more efficiently
in the agricultural sector. It can maintain reasonable levels of production and it
could improve yield quality. One might wonder whether application of deficit irrigation could contribute in increasing food availability. Although application of deficit irrigation involves loss in crop productivity, it also secures water to be use in
cultivating more lands. However, on national level, will the production resulted
from the new added area can compensate the loss attained by application of deficit
irrigation. In this book, we answer the above question and shed the light on the role
of deficit irrigation in securing food under water scarcity. We also tested whether
deficit irrigation practice could positively contribute in reducing the loss in production of crops under the impact of climate change in 2030.
Keywords Water stress · Irrigation water management · Deficit irrigation ·
Climate change and food production · Climate change and agricultural soils
S. Ouda (*)
Water Requirements and Field Irrigation Research Department, Soils, Water and Environment
Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt
A. E.-H. Zohry
Crop Intensification Research Department, Field Crops Research Institute, Agricultural
Research Center, Giza, Egypt