Impacts of Climate Change on Food Production and On the Agricultural Environment

Abstract

Despite the enormous advances in our ability to manage the natural world, we have reached the 21st century in awesome ignorance of what is likely to unfold in terms of both the climate changes and the human activities that affect the environment and the responses of the Earth to these stimuli. Globally the prospects of increasing the gross cultivated area are limited by the decease of economically attractive sites for large-scale irrigation and drainage projects. Therefore, increase in food production will necessarily rely on a more accurate application of the crop water requirements on the one hand, and modernization and improvement of irrigation and drainage systems on the other hand. These issues have to be analysed in light of the expected impacts of climate change and environmental sustainability. The present Editorial analyses the relevant aspects of these issues in light of the need to increase food production and for sustainable agricultural environment.