ISHS Acta Horticulturae 582: International Symposium on Mediterranean Horticulture: Issues and Prospects
WATER AND IRRIGATION ON THE MEDITERRANEANS' SOUTHERN RIM: A VITAL FACTOR FOR ITS PEOPLE AND HORTICULTURE |
| Author: | S. Sansavini |
| Keywords: | Sustainable horticulture, water resources, recycling, salinity, irrigation |
| Abstract:
As the global debate on climate changes and their more or less drastic effects continues unabated, the hot and dry regions of the world’s South like those of the Mediterranean’s southern rim are today threatened by increasing desertification, dwindling water supplies and marked soil erosion. These phenomena can only aggravate the gap in wealth and well-being such dryland economies suffer with respect to more advanced and advantaged areas. Water is one of the fundamental factors needed for agricultural development in general and quality horticultural produce in particular, not to mention sustainable overall economic development. Water is an issue that involves not simply new sources of supply, such as waste water recycling and desalinization, but also advances in such water-saving irrigation techniques as fertigation, drip and other micro-systems that are closely calibrated to individual crops. These goals and further advances needed to address such vital issues cannot be achieved without the input of research, which among other merits has even shown how moderately saline water can be used to enhance the quality of certain kinds of produce. Nor can the world’s North afford to remain aloof from these problems, for it can do much to help through cooperation in research, in developing new technologies, and in securing investments to bridge the gap and even reap benefits from new trade partners. | |
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