Water and Agriculture: Challenges and Scientific Questions

The module’s content is organized as follows: - a series of lectures: 1. Water Resources and Food Security; 2. The Environmental Impact of Agriculture on Water Resources and Aquatic Environments; 3. Current Advances and Challenges in Agricultural Research for Optimizing Water Consumption by Plants; and 4. Water Demand Management in Agriculture. -Tutorials: Food Security and Future Scenarios. -A future-oriented exercise in small groups will be conducted to develop scenarios regarding the state of water resources and food production based on a case study of a country in the Global South.

The objective of this course is to provide a comprehensive, global overview of the challenges at the intersection of water resource management and food security, given that agriculture consumes 70% of water resources and that irrigated agriculture alone accounts for 40% of global food needs. Meeting projected food needs by 2050 will require agricultural intensification on a global scale. This effort is constrained by the actual availability of water resources and the quantitative and qualitative impacts that such intensification has on these resources.

Hourly volumes*:

            CM: 12

            TD: 6

            TP: 9

            Lot:

Exam: 0%

Continuous assessment: 100%

Each group of students (4–5) will write a summary report presenting the future scenario the group has developed and justifying its assumptions and choices. The report and spreadsheets will be evaluated and graded.

Water balance, agricultural water, nonpoint source pollution, irrigation, water for food