Towards Sustainable Intensification of Crop Production--Yield Gaps and Water Use Efficiency in Farming Systems

The primary objective of any cropping system continues to be increasing the productivity and profitability of crops. In the last decades, many advances have been made regarding sustainable crop production intensification, mainly with the aim of increasing or maintaining yield. However, the available water around the world is decreasing due to greater population growth, and the competing demands from industry and urban development. The changing climate, with a gradual but continuous rise in temperatures and the evapotranspiration demand of crops, which tends to generate an increase in water requirements, adds further complexity to water management. Consequently, as the main consumer of fresh water, agriculture is currently faced with the challenge of finding new approaches that can ensure the protection of water resources and their integrity. The efficiency of the use of the available water, namely, the proportion of available water directed towards plant transpiration is often <50%. Consequently, such a proportion gives room for potential improvements in crop water use efficiency (WUE).