Sustainable Irrigation in Agriculture: An Analysis of Global Research

Irrigated agriculture plays a fundamental role as a supplier of food and raw materials. However, it is also the world’s largest water user. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of studies analyzing agricultural irrigation from the perspective of sustainability with a focus on it...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inWater (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 9; p. 1758
Main Authors Velasco-Muñoz, Juan F., Aznar-Sánchez, José A., Batlles-delaFuente, Ana, Fidelibus, Maria Dolores
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 2019
Subjects
Agricultural research
Agriculture
Bibliographic coupling
bibliometric analysis
Bibliometrics
Climate change
Crops
Economic development
Ecosystems
Efficiency
Food
innovation and technology
Irrigation
Irrigation water
Natural resources
Productivity
Raw materials
Resource conservation
Society
Sustainability
sustainable irrigation
Trends
unconventional water resources
Water conservation
Water consumption
Water markets
Water resources
Water use
Water use efficiency
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Irrigated agriculture plays a fundamental role as a supplier of food and raw materials. However, it is also the world’s largest water user. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of studies analyzing agricultural irrigation from the perspective of sustainability with a focus on its environmental, economic, and social impacts. This study seeks to analyze the dynamics of global research in sustainable irrigation in agriculture between 1999 and 2018, including the main agents promoting it and the topics that have received the most attention. To do this, a review and a bibliometric analysis were carried out on a sample of 713 articles. The results show that sustainability is a line of study that is becoming increasingly more prominent within research in irrigation. The study also reveals the existence of substantial differences and preferred topics in the research undertaken by different countries. The priority issues addressed in the research were climatic change, environmental impact, and natural resources conservation; unconventional water resources; irrigation technology and innovation; and water use efficiency. Finally, the findings indicate a series of areas related to sustainable irrigation in agriculture in which research should be promoted.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w11091758