In this book, major issues surrounding importance of water and energy for food security in the United States and India are described representing two extremes in yield, irrigation efficiency, and automation. The farming systems in these two countries face different risks in terms of climatic shifts and systems’ resiliency to handle the shocks. One may have comparative advantage over the other, but both are susceptible. Innovations in irrigation for food and fuel production, improvements in nitrogen and water use efficiency, and rural sociological issues are discussed here. We also look into some of the unintended consequences of high productivity agriculture in terms of surface and ground water quality and impacts on ecosystem services. Finally, we present ways to move forward to meet the food demands in the next half-century in both countries.
As the current world population of 7 billion is expected to reach or exceed 10 billion in the next 40 years, there will be significant additional demand for food. A rising middle class and its preference for a meat-based diet also increases the demand for animal feed. This additional food and feed production needs special considerations in water and energy management besides the development of appropriate crop hybrids to withstand future climatic shifts and other environmental factors. A resilient agricultural landscapes will also be needed to withstand climatic fluctuations, disease pressures, etc.
While the upper and many middle income countries have made significant improvements in crop yield due to pressurized irrigation and automation in farming systems, the lower income countries are struggling with yield enhancements due to such limitations. The rise in population is expected to be more in Sub-Sharan Africa and Middle East (Low to middle-income countries) where the crop yields are expected to be low.
Author(s): Chittaranjan Ray, Sekhar Muddu, Sudhirendar Sharma
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 267
City: Singapore
Contents
About the Editors
Chapter 1: Unfolding Food, Energy, and Water Nexus
1.1 The Nexus Concept
1.2 The Global Scenario
1.3 The Indian Dilemma
1.4 The Lingering Questions
References
Chapter 2: Resilience of Working Agricultural Landscapes
2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 Resilience
2.1.2 Regime Shifts
2.2 Scaling, Adaptive Cycles, and Panarchy
2.3 Where to from Here?
References
Chapter 3: A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for Nebraska: Livestock and Coal Loom Large
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Methods for Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
3.3 A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for Nebraska
3.3.1 Aggregate State Emissions 1990–2016
3.3.2 Emissions of GHGs by Sector
3.3.2.1 Agriculture
Historic Agricultural Emissions in Nebraska
3.3.2.2 Fossil Fuel Combustion
3.3.2.3 Industrial Processes and Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution
3.3.2.4 Transportation, Waste, and Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry
3.3.2.5 Emissions of GHGs by Pollutant
3.4 Comparison of State, US, and Global Emissions
3.5 Uncertainties and Limitations to Emissions Estimation
3.6 Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Nebraska
3.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: Technologies for Enhancing Water Productivity in Irrigated Agriculture
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Concepts of Agricultural Water Productivity
4.3 Enhancing Water Productivity in Irrigated Agriculture
4.3.1 Technologies for Enhancing Water Productivity in Rice-Wheat Cropping System
4.3.1.1 Water Management Technologies
4.3.1.2 Studies on the Effect of Different Rice Planting Methods in Rice-Wheat Cropping System on Grain Yield and Water Productivity
4.3.1.3 Foliar Potassium Fertilization to Enhance Wheat Grain Yield Under Varying Salinity Regimes
4.4 Use of Soil Moisture Sensors and Integrated Sensing Devices in Irrigation Scheduling
4.4.1 Calibration of Soil Moisture Sensors
4.4.1.1 Development of Integrated Sensing System for Irrigation Scheduling
4.5 Water Budgeting Approach for Enhancing Crop Water Productivity
4.6 Assessment of Water Footprint of Different Crops for Enhancing Crop Water Productivity
4.6.1 Spatial Resolution for Water Footprint (WF) Assessment
4.6.2 Estimation of Water Footprint of Crop Production (WFc) in Gomti River Basin, India
4.6.3 Water Footprint of Livestock (WFl) and Domestic and Industrial Use (WFdom + Ind)
4.6.4 Water Footprint of River Basin (WFrb) and Sustainability of Blue and Gray Water Footprint
4.6.5 Proposed Optimal Cropping Pattern and Blue Water Savings in the Gomti River Basin, India
4.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 5: Virtual Water and Embodied Energy Flows Out of Nebraska Related to Trade in Corn
5.1 Introduction
5.1.1 Indicators to Measure Humanity’s Environmental Footprint
5.1.2 Water Footprint
5.1.3 Real Versus Virtual Water Transfers
5.1.4 Nebraska
5.2 Method for Estimation of Water and Energy Footprint
5.2.1 Method for Estimation of Water Footprint of Corn, Bioethanol, and Distillers Grains
5.2.2 Method for Estimation of Energy Footprints of Corn, Bioethanol, and Distillers Grains
5.2.3 Method for Allocation of Footprints to Co-products
5.3 The Water and Energy Footprint of Corn Produced in Nebraska
5.4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: State of Agriculture in Karnataka, India and a Case Study of Food, Energy and Water Nexus from the Kabini Observatory
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Case Study
References
Chapter 7: Sensor-Based Monitoring of Soil and Crop Health for Enhancing Input Use Efficiency
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Sensing Technology
7.3 Sensing for Soil Health
7.3.1 Quantitative Estimation of Soil Parameters from Hyperspectral Remote Sensing
7.3.2 Defining Homogenous Resource Management Domain for Site-Specific Management
7.4 Sensing for Crop Health
7.4.1 Quantitative Estimation of Plant Nutrients
7.4.2 Quantitative Assessment of Plant Water Content and Stress
7.4.3 Sensor-Based Plant Sugar Estimation
7.4.4 Pest and Disease Monitoring
7.4.5 Retrieval of the Crop Biophysical Parameters for Monitoring Crop Health
7.5 Conclusions
References
Chapter 8: Strategies to Improve Crop-Water Productivity
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Concept of Crop Water Productivity (CWP)
8.3 Strategies to Improve Crop-Water Productivity
8.4 Improvement in Irrigation Management
8.4.1 Adoption of Deficit Irrigation
8.4.2 Accurate Quantification of Crop Evapotranspiration
8.4.3 Improvement in Irrigation Scheduling
8.4.4 Increasing Adoption of High-Efficient Water Delivery Mechanism
8.5 Adoption of Other Management Practices
8.6 Conclusion
References
Chapter 9: Limited Irrigation for Managing Declining Water Resources in the US High Plains
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Materials and Methods
9.3 Results and Discussion
9.4 Conclusions
References
Chapter 10: Understanding the Cultural Foundations of Water Institutions: Groundwater Management in Kansas, High Plains-Ogallala Aquifer
10.1 Introduction
10.2 The Ogallala Aquifer
10.3 Irrigation Norms and Groundwater Depletion in Kansas
10.4 Groundwater in Kansas
10.5 Data
10.6 Results
10.6.1 Demographics and Farm Characteristics
10.6.2 Values
10.6.3 General Worldview Beliefs
10.6.4 Norms
10.7 Discussion
10.8 Conclusion
References
Chapter 11: Nitrogen Management for Improving Water, Energy, and Food Security
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Proactive and Reactive Nitrogen Management
11.3 Emerging Concepts of Sensor-Based Fertigation
11.3.1 Concepts of Canary Plots
11.3.2 Variable Rate Fertigation
11.3.3 Accounting for Water Stress on Optical Sensing
11.4 Closing Remarks
References
Chapter 12: Mobilization of Naturally Occurring Uranium in Groundwater Under Intensely Managed Farmland
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Uranium Toxicology
12.3 Uranium Occurrence in the Environment
12.4 Geochemistry of Naturally Occurring Uranium in Aquifers
12.4.1 U Redox Biogeochemistry
12.4.2 Uranium Adsorption Reactions
12.5 Impacts of Agricultural Activity on the Mobilization of U
12.5.1 Loading of Nitrogen and Phosphorous
12.6 Conclusion
References
Chapter 13: Nanotechnology at the Juncture of Water, Food, and Energy Nexus: Boon or Bane?
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Nanomaterials
13.3 Benefits of Nanotechnology
13.3.1 Water Sector
13.3.2 Food Sector
13.3.3 Energy Sector
13.4 The Adverse Impact of Nanotechnology
13.4.1 Movement and Behavior of Nanomaterials in the Environment
13.4.2 Water Sector
13.4.3 Food Sector
13.4.4 Energy Sector
13.4.5 Effects of Nanotechnology on Human Health
13.5 Conclusions
References
