Sustainable water management for future food security

A PhD Research by Bram Droppers

Research introduction

The agricultural sector is the largest water user worldwide. In order to facilitate enhanced agricultural productivity and worldwide food security, many croplands are irrigated with surface and groundwater resources. However, the expansion of irrigated agriculture has led to an over exploitation of renewable water resources, which is compromising river ecosystems and threatening the future of irrigated agriculture. Therefore there is a need for sustainable water management.

Research challenges

My PhD thesis aims to assess the impact of sustainable water management on irrigated agricultural production and the possibilities and limitations of agricultural adaptation to enable food security, now and in the future. I do this by developing and employing a process-based hydrology-crop model that is able to simulate the interactions between agricultural productivity, and water availability.