An irrigation efficiency program addressing water scarcity through a systems approach to water management

The risk for facing a future of water scarcity is pushing different types of actor in the agricultural sector toward the definition of new strategies to increase water use efficiency in agriculture. This project aims at evaluating the agronomic, environmental and economic performances of different irrigation techniques (i.e., sprinkler and drip) as compared to rainfed conditions on maize-based cropping systems in three farms in the Lombardy plain (Northern Italy). Agronomic, environmental and economic sustainability of sprinkler and drip irrigation are analyzed my means of dedicated field experiments (water/fuel use efficiency, economic performances) and simulation techniques (environmental impact).