SOSTENIBILITY, WATER AND AGRICULTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The challengue
Estimations from international organizations such as the UN indicate that food production will be doubled in the next 20-30 years. Consequently, an agriculture modern and efficient in the consumption of water and energy is essential to meet the growing needs. Conventional water resources available for each person or activity are increasingly scarce, due to the increase in population and the needs associated with the development of countries. This situation is getting worse with the effects of global climate change and with the deterioration of water quality due to the presence of new contaminants of emerging concern, microplastics, superbugs, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt measures that ensure the availability of water in sufficient quantity and quality for the development of modern and efficient agriculture, which is necessary in the immediate future.
The solution
The project proposes the development of actions capable of promoting the Spanish agricultural sector through the Mission "Agriculture of the 21st century". The project has a budget of 6 million euros and will be financed by CDTI with Next Generation European funds.
The objective is to investigate sustainable and energy-efficient technological solutions that allow the development of management strategies and efficient treatments of water resources for the agricultural sector. All these actions will guarantee the quality and quantity of water resources, as well as adapt and prepare the Spanish agricultural sector to fight the progressive scarcity of conventional water resources and the effects of climate change.
SOSTENIBILITY, WATER AND AGRICULTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The research project "SOSTENIBILITY, WATER AND AGRICULTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY", SOS-AGUA-XXI, is subsidized by the CDTI and supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation through the 2021 call for the Science and Innovation Missions program.
Benefits
- Be able to predict and manage, through new technologies, the water and energy demands of a certain area, to optimize the use and efficiency of the infrastructures involved in the plantations management and maintenance (pipes, pumps, intakes of water, supply points, etc), introducing the effects of climate change into the model.
- Study and investigate the impacts of the use of regerated water for irrigation in forest and urban plantations.
- Investigate and design energetically sustainable IoT networks for the capture and analytical exploitation of the largest number of available data sources for forest and urban plots destined for the cultivation of ornamental species.