Justification: Water-use efficiency (WUE) is the amount of carbon assimilated as biomass or grain produced per unit of water the crop uses, and it is considered a critical factor in maintaining the balance between carbon gain and water loss during photosynthesis, particularly in the face of global warming and drought challenges. Improving agricultural WUE is essential for sustainable crop production in water-scarce regions. Objective: This article explores the significance of WUE enhancement in agriculture, especially under drought conditions, and discusses various strategies to optimize WUE for improved crop productivity. Methods: We searched the scientific literature for articles on water-use efficiency published between 2010 and 2023 and selected the 42 most relevant studies for a comprehensive overview of strategies, technologies, and approaches to investigate sustainable agricultural practices to improve water-use efficiency in agriculture, particularly focusing on agronomic methods such as mulching, cover crops, canopy management, deficit irrigation, and irrigation modernization. Results: This review highlights several practical techniques for enhancing WUE, including sustainable irrigation practices, crop-specific agronomic strategies, and innovative technological solutions. By adopting these approaches, farmers can improve water management efficiency, reduce crop vulnerability to water stress, and ultimately enhance agricultural sustainability. In conclusion, improving water-use efficiency is an essential factor for ensuring food security in the face of climate change and water scarcity. By implementing innovative strategies and exploiting the power of technology, we can enhance WUE in agriculture, optimize crop production, conserve natural resources, and contribute to a more sustainable future.

The process of improving crop management inputs by use of remote sensing devices is a new technology. This study presents the use of the normalized-difference vegetative index (NDVI) combined with the coefficient of variation (CV) to predict plant populations in corn (Zea mays L.) over different growth stages and different locations. About 76 plots were selected from the two sites to conduct this research. The results showed that we were not able to reliably predict plant population at lately growth stages because the canopy covered the soil with overlapping leaves. However, at early growth stages, the results suggest that as the corn plant emerged from the soil, the biomass per unit area was small and the sensor technology application for prediction of plant population was possible. Further studies may be designed based on this observation to investigate the possibility at early growth stages such as V2 and V3.

Dairy products are vital components of human food, however, they are rapidly spoiled due to their high content of organic matter which encourages the growth of decomposing microbes. The recycling of dairy wastes is an ideal solution to preserve the environment, as it is in line with the principles of sustainable agriculture. In this experiment, an organic fertilizer was extracted from dairy wastes and was used for the nutrition of wheat grown on sandy soils under two-year field studies. The application rate of the extracted organic fertilizer was 8 ton ha⁻¹. Moreover, the same rates of N, P, and K were added from inorganic fertilizers. The extracted organic fertilizer significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the wheat growth and increased chlorophyll by 11% and 16% in the first and second season, respectively, in comparison to the inorganic fertilization. The extracted organic fertilizer significantly minimized the soil pH from an initial value of 8.00 to 7.05. The tested organic fertilizer increased the uptake of N, P, and K by 55%, 49%, and 51% above the inorganic nutrition, respectively. The wheat straw and grain yield increased by 16% and 29% as a result of the addition of the organic fertilizer extracted from dairy wastes. The dairy wastes organic fertilizer caused a notable improvement in the soil quality. The extracted organic fertilizer was able to supply wheat with its nutrient requirements as it showed a remarkable superiority over the mineral fertilization. The disposal of expired dairy waste can be managed in a way that preserves the environment by converting it to organic fertilizers. Laboratory and field experiments have proven the efficiency of the extracted organic fertilizer in nutrition of wheat plants in sandy soils with low fertility.

Water scarcity, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, poses a significant challenge to crop production, with drought being a prevalent factor limiting grain production globally. Enhancing agricultural water use efficiency is crucial for managing water resources effectively in these areas. Water resource management involves planning, developing, distributing, and optimizing the use of water resources. Water use efficiency management is also essential for crop growth in arid regions. Various agronomic and irrigation strategies can improve crop water use efficiency and drought tolerance. The primary goal of these strategies is to maximize irrigation efficiencies by applying the precise amount of water needed to restore soil moisture to the desired level. These sustainable practices not only reduce the cost of water and labor for farmers through reduced irrigation but also optimize the use of soil moisture storage. This review paper explores practical techniques to improve water use efficiency, highlighting the role of nutrients in enhancing water use efficiency in crop plants.

Carbon dioxide enrichment inside a greenhouse is a sustainable approach to increasing crop production worldwide. Recently, the F1 hybrid strawberry became an alternative to runner-propagated cultivation as an innovative method to shorten the production period and increase strawberry production. This work aims to present CO₂ enrichment as a sustainable tool that improves the yield in a controlled greenhouse and addresses the efficiency of three F1 hybrid strawberry varieties grown under Saudi Arabian conditions. A greenhouse experiment was conducted at the National Research and Development Center for Sustainable Agriculture (Estidamah), KSA, to study the impact of two CO₂ levels (400 ppm (“ambient”) and 600 ppm (“enrichment”)) on the growth, photosynthesis traits, fruit yield and fruit quality of three F1 hybrid strawberry varieties grown under soilless culture conditions. The results show that CO₂ enrichment significantly improved the phenotyping of strawberry growth traits at 60 days post-transplanting. The physiological response of the varieties to CO₂ enrichment reveals a significant increase in the photosynthetic rate (129.7%) and intercellular CO₂ (43.7%) in the leaves of strawberry exposed to CO₂ enrichment rather than in ambient conditions, combined with a significant increase in the number of fruits per plant (27.5%) and total fruit yield (42.2%). A similar pattern was observed with varieties D and S in terms of fruit number, length and diameter. However, CO₂ at 600 ppm promoted total soluble solid accumulation and vitamin C for the tested varieties. In contrast, CO₂ enrichment significantly decreased nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium accumulation in the leaves of the exposed plants in comparison to 400 ppm of CO₂. These results suggest that increasing CO₂ enrichment could contribute to an increase in strawberry yield and nutritional value and demonstrate that understanding the response of each variety to CO₂ enrichment is important to support selecting suitable greenhouse strawberry varieties to improve crop yield.

Land degradation (LD) is an emerging threat of the decade that is not only deteriorating arable lands globally but also threatening global ecosystem sustainability. Therefore, the intensification of LD has stimulated global governing bodies and researchers to undertake initiatives against this dilemma through sustainable and eco-friendly approaches. Geographical mapping is critical in analysing land formation, soil composition and land use patterns, subsequently facilitating data-driven planning for soil conservation. In this review, Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, combined with Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data, is used to explore soil properties and land use patterns across Saudi Arabia, with a focus on soil types, soil thickness, and soil uses. Spatial analyses indicate that the most predominant soil type in the country is sandy, followed by loam and sandy loam. The soil depth distribution exhibits a notably bimodal pattern, with large areas characterized by shallow soils (0–4 m) and deep soils (43–50 m). These spatial visualizations provide valuable insights into soil heterogeneity, supporting evidence-based, site-specific strategies for sustainable land management. This study also outlines the major land degradation pathways affecting arable lands in Saudi Arabia and describes how these pathways can be used to assess the extent of land loss. Besides land loss pathways, the current study also explains the most suitable mitigation strategies, including mulching, cover cropping, and agroforestry, as well as how international governing bodies like the UNDP, UNEP, FAO, and World Bank can contribute to the mitigation of LD in Saudi Arabia. However, further studies are required to assess the intensity of these solutions for each soil type and thickness under different climatic conditions.