The sustainability of irrigated agriculture is threatening due to adverse climate change, given future projections that every one in four people on Earth might be suffering from extreme water scarcity by the year 2025. Pressurized irrigation systems and appropriate irrigation schedules can increase water productivity (i.e., product yield per unit volume of water consumed by the crop) and reduce the evaporative or system loss of water as opposed to traditional surface irrigation methods. However, in water-scarce countries, irrigation management frequently becomes a complex task. Deficit irrigation and the use of non-conventional water resources (e.g., wastewater, brackish groundwater) has been adopted in many cases as part of a climate change mitigation measures to tackle the water poverty issue. Protected cultivation systems such as greenhouses or screenhouses equipped with artificial intelligence systems present another sustainable option for improving water productivity and may help to alleviate water scarcity in these countries. This article presents a comprehensive review of the literature, which deals with sustainable irrigation for open-field and protected cultivation systems under the impact of climatic change in vulnerable areas, including the Mediterranean region.

Effective management of water resources is crucial for global food security and sustainable development. In this Review, we explore the potential benefits and challenges associated with treated wastewater (TW) reuse for irrigation. Currently, 400 km³ yr⁻¹ of wastewater is generated globally, but <20% is treated, and of that TW, only 2–15% is reused for irrigation depending on region. The main limitation of TW for irrigation is the inability of current treatment technologies to completely remove all micropollutants and contaminants of emerging concern, some of which have unknown impacts on crops, environment and health. However, advanced water treatment and reuse schemes, supported by water quality monitoring and regulations, can provide a stable water supply for agricultural production, as demonstrated in regions such as the USA and Israel. Such schemes could potentially serve a net energy source, as the embedded energy in wastewater exceeds treatment needs by 9 to 10 times. Agriculturally useful nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium could be also recovered and reused. TW reuse for irrigation could act as a major contributor to a circular economy and sustainable development, but the first steps will be funding and implementation of advanced and sustainable treatment technologies and social acceptance.

Temperature extremes represent an important limiting factor to plant growth and productivity. The present study evaluated the effect of hydroponic pretreatment of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa cv. ‘Camarosa’) roots with an H2S donor, sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS; 100 μM for 48 h), on the response of plants to acute heat shock treatment (42°C, 8 h).