Water-Smart Farming: Strategies, Technologies, and Practices for Smallholder Farmers in a Changing Climate

Abstract

Increases in human population and world temperatures, which have risen by 1.1°C in the last ten years, are already making it more difficult for agriculture to get water in areas where it is limited. The concept of "water-smart farming" was created to solve issues related to the accessibility, availability, and usage of agricultural water. In climate-smart agriculture, it supports aims and practices pertaining to agricultural water. It includes several water-saving techniques, tools, and technology for growing food sustainably, as well as cropping systems that adapt to changing climate conditions. The urgent problem of agricultural water competition can be lessened with the successful application of water-smart farming. Therefore, this review introduces the conceptual framework of water-smart farming and its main components or ideology. In situations when water is scarcer than land and other resources used in production, increasing crop water productivity is an important response strategy. A growing, wealthier, and more urbanized population places increasing demands on food, which can be met with improvements in agricultural water productivity. However, there is also a pressing need to achieve improvements in agricultural water management because of pressure to reallocate water from agriculture to cities and to increase the amount of water available for environmental purposes. Water clearly has a role in reducing poverty and promoting economic progress. The review also briefly shows the contribution of some of these best practices and adaptive technologies of water-smart cropping toward promoting water-saving methods used for crops and vegetables.