45 4 Water Management in Date Palm Groves M. Mumtaz Khan and S. A. Prathapar INTRODUCTION Water is a signiicant factor for socio-economic growth of the world. The availability of fresh water is limited, while the demand for this precious natural resource is continuously on the rise. It is anticipated that nearly two-third population of the world will be living in water-stressed areas by the year 2025. It is, therefore, a discrete requirement of today to design strategies to economize the uses of the available water: in particular, for agriculture, which utilizes as much as 70%–90% of it. In the current scenario of immense pressure on land and water resources in terms of availability and accessibility, food security to the fastest growing population is a big challenge, which has received attention worldwide. Among all the inputs of crop production, water is vital as it is the car- rier of all nutrient constituents. This precious resource has competition from industry, domestic use, and crop production. Therefore, harnessing the available potential of surface and ground water resources and its judicious use is the most important agenda to face future challenges of the world. In the majority of countries, 70%–90% of water is consumed in the agriculture sector with efi- ciency as low as 40% in many countries. The ratio of gross irrigated area to gross areas under agri- CONTENTS Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 45 Date Palm-Growing Regions around the Globe .............................................................................. 47 Factors Inluencing Irrigation Requirements ................................................................................... 48 Climate ........................................................................................................................................ 48 Estimating ET Requirements and Scheduling ................................................................................. 49 Irrigation Methods in Commercial Groves ...................................................................................... 54 Flood or Surface Irrigation .......................................................................................................... 54 Bubbler Irrigation ........................................................................................................................ 54 Drip Irrigation ............................................................................................................................. 54 Irrigation in Traditional Farms .................................................................................................... 55 Alaj Irrigation System ................................................................................................................ 55 Leaching and Drainage .................................................................................................................... 57 Artiicial/Deliberate Leaching of Accumulated Salts ................................................................. 57 WP of Date Palm ............................................................................................................................. 58 Effect of Water on Date Quality....................................................................................................... 60 Opportunities to Improve WP of Date Palm Grooves...................................................................... 60 Agronomy ................................................................................................................................... 60 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 62 References ........................................................................................................................................ 63