Introduction

Abstract

Droughts and water scarcity are important issues related to natural phenomena and affected by climate variability and change. Water scarcity was defined as the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region. There are many studies were conducted on the assessment of the climate change on crops productivity and its water requirements in Egypt. Droughts and water scarcity affected areas will likely to increase during the 21st century with clear impact on agriculture and water resources. There are two cultivation systems in Egypt: irrigated agriculture and rain fed agriculture. Irrigated agriculture performs in the old cultivated land and new reclaimed land. The rain fed areas in the North Coast of Egypt depends on rain falls from El-Saloum (west of Libya) to Rafah (East of Palestine). The projected adverse consequences of climate change on regional droughts are well established by global and regional studies, internationally. However, there are no local studies on the effect of climate change on rain fed agriculture in Egypt. This book is concerned about criticizing the prevailing crops structure in Egypt under rain fed in North Egypt and under surface irrigation in Nile Delta and Valley. Suggestions on improving crops structure in these areas are investigated, taking into account sustainability of water and soil recourses. Furthermore, improved management options of crops production in both rain fed and irrigated agriculture were explored. Suggestions of more rationale use of irrigation water in irrigated agriculture were also investigated to conserve irrigation water under present climate condition and to help in fulfilling the anticipated demand under climate change conditions in 2030.