ABSTRACT
Irrigation management is the orchestration of scarce physical and biological resources, using the skills of several disciplines to bring water to the root zones of plants for increased food and fiber production for all classes of farmers. Training of professionals and farmers for improved irrigation management received little attention during the 1960s and 1970s. Irrigation management, as a recognized systematic methodology, is only about 15 years old, although many of the technologies and concepts employed have been around for 75 years or more. Irrigation and other agricultural professionals working with farmers in existing irrigated areas urgently require retooling and training in modern irrigation management. Leading issues addressed were centered around strategies to improve irrigation input efficiency in terms of both disciplinary and interdisciplinary aspects involving the engineering-agronomic-economic-social-institutional-legal dimensions of irrigation management. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
