Climate change and irrigated agriculture towards a better understanding of driving forces and feedbacks between decision makers and biophysical environments and their impacts on hydrological cycle and land use

The project investigates how climate variability and land use changes affect irrigated agriculture, specifically examining the Rio Segundo basin in Argentina and the Maipo river basin in Chile. Findings indicate that in Rio Segundo, agricultural expansion was driven by globalization and increased rainfall, with soy bean area growing nearly 18 times. In the Maipo river basin, analysis suggests that permanent water rights could fail to meet increased demand under global warming in 40-50% of cases, compared to a current failure rate of 6-20%.

• In the Rio Segundo basin, previously known as the "peanut core of Argentina", there was a significant shift in land use where groundnut, livestock, and hay production decreased while soy bean area increased nearly 18-fold, resulting in a doubling of the total agricultural area in just over ten years.
• Agricultural expansion in the Rio Segundo basin was driven by a combination of globalization and a steady increase in precipitation and minimum temperatures during the latter decades of the 20th century.
• In Rio Segundo, farmers identify early frosts in April, late frosts in mid-November, hailstorms, and irrigation water shortages as the primary climate risks to production.
• The impact of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on yields in Rio Segundo varies by crop: higher precipitation during El Niño years increases summer crop yields but reduces wheat yields, while La Niña years have the opposite effect.
• In the Maipo river basin, climate change scenarios indicate that the probability of permanent water rights failing to meet increased demand under global warming could rise to 40-50%, up from the current failure rate of 6-20%.
• In the studied context, irrigation systems are utilized primarily as an economic strategy to improve the financial position of farmers rather than as a specific adaptation to local climate change, which has actually shown a trend toward increased humidity.

APA

Meza, F. J., Donoso, G., Gurovich, L., Gilabert, H., Wilks, D. S., Letson, D., Travasso, M. I., & Garrido, E. (2010). Climate change and irrigated agriculture towards a better understanding of driving forces and feedbacks between decision makers and biophysical environments and their impacts on hydrological cycle and land use. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/SGP-HD_3.pdf

Chicago

Meza, Francisco J., Guillermo Donoso, Luis Gurovich, Horacio Gilabert, Daniel. S. Wilks, David Letson, María Isabel Travasso, and Enrique Garrido. Climate change and irrigated agriculture towards a better understanding of driving forces and feedbacks between decision makers and biophysical environments and their impacts on hydrological cycle and land use. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, 2010. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/SGP-HD_3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Meza |first1=Francisco J. |last2=Donoso |first2=Guillermo |last3=Gurovich |first3=Luis |last4=Gilabert |first4=Horacio |last5=Wilks |first5=Daniel. S. |last6=Letson |first6=David |last7=Travasso |first7=María Isabel |last8=Garrido |first8=Enrique |title=Climate change and irrigated agriculture towards a better understanding of driving forces and feedbacks between decision makers and biophysical environments and their impacts on hydrological cycle and land use |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |date=May 2010 |url=https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/SGP-HD_3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{meza2010climate, author = {Meza, Francisco J. and Donoso, Guillermo and Gurovich, Luis and Gilabert, Horacio and Wilks, Daniel. S. and Letson, David and Travasso, María Isabel and Garrido, Enrique}, title = {{Climate change and irrigated agriculture towards a better understanding of driving forces and feedbacks between decision makers and biophysical environments and their impacts on hydrological cycle and land use}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2010}, month = may, url = {https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/SGP-HD_3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }