Water scarcity and drought are no longer isolated risks for European agriculture, they are structural challenges. According to the EU, around 38 % of its territory was affected by water scarcity in 2019. With climate change intensifying pressure on freshwater resources, reducing water demand in agriculture is crucial.

Traditional high-input crops often depend on significant irrigation or favourable rainfall patterns. In contrast, crops like camelina and carinata are naturally adapted to lower-water and lower-input systems, making them attractive in regions with limited water availability or where irrigation infrastructure is costly or unsustainable. By choosing crops with inherent resilience, farming systems can reduce their vulnerability to drought, stabilise yields and protect farm income in changing climates.

The EU Water Resilience Strategy sets a target of at least 10 % improved water efficiency by 2030.  The farming sector accounts for a significant share of water usage (around 29 % of water abstraction in the EU).  Member States are encouraged to incorporate water-efficient practices into their Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plans, including crop choices, precision irrigation and nature-based solutions.

Under the CARINA project framework, low-input oilseeds such as camelina and carinata are being trialled in diverse European cropping systems. Their adoption supports multiple objectives:

• Reduced irrigation needs, freeing water for other uses or enabling cropping on marginal lands
• Lower input costs, improving farm profitability under water-constrained conditions
• Improved system resilience, offering stable alternatives when rainfall regimes shift or irrigation becomes less reliable

Water-focused agricultural strategies will increasingly favour crops and systems that align with water-efficient, climate-resilient practices. The combination of policy incentives, farming innovation and crop adaptation, exemplified by CARINA’s work, points the way toward sustainable agriculture in a drier future.

Read more: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/water/water-scarcity-and-droughts_en