Grapes as an alternative crop for water saving

Fruit trees have a vast range of water needs. When it comes to Crop Water Requirement (CWR), grapes may be considered as a low water consumption crop. Thus, grapes can be a good alternative in arid and semiarid areas as compared to dates, citrus, and bananas that have higher CWR. Much water can be saved if agricultural management focuses on high-yield crops with low CWR. Therefore, changing existing water-wasting practices from high to lower CWR crops can save water and improve the virtual water (embedded water) balance for water-scarce countries. This chapter estimates and discusses the potentially saved water amount from changing crop pattern into grapes in Syria and Jordan by computing the embedded water in different typical crops. The results can be used to better manage scarce water resources and lead forward to sustainable water management. This is especially important in the Middle East that faces rapidly depleted renewable water resources.