5. Conclusion

The increasing scarcity of water resources in soils and aquifers is a major concern for society today. The repercussions of climate change have recently had a real impact on the way we consume water (restrictions on water consumption increasingly anticipated throughout the year, bottled water supplies in certain French regions). Global warming is now at the top of French people's list of concerns, second only to purchasing power. Because food production is vital, and to meet the demands of the world's ever-growing population, rationalizing or even increasing the efficiency of water use is a major challenge.

As far as plants are concerned, we have a great deal of scientific and technical knowledge at our disposal to identify water requirements and, in particular, stress situations. To date, we lack proven management tools that can better integrate all soil-plant-climate...