Agriculture accounts for 70% of freshwater withdrawn for human use and that figure will rise as the demand for irrigated land increases.  In a recent report, ‘Charting Our Water Future’, by the 2030 Water Resources Group, estimates showed that in twenty years time our global water requirements will be 40 percent greater than the current supply, which necessitates that the agricultural sector takes steps to use water more efficiently.

The OECD has published a new study looking at the sustainable management of water resources in agriculture.  The report highlights the increased pressures on already scarce water resources due to climate change, which has increased the incidence of drought and flood in some areas. Amidst growing urbanisation, industrialisation and more severe weather conditions, the report states that farmers will need to produce more food but with less water, and it offers the following policy recommendations for increasing water efficiency and improving water management in agriculture:

• Recognize the complexity and diversity of managing water resources in agriculture; water use is a complex issue, due to the variety of water resources and different allocations of water to agriculture amongst other consumptive uses in different countries. Policies must be country and region-specific accordingly.
• Strengthen institutions and property rights; simplify the network of organisations that manage water resources and create more flexibility in water property rights to meet environmental demands.
• Ensure charges for water supplied to agriculture reflect full supply costs; need to address the scarcity value of water by developing measures to ensure full cost recovery of water usage in agriculture, which will help to promote water use efficiency.
• Improve policy integration between agriculture, water, energy and environment policies; identifying the interrelationship between these sectors will help to encourage more efficient use of water and energy through, for example, the restoration of land in flood plains by planting of trees.
• Enhance agriculture’s resilience to climate change and climate variability; better land management practices will help to cope with a growing incidence of flood and drought.
• Address knowledge and information deficiencies to better guide water resource management; measuring water use, being transparent about water supply costs and monitoring water extractions will help to direct better policy decision making as well as providing the best technical advice to farmers.

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A panel of experts was composed of:

• Dr. Robert Paarlberg, Professor at Wellesley College, author of Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept Out of Africa
• Dr. Nina Federoff, Science and Technology Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State and to the Administrator of USAID, author of Mendel in the Kitchen
• Dr. Calestous Juma, Pew award winner and Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government
• Mark Cantley, former head of the European Commission’s “Concertation Unit for Biotechnology in Europe” and of OECD’s Biotechnology Unit
• Dr. Gale Buchanan, former USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, and lead author of the paper Agricultural Productivity Strategies for the Future: Addressing U.S. and Global Challenges

During the conference, Dr. Norman Borlaug’s last published statement was also revealed, which is included in a new CAST paper that identifies many challenges that agriculture will face in the coming years.

You can watch the video here.

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In drought conditions, plants begin to produce more of this hormone, which creates a number of changes to their physical structure. Their seeds lie dormant in the ground in order to wait out the dry period.  They slow their growth in order to conserve energy.  Tiny pores in their leaves are closed in order to prevent water from being lost.

Understanding how abscisic acid works in plants can help scientists replicate this phenomenon for farmers whose crops are suffering from drought conditions.  R&D such as this can help agricultural producers adapt to the impacts of climate change.

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The Gates Foundation has provided this video to show how one of their grantees’ low-cost treadle pumps are helping Indian farmers access irrigated water for their crops.

These water pumps are supplied by International Development Enterprises (IDE).  They are designed to be cost-effective and low-maintenance, with only one part needed to be changed each year at a cost of 20 U.S. cents. Farmers simply dig a bore hole, insert a plastic tube into the hole and then connect the pump to this tube.  Farmers then operate the pump using their leg muscles, and they can even pump extra water into adjacent reservoirs for on-going regulated use.

Only one in three farmers currently has access to irrigation in India.  Accessing this technology helps smallholder farmers make more long-term investments, such as improved seeds and fertilizers, for their fields.  Farmers might even be able to begin growing more lucrative cash crops such as fruits or vegetables.

In an innovative promotional campaign, IDE shares this knowledge with farmers by bringing movie screens into rural communities in the back of a van.  Farmers are incentivised to watch a short presentation about the treadle water pumps by the promise of a free movie feature which is aired after the presentation finishes.

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The programme host visits farmers in India, Cuba, the UK to look at how key issues such as water availability, climate change, and price volatility impacts their livelihoods and their ability to grow their crops.

The programme raises many of the questions and concerns which the Farming First plan aims to address.  It also suggests that the issue of food security is one that is increasingly capturing the attention of more mainstream audiences in the west.

For those interested, the second part of the series airs on BBC Two on Monday, 24 August at 9pm.

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Agriculture-related activity is responsible for around 70% of freshwater use.  Here are some other interesting facts from the report:

• Less than 3% of the world’s water is freshwater.  Of this freshwater supply, about five-sixths is frozen and thus inaccessible.

• Almost 97% of the available freshwater is stored in underground aquifers, with the remainder coming from rainfall, natural lakes, rivers, and other man-made facilities.

• Fewer than 10 countries possess 60% of the world’s available freshwater supply: Brazil, Russia, China, Canada, Indonesia, U.S., India, Columbia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

• Globally, roughly 15-35% of irrigation withdrawals for agriculture are estimated to be unsustainable.  Susceptible regins include the western U.S., northern India and Pakistan, northern China, eastern South Africa, southeastern Australia, and parts of the Mediterranean.

• India, China, and Egypt all use more than 80% of their freshwater for irrigation, compared to about 1% in the UK.

• 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera)– the equivalent of 15 killer tsunamis each year or 12 Boeing 747 crashes every day.

• U.S. average annual domestic consumption of water (per capita) is 215 cubic metres per year, 6.7 times the average in China and more than double the average in France.

• Important trends impacting water use in the future include population growth, increasing global affluence, and climate change.

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He said:

These threats are real, they are immediate, and they will affect us all. Environmental degradation is putting an increasing strain on our natural resources, and it is both a cause and an effect of climate change.

To solve these global challenges, Benn highlighted the need for a more sustainable and productive model for agriculture, as well as more sustianable building practices, transport, and energy production.

The goal of reinvigorating the agricultural sector, he continued, would have to be accomplished through increased  collaboration and commitment from around the world:

We need the world to come together to deal with water scarcity, the damaging loss of biodiversity, and the challenge of producing enough food. The World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and others, need to respond to crises and support the investment that will secure supplies in the long-term.

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Many development experts are flagging the potential for a global water crisis if better management of our the earth’s water resources is not given more attention.  This includes wider application of existing knowledge as well as further innovation in policy-centred management systems and more funding for crop-related research.

Since the mid-20th century, the global population has roughly doubled while water use has trebled.  When this trend is paired with a shift in dietary choices toward more water-intensive foods (such as meat), the strain on water resources will increase.

The FAO also predicts that under current conditions, the world’s farmers will need 60% more water to feed the almost 9 billion people expected to be living on the earth. Yet, aid for needed projects such as better irrigation systems has been cut in half over the past generation, according to the OECD.

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Most plants use less than half of the nitrogen applied to them through fertilizers. Increasing the nitrogen efficiency in a plant allows farmers to use less fertilizer, which in turns reduces the risk of leaching.

Furthermore, unused nitrogen is a major source of GHG emissions as unused nitrogen volatilises in the form of NO2, accounting for 1/3 of the emissions produced by agriculture.

Current research aims to produce plants that can achieve the same yields as conventional plants while using 50% less nitrogen fertilizer.

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For example, the use of air induction nozzles, which mix air with the spray liquid, can reduce water volumes used from 1,500-2,000 liters with conventional sprayers to 200-800 litres.

If the water-based sprays are combined with high precision application nozzles, water use can be brought to 10-50 liters per hectare.

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