Improving agricultural water productivity with a focus on rural transformation*

Abstract

As a result of population growth, economic development and climate change, feeding the world and providing water security will require important changes in the technologies, institutions, policies and incentives that drive present-day water management, as captured in Goal 6.4 of the Millennium Development Goals. Irrigation is the largest and most inefficient water user, and there is an expectation that even small improvements in agricultural water productivity will improve water security. This paper argues that improvements in irrigation water productivity involves a complex and comprehensive rural transformation that goes beyond mere promotion of water saving technologies. Many of the measures to improve water productivity require significant changes in the production systems of farmers and in the support provided to them.Looking forward, water use and competition over water are expected to further increase. By 2025, about 1.8 billion people will be living in regions or countries with absolute water scarcity. Demand for water will rise exponentially, while supply becomes more erratic and uncertain, prompting the need for significant shifts of inter-sectoral water allocation to support continued economic growth.Advances in the use of remote sensing technologies will make it increasingly possible to cost-effectively and accurately estimate crop evapotranspiration from farmers' fields. K E Y W O R D Sirrigation efficiency, water productivity, rural transformation RĖSUMĖ En raison de la croissance démographique, du développement économique et du changement climatique, nourrir le monde et assurer la sécurité de l'eau nécessiteront des changements importants dans les technologies, les institutions, les politiques et les incitations qui conduisent à la gestion actuelle de *Améliorer la productivité de l'eau dans l'agriculture en mettant l'accent sur la transformation des zones rurales.

A Review on Evapotranspiration Estimation in Agricultural Water Management: Past, Present, and Future

“…Currently, the investment of one unit of water for infrastructure development and industries can earn a higher economic rate of return than agriculture does. However, irrigated agriculture is supposed to generate much more in the future, applying lesser water than it uses now [19,20]. Sustainable management and more efficient practices are essential to meet the growing demand under scarce water resources.…”

“…Evapotranspiration (ET) contributes to the highest water loss in cultivated semi-arid regions [25,26]. Furthermore, the identification of ET's effect on the water budget is essential for water resource management as well as forest growth and species diversity, sustainable crop production, food security, and social stability [8,17,19,[27][28][29]. Therefore, applying more efficient ET-reduction strategies are important to achieve efficient and sustainable water use [30,31].…”

Functional Design of Pocket Fertigation under Specific Microclimate and Irrigation Rates: A Preliminary Study

“…As an indicator, soil moisture is related to water and nutrient uptake, while crop yield is related to the income obtained by the farmers [17]. In addition, water productivity is related to water use efficiency because it reflects the yield or biomass produced per water used [18].…”