Congress Theme: ‘Tackling Water Scarcity in Agriculture’
Water use within agricultural systems, primarily irrigation, account for almost
seventy to eighty per cent of global water withdrawals. With rising temperatures
intensifying demand, in combination with more frequent and severe weather extremes
impacting production, water scarcity in agriculture is posing a challenge to food
security. Among other global trends, population growth and related increases in
demand for agricultural and forestry products to provide food, fodder, fibre and
fuel put further pressure on water resources.
Freshwater shortages have already begun to constrain socio-economic development in
some regions. In many areas, competing uses for water from agriculture, industry,
and municipal users further constrain the availability of water for agriculture.
Bioenergy production and use put the additional onus on the water resources while an
increased intensification of agriculture and water pollution poses an additional
challenge. It is not surprising that seven out of seventeen Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs 1, 2, 3, 6, 13, 15 and 17) of UN Agenda 2030, are directly or indirectly
influenced by the way we manage our agricultural water.
Increasing water productivity, within the agricultural water management domain, is
analogous to
achieving water savings (while maintaining yields), which can occur at the plot level
and/or at
the irrigation-system level, with or without adopting new technologies. With a
diminishing share
of water for agriculture, food security is feasible only with an increase in
agricultural
productivity, the efficient use of available water and increasing exploitation of new
and
non-conventional sources of water.
International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) strives for a water-secure
world free
of poverty and hunger through its mission to facilitate prudent agriculture water
management.
“Enabling Higher Crop Productivity with Less Water and Energy” is the most cherished
goal of
ICID Vision 2030. Through its tri-annual Congresses ICID, provides a forum to exchange
the
knowledge, information and technology solutions that are needed to tackle water
scarcity. The
25th Congress, therefore, focuses on the possible solutions of tapping
alternative
water resources and increasing water productivity through on-farm interventions to
tackle
agriculture water scarcity.
Question 64: What alternative water resources could be tapped for irrigated agriculture?
The spatial and temporal variabilities in precipitation and water availability call for
harnessing the blue water component for different uses. Most irrigation systems operate
at
levels below the achievable efficiency and have enormous scope to improve their
productivity and
efficiency. Water use and management in agriculture cross many scales: crops, fields,
farms,
delivery systems, basins, and the nations. Farmers, as end-users and the main actors in
on-farm
water management, need enabling conditions in which they are willing to take initiative
for
improvement in productivity.
In addition to the water withdrawn from surface sources, irrigation requirements of
plants can be
met through rainwater, greywater, recycled wastewater, and groundwater. Rain-fed
agriculture
continues to contribute to about 40 per cent of global food production and most of its
problems
are often associated with high-intensity rainfall with large spatial and temporal
variability.
The dry spells need to be overcome through supplemental irrigation with the help of
rainwater-harvesting systems. Adopting under-irrigation is also a strategy that can be
highly
beneficial in water-scarce conditions.
As one of the key alternative water resources, wastewater can be used in agriculture to
compensate for water shortages, particularly in peri-urban areas. Wastewater irrigation
has long
development history and has undergone different phases in developing and developed
countries
that desires appropriate safety practices.
Subtopics:
64.1 – Reinforcing conventional sources of irrigation water.
- Increasing the
reliability
of water supply in irrigation systems,
- Rainwater harvesting
and
management, including rainwater conservation and on-farm storage,
- Supplementing with
sub-surface water through groundwater replenishment and recharge
64.2 – Tapping non-conventional sources of water
- Water budgeting by
farmers
- Wastewater (treated
and
semi-treated sewage) in Irrigation with Good Agricultural Practices,
- Managing saline and
alkaline
water for higher productivity
64.3 – Empowerment of farmers
- Enabling
participation
through legal instruments – Coperatives, Water User Associations
- Agriculture
Extension
Services for irrigation water management,
- Capacity development
through
Information Education and Communication
Question 65: Which on-farm techniques can increase water productivity?
Substantially increasing productivity, not only in terms of physical outputs but also in
economic
terms is essential to meet the goals of poverty alleviation, food security and water
security.
Water productivity is dependent on, among others, water management practices and
agronomic
practices. Productivity at different levels of the irrigation system needs to be
critically
analysed to effectively guide policy interventions and practices vital to achieving the
desired
objectives. Interventions that close the “yield gap” between a farm’s current yield and
its
higher potential yield, are especially beneficial in regions where hunger is most acute.
There are several different approaches by which farmers can improve water productivity.
Options
include those related to plant physiology, which focuses on making transpiration more
efficient
or productive, agronomic practices, which aim at reducing evaporation, and on-farm
agricultural-engineering approaches, which aim at making water application more precise
and more
effective. Resource conserving techniques such as laser land leveller for field
preparation, and
ridge-furrow method form part of such a wide spectrum of options. Emerging technologies
present
a vista of new opportunities such as precision agriculture, biotechnology, sensor
technology,
bioinformatics, climate-smart agriculture, robotics, drones, artificial intelligence,
etc.
Subtopics:
65.1 – Improving management of existing facilities
- A closer look into
the
concepts of Water Productivity and Irrigation Efficiency
- Using real time
forecasts on
soil moisture, and Extended Hydrological prediction
- Reducing water flows
to
sinks - irrecoverable deep percolation and surface runoff - and reusing return
flows,
- Efficient
distribution of
available water with minimum losses.
65.2 – Improved Agronomic practices
- Timely application
of
irrigation water
- Controlling
non-beneficial
evaporation
- Minimizing
salinization of
return flows
65.3 – Efficient application of irrigation water
- Reducing
non-returnable
losses of irrigation water
- Pressurised
irrigation
through piped conveyance systems at farm levels
- Using technologies
such as
SCADA, sensor technology and precision application