Better water management could improve global crop production

A new global study is the first to quantify the potential of water management strategies to increase crop production. It indicates that a combination of harvesting run-off water and reducing evaporation from soil could increase global crop production by 20 per cent.

The EU has recognised the impact of climate change on water and the subsequent effects on agriculture in its white paper on adaptation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts in its A2r scenario that if the global population increases to 10 billion by 2050, then an additional 5000 km3 of water per year will be required to produce enough food.

The study numerically examined the current level of crop production and the potential influence of several water management strategies that could be conducted at a farm-level. It was supported by the EU ENSEMBLES project.

Lastly, the study estimated the number of people who would be water-stressed by 2050 under a water management strategy that combined a 25 per cent reduction in evaporation with the harvesting of 25 per cent of run-off. Under these conditions water availability would be sufficient to fulfill food demand in most developed countries but not for countries in North Africa, the Middle East and South Africa. The number of those living without enough water to produce a healthy diet is estimated to increase from the current 2.3 billion to 6 billion in 2050. This highlights the need to explore other options, such as more efficient irrigation and plant breeding for these future conditions in addition to water management.