OECD Report - Sustainable Management of water resources in agriculture

OECD has just published (16^th March) the report Sustainable Management of WaterResources in Agriculture, together with nine backgroundstudies, that cover virtual water, water financing and agricultural waterpricing in Australia, the EU, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Turkey and the UnitedState.

Agriculture is the major user of water in most countries. It also faces the enormous challenge of producing almost 50% more food by 2030 and doubling production by 2050. This will likely need to be achieved with less water, mainly because of growing pressures from urbanisation, industrialisation and climate change.

This report calls on policy makers to recognise the complexity and diversity of water resource management in agriculture. It shows the trends and outlook for water use, examines the policy experiences of OECD countries in managing their resources - and makes concrete recommendations on what countries should be doing and why.