Water Management Towards 2040

Agriculture policies must focus on water management practices to increase the productivity, promote equal access of water and thereby conserve the resource.

Over the last half-century, significant growth in the productivity gains in the agriculture is seen. Due to the Green Revolution technologies and use of high yield varieties, improved water management helped boost productivity by almost 100% since 1960.

Next 20 years will throw up new challenges. As the population grows the agriculture needs must be covered due to changing patterns of demand for food and poverty in rural areas, and compete for scarce water supply. To meet these requirements agricultural policies must encourage water management to promote productivity, promote equitable access to water management practices and conserve the resource base.

Water for crops - The water consumption of humans and animals is relatively small. The average human drinks about 4-5 liters a day. But producing the same person's daily food can take up to 5,000 liters of water. That is why the production of food claims biggest share of water withdrawn from natural resources for human use, or about 70% of global withdrawals.

If water management practices are maintained then the pressure on the resources will be significantly reduced, leaving a scope for transfer of water for other, non-agricultural uses. Today farmers are increasingly involved in decision making and in bearing the costs of operation and maintenance of irrigation systems. 

One of the first priorities of modernization is to assess physical conditions of irrigation system and identify the practical examination for moving towards more feasible and reliable water delivery service. Ultimately, it is the users who decide the level of service they need and are willing to pay for.

Negative External Factors - But water management is not simply about crop production, while the specific objective is to provide more reliable and adequate water supply for crops. Management will always have significant impact on economic activities, environmental processes and people's health.

Agriculture is under pressure to reduce the impact of its "negative external factors", particularly those associated with the applications of fertilizers and pesticides.

Policy Interventions - Policy intervention can help "re-invent" agricultural water management. It recommends a strategic approach to enhance the crop productivity by wisely using the water resource. Individuals should assure stable management with land and water resources, meaning the water use rights that are flexible enough to promote comparative advantage in food and cash crops. Modernization strategies should transform rigid systems into much more flexible service-delivery systems.