Improvements in crop water productivity increase water sustainability and food security—a global analysis
Irrigation consumes more water than any other human activity, and thus the challenges of water sustainability and food security are closely linked. To evaluate how water resources are used for food production, we examined global patterns of water productivity—food produced (kcal) per unit of water (...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024030 |
| _version_ | 1797748393617915904 |
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| author | Kate A Brauman Stefan Siebert Jonathan A Foley |
| author_facet | Kate A Brauman Stefan Siebert Jonathan A Foley |
| author_sort | Kate A Brauman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Irrigation consumes more water than any other human activity, and thus the challenges of water sustainability and food security are closely linked. To evaluate how water resources are used for food production, we examined global patterns of water productivity—food produced (kcal) per unit of water (l) consumed. We document considerable variability in crop water productivity globally, not only across different climatic zones but also within climatic zones. The least water productive systems are disproportionate freshwater consumers. On precipitation-limited croplands, we found that ∼40% of water consumption goes to production of just 20% of food calories. Because in many cases crop water productivity is well below optimal levels, in many cases farmers have substantial opportunities to improve water productivity. To demonstrate the potential impact of management interventions, we calculated that raising crop water productivity in precipitation-limited regions to the 20th percentile of productivity would increase annual production on rainfed cropland by enough to provide food for an estimated 110 million people, and water consumption on irrigated cropland would be reduced enough to meet the annual domestic water demands of nearly 1.4 billion people. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:05:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ecc38d83c29f4f97a409d5552ba9f466 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:05:05Z |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-ecc38d83c29f4f97a409d5552ba9f4662023-08-09T14:26:34ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262013-01-018202403010.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024030Improvements in crop water productivity increase water sustainability and food security—a global analysisKate A Brauman0Stefan Siebert1Jonathan A Foley2Institute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota , 325 Learning & Environmental Sciences, 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USAInstitute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn , Katzenburgweg 5, D-53115 Bonn, GermanyInstitute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota , 325 Learning & Environmental Sciences, 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USAIrrigation consumes more water than any other human activity, and thus the challenges of water sustainability and food security are closely linked. To evaluate how water resources are used for food production, we examined global patterns of water productivity—food produced (kcal) per unit of water (l) consumed. We document considerable variability in crop water productivity globally, not only across different climatic zones but also within climatic zones. The least water productive systems are disproportionate freshwater consumers. On precipitation-limited croplands, we found that ∼40% of water consumption goes to production of just 20% of food calories. Because in many cases crop water productivity is well below optimal levels, in many cases farmers have substantial opportunities to improve water productivity. To demonstrate the potential impact of management interventions, we calculated that raising crop water productivity in precipitation-limited regions to the 20th percentile of productivity would increase annual production on rainfed cropland by enough to provide food for an estimated 110 million people, and water consumption on irrigated cropland would be reduced enough to meet the annual domestic water demands of nearly 1.4 billion people.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024030water productivityfood securityirrigationglobal hydrologysustainability |
| spellingShingle | Kate A Brauman Stefan Siebert Jonathan A Foley Improvements in crop water productivity increase water sustainability and food security—a global analysis Environmental Research Letters water productivity food security irrigation global hydrology sustainability |
| title | Improvements in crop water productivity increase water sustainability and food security—a global analysis |
| title_full | Improvements in crop water productivity increase water sustainability and food security—a global analysis |
| title_fullStr | Improvements in crop water productivity increase water sustainability and food security—a global analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improvements in crop water productivity increase water sustainability and food security—a global analysis |
| title_short | Improvements in crop water productivity increase water sustainability and food security—a global analysis |
| title_sort | improvements in crop water productivity increase water sustainability and food security a global analysis |
| topic | water productivity food security irrigation global hydrology sustainability |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024030 |
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