Water: advanced irrigation technologies

Limited opportunities to expand the volume of global freshwaters allocated to irrigation means that advanced irrigation technologies, aiming to improve efficiency of existing systems are needed, timely, and are of paramount importance. There is little scope for greater use of allocated global freshwaters for irrigation, due to unprecedented expansion since the 1950s, plus other multiple demands on that resource to meet higher living standards: projected as +400% (manufacturing), +140% (thermal electricity generation), and +130% (domestic use) by 2050 (OECD, 2012). Providing for a further 2 billion people by 2050 will challenge our ability to manage and restore natural assets, including freshwaters, on which life depends (OECD, 2012). Irrigation will need to support a projected 50% increase in global food supply to feed the additional 2 billion people (Jury and Vaux, 2007)