Challenges of Optimizing BAT Utilization in Diverse Settings
- 1. Challenges of Optimizing BAT Utilization in Diverse Settings Tingju Zhu International Food Policy Research Institute Washington, DC, USA Making Every Drop Count: Best Technology for Sustainable Water Use in Agriculture organized by the Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska April 16, 2015, Daegu, Republic of Korea
- 2. Irrigation is the single largest user of water globally 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 Volume(km 3 /yr) • Improvement of agricultural water use efficiency is usually a slow and difficult process • Irrigation accounts for 70 percent water withdrawal and 90 percent water consumption globally • Often seen as the major driver of water scarcity • Wasteful use co-exists with water scarcity due to inappropriate technologies, mismanagement, and poor policy • Achieving real water-saving in agriculture needs to consider irrigation efficiency across scales
- 3. • Lack of Incentives: Farmers concern economic return and production risks, not necessarily irrigation water- saving • Undervalued irrigation water • Energy subsidies (for irrigation) • Inflexible water allocation (e.g. water rights w/o markets) • Ineffective water governance (e.g. GW regulation) • Challenges in financing water infrastructure • Repair, maintenance, and expansion of irrigation infrastructure • Adoption of advanced technologies – drip and sprinkler (for small farmers, e.g. in Asia) • Rural electrification (e.g. northeastern India, Africa) • Lack of information, esp. in developing countries • Farmers’ risk perception Challenges to BAT adoption
- 4. • Technologies need to be adapted to local settings • Technologies need to go hand in hand with agricultural extension (the latter is often more important than the former) • Move from water-saving to cost-effectiveness, including labor-saving, energy-saving, higher yield and better crop quality, and reduced production risks • Information and institutional development • Participatory management on system level and terminal level • Promote multiple use of irrigation water BAT adoption in developing countries
- 5. • Promote rain-fed crop production • Rainwater harvesting • New crop varieties with higher water productivity • High yield varieties • Drought-tolerant varieties • Sustainable land management • Integrated soil fertility management • Better soil and land management can increase water productivity • Precision agriculture • Reduce post-harvest losses • Improve transportation infrastructure • Improve storage technologies More crop per drop: beyond irrigation