• Energy Research
• English close
• Virginia Tech close

The expansion of irrigated agriculture has increased global crop production but resulted in widespread stress to freshwater resources. Ensuring that increases in irrigated production only occur in places where water is relatively abundant is a key objective of sustainable agriculture, and knowledge of how irrigated land has evolved is important for measuring progress towards water sustainability. Yet a spatially detailed understanding of the evolution of global area equipped for irrigation (AEI) is missing. Here we utilize the latest sub-national irrigation statistics (covering 17298 administrative units) from various official sources to develop a gridded (5 arc-min resolution) global product of AEI for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. We find that AEI increased by 11% from 2000 (297 Mha) to 2015 (330 Mha) with locations of both substantial expansion (e.g., northwest India, northeast China) and decline (e.g., Russia). Combining these outputs with information on green (i.e., rainfall) and blue (i.e., surface and ground) water stress, we also examine to what extent irrigation has expanded unsustainably (i.e., in places already experiencing water stress). We find that more than half (52%) of irrigation expansion has taken place in regions that were already water stressed, with India alone accounting for 36% of global unsustainable expansion. These findings provide new insights into the evolving patterns of global irrigation with important implications for global water sustainability and food security. Recommended citation: Mehta, P., Siebert, S., Kummu, M. et al. Half of twenty-first century global irrigation expansion has been in water-stressed regions. Nat Water (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00206-9 Open-access peer reviewed publication available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-024-00206-9 Files G_AEI_*.ASC were produced using the GMIA dataset[https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/iso/f79213a0-88fd-11da-a88f-000d939bc5d8]. Files MEIER_G_AEI_*.ASC were produced using Meier et al. (2018) dataset [https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.884744].

Metadata only record The Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz S.A. has agreed to invest over $5,000,000 to protect forests where it has hydroelectric operations. The project will pay $40 per ha/year for environmental services protection contracts lasting 10 years. There are currently 7,356 ha submitted to the program. CNFL is making payments for environmental services to forest and plantation owners located in the following watersheds: PES-1 (Payments for Environmental Services Associate Award)

The objective of this presentation is to promote the development of a book to help development agents in developing (and developed) countries to better understand what is involved in the management of complex adaptive systems. The problem relates to linked rural poverty and environmental sustainability, though this can be solved through adaptive management for small holder innovation by providing development agents with knowledge and understanding to assist small holder innovation for adaptive management of complex adaptive systems (CAS). The objective is to encourage policy makers and donors to support local innovation and adaptive management. ME (Management Entity)

Preliminary results of a survey conducted among 50 smallholder upland farmers in the Philippines during the second crop period in 2007 showed early awareness (since 1960-1970) of the integrated vegetable agroforestry system technologies, particularly irrigation drainage, soil conservation and soil fertility management, and the vegetable agroforestry system, which 59-75% of them adopted in their farms. They however, just were aware of the existence of the drip irrigation technology in 2000 and it was adopted by only 25% of farmers. Problems encountered with the technologies included high costs of inputs, low and fluctuating costs of farm outputs and the dry spell during the period. LTRA-5 (Agroforestry and Sustainable Vegetable Production)

Loblolly pIne (Pinus taeda) and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) were grown in miniature stands at 7.6-cm spacings outdoors in open-top chambers (4.6 m in diameter and 3.5 m tall) for 16 months. Treatments consisted of ambient- and elevated-CO₂ , drought-stressed and well-watered, and stand type (monoculture and 50:50 replacement mixture). Gas exchange was measured monthly, growth parameters bimonthly. Loblolly pine carbon exchange rate (CER) was positive throughout the winter in all treatments and averaged 83% of summer rates. Between November 1994 and April 1995, relative crowding coefficient (RCC) of pine stem volumes increased regardless of CO₂ or water availability. RCC of pine biomass increased in droughted stands relative to well-watered stands, while RCC of sweetgum showed the opposite response. Based on these results increased atmospheric CO₂ concentrations will not affect the competitive outcomes of loblolly pine and sweetgum mixed stands: loblolly pine will continue to be more competitive on dry sites, sweetgum on wet sites. CER of loblolly pine and sweetgum, as well as soil respiration, were consistently significantly greater in elevated-C02 stands. CER in upper-canopy foliage was significantly greater than that of lower-canopy foliage for sweetgum. Loblolly pine, but not sweetgum, demonstrated a significant canopy position x CO₂ interaction, with upper-canopy CER greater only in elevated-CO₂ conditions. No consistent acclimation of CER to elevated CO₂ was statistically significant for either species, although acclimation response was stronger in sweetgum than in loblolly pine. Master of Science

On May 7, 2010, a letter signed by 255 members of the US National Academy of Sciences deplored attacks on both science and scientists who researched climate science or related fields. The assaults in the letter rely on two main components. First, statements contradict the preponderance of scientific evidence without a comparable body of evidence to the contrary. Second, as the size of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports grows, so does the probability of minor errors. Scientists and their organization should not have to spend the majority of their time defending their work, instead of working on their primary mission of conducting scientific research.

Metadata only record This website offers several videos that provide in-depth information about different aspects of sustainable agriculture. Below is a list of the videos:

Because women share much of the burden of agricultural production, it is critical to examine the impact that agricultural innovations will have on the distribution of labor between genders. Conservation agriculture has been identified as an innovation to improve agricultural production in the Mid-hills of Nepal by reducing erosion and increasing soil organic matter. This paper identifies the gendered distribution of agricultural labor in three Chepang tribal villages of central Nepal, in order to estimate the changes in labor required by conservation agriculture interventions, and assess the implications of labor shifts with respect to the potential for adoption of conservation agriculture practices. Three tribal villages in Chepang were surveyed, with the male and female heads for each household questioned separately to assess the labor hours from each gender for cropping activities under conventional and conservation agricultural systems. Field experiments were also conducted to determine labor hours necessary for the adoption of conservation agriculture practices. Conservation agriculture was found to increase women’s share of agricultural labor, with a greater increase for intercropping with conventional tillage than for intercropping and minimal tillage. LTRA-11 (CAPS among tribal societies in India and Nepal)

Metadata only record This chapter discusses the interplay between human, social, natural, and financial/constructed capital that is needed for integrated conservation and development projects to succeed. She also evaluates the effectiveness of different motivation sources, such as social pressure, force, and economic incentives.