Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Irrigation
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== Extent == [[File:Share of agricultural land which is irrigated, OWID.svg|thumb|Share of agricultural land which is irrigated (2021)]] [[File:Area Equipped For Irrigation By Region.svg|thumb|Area equipped For irrigation by region]] In 2000, the total fertile land was 2,788,000 km<sup>2</sup> (689 million acres) and it was equipped with irrigation infrastructure worldwide. About 68% of this area is in Asia, 17% in the Americas, 9% in Europe, 5% in Africa and 1% in Oceania. The largest contiguous areas of high irrigation density are found in Northern and Eastern India and Pakistan along the Ganges and Indus rivers; in the Hai He, Huang He and Yangtze basins in China; along the Nile river in Egypt and Sudan; and in the Mississippi-Missouri river basin, the Southern Great Plains, and in parts of California in the United States. Smaller irrigation areas are spread across almost all populated parts of the world.<ref>{{cite conference | last = Siebert | first = S. | author2 = J. Hoogeveen |author3=P. DΓΆll |author4=J-M. FaurΓ¨s |author5=S. Feick |author6=K. Frenken | title = The Digital Global Map of Irrigation Areas β Development and Validation of Map Version 4 | book-title = Tropentag 2006 β Conference on International Agricultural Research for Development | place = Bonn, Germany | date = 2006-11-10 | url = http://www.tropentag.de/2006/abstracts/full/211.pdf | access-date = 2007-03-14 }}</ref> By 2012, the area of irrigated land had increased to an estimated total of 3,242,917 km<sup>2</sup> (801 million acres), which is nearly the size of India.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/ The World]. ''[[The World Factbook]]''. [[Central Intelligence Agency]].</ref> The irrigation of 20% of farming land accounts for the production of 40% of food production.<ref>{{Cite web|title=On Water|url=https://www.eib.org/en/essays/on-water|access-date=2020-12-07|website=European Investment Bank|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Water in Agriculture|url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water-in-agriculture|access-date=2020-12-07|website=World Bank|language=en}}</ref> === Global overview === The scale of irrigation increased dramatically over the 20th century. In 1800, 8 million hectares globally were irrigated, in 1950, 94 million hectares, and in 1990, 235 million hectares. By 1990, 30% of the global food production came from irrigated land.<ref name="ReferenceD">[[#refMcNeill2000|McNeill 2000]] pp.180β181.</ref> Irrigation techniques across the globe includes canals redirecting surface water,<ref name="ReferenceE">[[#refMcNeill2000|McNeill 2000]] pp.174.</ref><ref name="Peterson 2016">[[#refPeterson2016|Peterson 2016]]</ref> [[groundwater]] pumping, and diverting water from dams. National governments lead most irrigation schemes within their borders, but private investors<ref name="ReferenceF">[[#refMcNeill2000|McNeill 2000]] pp.153.</ref> and other nations,<ref name="Peterson 2016" /> especially the [[United States]],<ref name="ReferenceG">[[#refEkbladh2002|Ekbladh 2002]] pp.337.</ref> [[China]],<ref name="ReferenceH">[[#refBosshard2009|Bosshard 2009]].</ref> and European countries like the [[United Kingdom]],<ref name="ReferenceA">[[#refMcNeill2000|McNeill 2000]] pp.169-170.</ref> also fund and organize some schemes within other nations. By 2021 the global land area equipped for irrigation reached 352 million ha, an increase of 22% from the 289 million ha of 2000 and more than twice the 1960s land area equipped for irrigation. The vast majority is located in Asia (70%), where irrigation was a key component of the green revolution; the Americas account for 16% and Europe for 8% of the world total. India (76 million ha) and China (75 million ha) have the largest equipped area for irrigation, far ahead of the United States o fAmerica (27 million ha). China and India also have the largest net gains in equipped area between 2000 and 2020 (+21 million ha for China and +15 million ha for India). All the regions saw increases in the area equipped for irrigation, with Africa growing the fastest (+29%), followed by Asia (+25%), Oceania (+24%), the Americas (+19%) and Europe (+2%).<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |title=World Food and Agriculture β Statistical Yearbook 2023 {{!}} FAO {{!}} Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en |access-date=2023-12-13 |via=FAODocuments | date=2023 |language=en |doi=10.4060/cc8166en| isbn=978-92-5-138262-2 }}</ref> Irrigation enables the production of more crops, especially [[cash crop|commodity crops]] in areas which otherwise could not support them. Countries frequently invested in irrigation to increase [[wheat]], [[rice]], or [[cotton]] production, often with the overarching goal of increasing self-sufficiency.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> === Example values for crops === {| class="wikitable" |+Approximate values of seasonal crop water needs<ref>{{cite web |last=Natural Resource Management and Environmental Dept |title=Crops Need Water |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/S2022E/s2022e02.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116073927/http://www.fao.org/docrep/S2022E/s2022e02.htm |archive-date=16 January 2012 |access-date=17 March 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> !Crop !Crop water needs mm / total growing period |- |Sugarcane |1500β2500 |- |Banana |1200β2200 |- |Citrus |900β1200 |- |Potato |500β700 |- |Tomato |400β800 |- |Barley/oats/wheat |450β650 |- |Cabbage |350β500 |- |Onions |350β550 |- |Pea |350β500 |}
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)