Can agriculture overcome its own water problems?

Agriculture requires a great deal of water. In fact, it uses 70% of the world’s freshwater supplies. Extreme weather events are on the rise, and drought is as much […].*Solutions in India* To grow just a single kilo of rice takes 5000 litres of water, and it accounts for over a third of the water used in agriculture. The problem isn’t just the amount of water this crop uses, but the bacteria that lives in the flooded soil in which rice grows, are constantly producing methane, a massive greenhouse gas. In fact, 20% of all methane on the planet comes from paddy fields, and rice is the number one crop for greenhouse gas emissions…

Ravichandran Vanchinathan, is using the method called the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which not only uses less fresh water, but also improves yield. “Many farmers, because of water scarcity, have given up rice cultivation, thinking it’s a water guzzler. But, it’s a myth. In SRI, we don’t irrigate the field as often, only as and when it’s needed… and we use 30-40% less water. Rotating wet and dry periods also means the plant roots get more oxygen, which helps them thrive. And, planting young, single rice seedlings wider apart means extra space for canopy and root growth, producing bigger and healthier plants. Remarkably, the SRI method appears to be producing more rice even though it uses fewer plants and less water. If paddy field alternatives like SRI or drip irrigation were rolled out across the globe, the water savings could be immense and the reduction in greenhouse gas game-changing…