In most Asian countries, agriculture is the biggest user of water and can reach up to 90% of total water consumption.
Article | 09 May 2012 Read time: 3 mins
With rising populations, increasing food prices and environmental concerns, Asia's agricultural sector faces a raft of challenges.
- More than 2.2 billion people in the region rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Source: ADB. 2009. Building Climate Resilience in the Agriculture Sector of Asia and the Pacific - Rice is by far the most important crop throughout Asia - 90% of the world's production and consumption occurs in this region.
Source: ADB. 2010. Regional Trade Opportunities for Agriculture - With trends showing that rice consumption decreases as income rises, many economists have claimed rice is an inferior good.
Source: ADB. 2010. Regional Trade Opportunities for Agriculture - Despite forecasts of famine and starvation, most Asian countries became food self-sufficient in the 1970s and 1980s, thanks to the Green Revolution.
Source: ADB. 2009. Revitalizing Asia's Irrigation: To sustainably meet tomorrow's food needs - The stagnant and declining yields of major crops such as rice and wheat can be ultimately linked to declining investments in agriculture. Public investments in agriculture in India, for instance, have been generally the same since 2004.
Source: ADB. 2012. Food Price Escalation in South Asia - A Serious and Growing Concern - In 2011, it was estimated biotech crops were grown on 160 million hectares of land - making it the fastest adopted crop technology.
Source: The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). 2011. Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops - Three of the top ten countries planting biotech crops in 2011 were in Asia. India grew more than 10.6 million hectares of cotton, the People's Republic of China planted 3.9 million hectares of cotton, papaya, poplar, tomato and sweet pepper while Pakistan farmed 2.6 million hectares of cotton.
Source: The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). 2011. Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops - Asia and the Pacific accounts for 37% of the world's total emissions from agricultural production, and the People's Republic of China alone accounts for more than 18% of the total.
Source: ADB. 2009. Building Climate Resilience in the Agriculture Sector of Asia and the Pacific - In most Asian countries, agriculture is the biggest user of water and can reach up to 90% of total water consumption.
Source: ADB. 2009. Water Rights and Water Allocation: Issues and Challenges for Asia - Food and feed crop demand will nearly double in the coming 50 years. Producing meat, milk, sugar, oils, and vegetables typically requires more water than producing cereals - and a different style of water management.
Source: International Water Management Institute. Water for Food, Water for Life - With 25% of the world's populations and only 7% of the world's arable land, the agrofood trade is a crucial sector of the People's Republic of China's economy - projected imports of agrofood in the coming decades will have significant implications within Asia.
Source: ADB. 2010. Regional Trade Opportunities for Agriculture - ADB's 2009 Operational Plan for Sustainable Food Security in Asia and the Pacific puts emphasis on the integration of agricultural productivity, market connectivity, and resilience as necessary to achieve sustainable food security.
Source: ADB. 2009. Operational Plan for Sustainable Food Security in Asia and the Pacific
Given your interest in agriculture, water usage, and Asian farming practices, I'd like to dive into the insights from the article you provided. Agriculture's role in Asia is indeed paramount, often consuming up to 90% of the total water in many Asian countries. This significant usage is primarily due to rice cultivation, which dominates the agricultural landscape in Asia, accounting for about 90% of the world's production and consumption.
The article highlights the challenges faced by the agricultural sector in Asia, including rising populations, escalating food prices, and environmental concerns. Despite these challenges, the Green Revolution in the 1970s and 1980s helped many Asian countries achieve food self-sufficiency, averting forecasted famines.
However, sustaining this achievement requires attention to declining yields in major crops like rice and wheat. This decline is attributed, in part, to stagnant investments in agriculture, a trend observed even in countries like India, where public investments have remained relatively unchanged since 2004.
Additionally, the adoption of biotech crops has seen rapid growth in Asia, with India, China, and Pakistan among the top countries cultivating biotech crops like cotton, papaya, and others.
Water plays a crucial role in agriculture, especially considering the anticipated doubling of food and feed crop demand in the next 50 years. Interestingly, producing meat, milk, and certain crops demands more water than cereals, necessitating a different approach to water management.
The agricultural sector's significance is particularly highlighted in China, where despite having only 7% of the world's arable land, it sustains a quarter of the world's population. The projected increase in agrofood imports into China will significantly impact the regional trade dynamics in Asia.
To address these challenges and ensure sustainable food security, strategies focusing on agricultural productivity, market connectivity, and resilience are crucial. The Asian Development Bank's operational plans emphasize these elements as integral to achieving sustainable food security in the region.
The comprehensive information you've provided underscores the intricate interplay between agriculture, water usage, food security, and economic implications across various Asian countries. It's a dynamic landscape that necessitates multi-faceted solutions to ensure a sustainable future for the region's agriculture.
