Water for agricultural development: Opportunities and constraints

Abstract

Globally around 70% of all water used is for agricultural development. Thus, if the world's food crisis is to be successfully resolved, enough water of appropriate quantity and quality will be necessary. Water scarcity is already a serious issue in many arid and semi‐arid countries, and the problem is likely to intensify significantly in the future. Agriculture also affects water quality in many ways. The paper analyses the present’ status of the impacts of use of pesticides and nitrate fertilizers from different parts of the world.