Agricultural and Industrial Development

Agriculture and industry have always been closely linked with water. The earliest human settlements concentrated where land could grow crops, animals could graze, and water was available to nourish both. As farming practices advanced, with techniques like irrigation and fertilization, more and more marginal land could be successfully cultivated to feed the growing cities. With such growth, the once agricultural land, located on the outskirts, would over time become part of the city. Similarly industry, both light and heavy, would spring up where water was available-to manufacture paper or metals, to process food, or to produce energy. To nurture both, more and more water was required.

Agriculture and industry today account for the largest amounts of freshwater used in the world. And while the advancements in agriculture and industry have improved the quality of life in many parts of the world, the impact of their collective water requirements is being felt just as widely. Of the world's estimated global water demand, some 80% is due to agriculture and most of this is for irrigation. Significant amounts are also used for industry, particularly to produce energy.

The source for the steadily increasing demand for water is limited. Technology, like desalination of seawater or long distance piping for example, may offer some promise to this challenge, but is not the only solution. Along with new technology, conservation and recycling have an equal role to play. First and foremost, water wastage must be addressed.

In agriculture, UNESCO estimates that roughly 60% of water seeps from channels of the distribution system and is lost by evaporation or in the bare soil. Such seepage can also cause the soil to become waterlogged and saline. UNESCO estimates that some 20% of the worlds irrigated lands are affected, significantly reducing crop yield. Poor land and water management practices can cause erosion in croplands, resulting in a corresponding reduction in crop yields. Collectively, seepage, salinization, and erosion, contribute to a vicious cycle, where more and more water is used to grow crops on land whose fertility is steadily worsening.

The IAEA is supporting a nine-country programme that is successfully using saline water to grow crops in marginal land. By using saline water to
irrigate already saline soils, the vicious cycle is broken and the overall fertility of the soil is not affected.

Improving management of water resources in agriculture and industry will become even more important as demand continues to grow. Many industrial processes use water inefficiently. As a sector, industry has been slow to embrace recycling and conservation methods, since most industry is located where water is available. But this may not be the case in the future, as human needs for water intensify with the world's fast-growing population.

Between 1900 and 1995, demand for water rose by some seven times, more than double the rate of the growth of the population over the same period. With the world population estimated to reach 10 -12 billion in 2050 and the explosion of industry in the developing world, it seems likely that without intervention the demand for water from agriculture and industry may outstrip the supply available and possibly reduce the already inadequate global supply of drinking water. Action to improve water management practices in these two sectors is clearly needed now.