Development prospect of water saving irrigation

It is predicted that by 2050, the world’s total population will increase from 7 billion to 9 billion people, and human demand for food will increase by 70% to 100% at the current level.

The world’s freshwater resources are increasingly scarce, and human demand for food is also rising, freshwater resources have become agricultural development and world food supply security threats.

To solve the problem of the limited cultivated land area, the shortage of freshwater resources and rising world food demand, the development of water-saving irrigation has become the key.
Water-saving irrigation is an irrigation measure that maximizes the yield or income by minimizing water consumption, i.e. maximizing the yield and output value of crops per unit of irrigation water.

At present, the main water-saving irrigation measures in the world include canal seepage control, low-pressure pipe irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, micro-irrigation and so on.

After the water-saving irrigation project is implemented, the allocation of the labor force in the process of irrigation can be reduced. Drip irrigation through local wet irrigation, the soil in the field is loose, and the permeability is good.

Soluble fertilizers, plant growth regulators, insecticides can be dripped in with water, which can reduce the number of operations and labor of tillage, fertilization, spraying, weeding and so on.

The effort has saved a lot of manpower and material resources. Through water-saving irrigation, crops can be irrigated in time, which can improve the irrigation guarantee rate and effectively promote grain production and income. This is also the main benefit of the water-saving irrigation project. In addition, water-saving irrigation can also achieve water saving, land saving, electricity saving, and other benefits.

At present, European and American agricultural developed countries have made great progress in water-saving irrigation, water-saving irrigation is more popular. In developed countries, water-saving irrigation technologies such as sprinkler irrigation, micro-irrigation, canal seepage control engineering, and pipeline irrigation have become more mature.

Sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation are the most advanced water-saving irrigation technologies.

In developed countries in Europe and America, 60% – 80% of the irrigation area adopts sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation, and the agricultural irrigation rate is about 1. More than 70%.

According to the data, the total cultivated land area in the world is only 1.5 billion hectares, and only 27% of the cultivated land with irrigation and drainage facilities produces 55% of the world’s grain. It is estimated that 80% to 90% of the new grain output in the future will come from the cultivated land with irrigation and drainage facilities.