Question

“It takes 1000-3000 litres of water to produce just one kilo of rice¨ This fact given by
FAO of UN speaks volumes on present day water crisis. How?

Answer 1

This statement means that the amount of water needed to grow rice,provided by human effort, has massively increased. This is mostly due to change in climate that has led to increased temperatures and a consequent increase in evapotranspiration. There is a marked decrease in the amount of rainfed agriculture that has led to increased demand for irrigation support for the growth of crops. The amount of water required for irrigation is so much on the rise due to the decrease in the amount of water supplemented by rainfall.

Answer 2

Well, that is a true fact given by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.   For producing 1 kg of rice, around 1000-3000 litres of water are used.  For producing 1 kg of wheat between 500 and 4000 litres of water are required.   Similarly, for many other crops and materials thousands of litres are used up.

 

The land being irrigated is vast and around 277 million hectares.   The area has increased over the last century.  The rain-dependent agriculture is reduced a lot and will become half in next 4 years.  Further, due to reduction in rainfall, underground water is used more.  So farmers have increased the use of  underground water.  Further, use of water is growing faster than twice of population increase rate. 

Further, the global warming and other reasons have warmed up Earth's surface.  So water in the soil gets evaporated more than in the last century.

Around 3.8 trillion cubic meters of water is used by people annually on Earth.  Around 70% of fresh water goes into agricultural sector.  Even meat production requires 5000 litres to 20,000 litres for 1 kg.

 

It seems that nearly 30% of all food produced in the world in all forms together, is wasted every year.  That is over 1 billion tonnes of all food.  The reasons and locations of wastage are wide-spread.  Thus even wastage of food is one reason for excess consumption of water.  If wastage is avoided, then less food needs to be produced and less water will be consumed.

 

Also, there are poor drainage and irrigation practices in backward countries.  So waterlogging on fields and salinization of irrigation lands is increasing.

 

Due to overuse of water, by 2025, FAO, UN predicts that a billion people may live with severe water scarcity.

All this informs us that we need to find better foods and better ways of food production and save water.