Millions more people across Asia will become food insecure due to increased water scarcities, reinforcing the need for greater efficiency in both irrigated and rain-fed rice production.
“The food security of hundreds of millions of people will be adversely affected,” Robert Zeigler, director-general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) told IRIN on the sidelines of the 3rd International Rice Congress in Hanoi.
The five-day conference - which concluded on 12 November - brought together more than 1,200 farmers, scientists and industry experts.
Rice is the staple food for more than half the world's population, including 640 million undernourished people living in Asia, where approximately 90 percent of all rice is grown.
Asia’s 200 million rice farms - most of which are smaller than one hectare - typically use about 3,000 litres of water in their paddy fields to produce 1kg of rice. Less than half of that water is consumed by the plant.
Areas of particular concern include the Indo-Gangetic Plain in India, China, northwestern Bangladesh, parts of Pakistan, as well as drought-affected northeastern Thailand, currently the world’s largest exporter of rice, Zeigler said.
Global demand
Global average rice yields need to rise by at least 1.5 percent annually to keep pace with expected demand. Over the past 20 years (1989-2009), average rice yields have increased by only 1 percent, IRRI reported.
In 2009, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated the annual global rice harvest at 678 million MT.
But with the world’s population expected to top eight billion by 2030, keeping pace with demand will prove a challenge.
Global rice demand currently increases by about eight million MT annually. In 10 years the world will need to produce 80 million MT more than it does today.
Compounding this are competition for domestic and industrial water usage, the impact of climate change, environmental pressures, less available land to grow rice, and the need to intensify rice research.
“It’s no longer business as usual,” Thierry Facon, senior water management officer for the FAO said, advocating for a more integrated approach. “We simply cannot produce enough with the water and land that is available,” he said.
“Water will be the single most important constraint to achieving levels of food production that are needed,” Norman Uphoff, head of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development, added.
According to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), between 24 and 30 percent of the world’s accessible freshwater resources (rivers, lakes and aquifers) are used to irrigate rice, with as many as two billion people already affected by water scarcity worldwide.
The pressure on agriculture will thus increase, say experts, and climate change-induced higher temperatures will add to water requirements for crops, so shortages will become more serious.
By 2025, 15 to 20 million of the world’s 79 million hectares of irrigated rice lowlands - which provide three-quarters of the world’s rice supply – will likely experience some degree of water scarcity, the IWMI reported.
Meanwhile, drought in rain-fed lowlands reduces crop productivity, depending on when this occurs relative to the growth of the rice plant. Drought also affects the availability of soil nutrients for plant uptake and can increase weed pressure, experts say.
“Addressing the issue of water scarcity will not be done with one solution. We need an integrated approach,” Frederic Arboucalot, global head of rice seed and traits for Bayer CropScience, one of the world’s leading crop science companies, emphasized.
According to the recent international task force report, Never an Empty Bowl, Sustaining Food Security in Asia - nearly two-thirds of the world’s 1.4 billion poor live in Asia, and spend on average about half their income on food.
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“The food security of hundreds of millions of people will be adversely affected,” Robert Zeigler, director-general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) told IRIN on the sidelines of the 3rd International Rice Congress in Hanoi.
The five-day conference - which concluded on 12 November - brought together more than 1,200 farmers, scientists and industry experts.
Rice is the staple food for more than half the world's population, including 640 million undernourished people living in Asia, where approximately 90 percent of all rice is grown.
Asia’s 200 million rice farms - most of which are smaller than one hectare - typically use about 3,000 litres of water in their paddy fields to produce 1kg of rice. Less than half of that water is consumed by the plant.
Areas of particular concern include the Indo-Gangetic Plain in India, China, northwestern Bangladesh, parts of Pakistan, as well as drought-affected northeastern Thailand, currently the world’s largest exporter of rice, Zeigler said.
Global demand
Global average rice yields need to rise by at least 1.5 percent annually to keep pace with expected demand. Over the past 20 years (1989-2009), average rice yields have increased by only 1 percent, IRRI reported.
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But with the world’s population expected to top eight billion by 2030, keeping pace with demand will prove a challenge.
Global rice demand currently increases by about eight million MT annually. In 10 years the world will need to produce 80 million MT more than it does today.
Compounding this are competition for domestic and industrial water usage, the impact of climate change, environmental pressures, less available land to grow rice, and the need to intensify rice research.
“It’s no longer business as usual,” Thierry Facon, senior water management officer for the FAO said, advocating for a more integrated approach. “We simply cannot produce enough with the water and land that is available,” he said.
“Water will be the single most important constraint to achieving levels of food production that are needed,” Norman Uphoff, head of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development, added.
According to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), between 24 and 30 percent of the world’s accessible freshwater resources (rivers, lakes and aquifers) are used to irrigate rice, with as many as two billion people already affected by water scarcity worldwide.
The pressure on agriculture will thus increase, say experts, and climate change-induced higher temperatures will add to water requirements for crops, so shortages will become more serious.
| Global Fresh Water Use by Sector: | |
 |
Irrigated rice: 24 to 30 percent |
|
Other agiculture: 40 percent |
|
Domestic: 10 percent |
|
Industrial: 20 percent |
| Source: Data from IWMI (2007) and WRI (2005) | |
Meanwhile, drought in rain-fed lowlands reduces crop productivity, depending on when this occurs relative to the growth of the rice plant. Drought also affects the availability of soil nutrients for plant uptake and can increase weed pressure, experts say.
“Addressing the issue of water scarcity will not be done with one solution. We need an integrated approach,” Frederic Arboucalot, global head of rice seed and traits for Bayer CropScience, one of the world’s leading crop science companies, emphasized.
According to the recent international task force report, Never an Empty Bowl, Sustaining Food Security in Asia - nearly two-thirds of the world’s 1.4 billion poor live in Asia, and spend on average about half their income on food.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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