This irrigation manual provides practical information for farmers on basic drip irrigation principles and practices. It has been elaborated in the framework of project GCP/MOR/033/SPA, Pilot Project to Improve Irrigation Water Use in the Doukkala irrigation scheme (Morocco), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture. The manual consists of nine chapters: What is drip irrigation, advantages of drip irrigation, components of drip irrigation, conditions for success of drip irrigation, crop water requirements, agricultural practices and operation and maintenance of the equipment.

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This year is the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation. One important area of cooperation involves transboundary rivers, which can be a source of conflict, or economic benefit the countries.

Over the last 50 years, over 200 treaties have been signed regulating the use of rivers such as the Indus, Jordan and Danube. But in Central Asia, the five republics have been talking for 20 years without agreeing how to share the waters of the great Aral Sea Basin, source of water for agriculture and hydropower. Now they may be getting somewhere.

This report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization explains the background of the issue and why hope for better cooperation is in the air.

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This report presents an economic framework for the assessment of the use of reclaimed water in agriculture, as part of a comprehensive planning process in water resource allocation strategies to provide for a more economically efficient and sustainable water utilization. Many regions of the world are experiencing growing water stress. This arises from a relentless growth of demand for water in the face of static, or diminishing, supply and periodic droughts due to climatic factors.

Since 1900 more than 11 million people have died as a consequence of drought and more than 2 billion have been affected by drought, more than any other physical hazard.

This factsheet provides insight into the impacts of drought, the current global situation and also hints at some of the measures being taken by the FAO Land and Water division to help combat this situation.

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Water Scarcity

Based on an expert consultation, a conceptual framework has been developed to help address the question of food security under conditions of water scarcity. This report presents the conceptual framework, reviews a series of policy and technical options, and establishes a set of principles that should serve as a basis for the development of effective food security policies in response to growing water scarcity.

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This report presents the results of the most recent survey carried out in the 22 countries of the Southern and Eastern Asia region, and it analyses the changes that have occurred in the ten years since the first survey.

Following the AQUASTAT methodology, the survey relied as much as possible on country-based statistics and information.

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The crop yield response to water, which is at the core of this new FAO publication, is essential to increase the efficiency and productivity of water use.

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