7.7 billion people, that is the world’s population today and by the middle of the century the Earth’s population is expected to hit nine billion, with more than half of that growth taking place in Africa.
Feeding this growing population won’t be easy. 12 years ago a scientists reckoned that the global food system will need to produce more food in the next 50 years than it did in the past 10,000 combined.
Over 33% of us are facing water scarcity today and by the year 2025 that figure may rise to 67%.
Did you know that 70% of global water withdrawals are done by farmers and this is where we find the greatest water wastage?
Actually, approximately 60% of the water used for irrigation is wasted due to evapotranspiration, land runoff or primitive irrigation techniques.
Woman watering crops in Ghana. Photo: Joe Ronzio/IWMI
Due to the global challenge with water scarcity the concept of precision irrigation has evolved. Precision irrigation is all about saving water and energy while increasing the crop yield.
Just by installing irrigation scheduling and soil moisture monitoring services, farmers found that they could reduce their water and energy use by as much as 50%.
An advanced precision irrigation system, as IRRIOT, does not only provide irrigation scheduling and soil moisture monitoring services. Weather data is one of several other features that are offered when using the latest technology.
Irrigating the perfect amount of water, at the right time in the right intervals does not only reduce the need of water – it increases the crop yields by 30%.
