GIS-based water maps help produce more crop per drop

摘要

THE IMPACT OF the accelerating change in climatic conditions around the world is well documented. It provides an ongoing point of discussion and debate in our national and international governing bodies and a regular talking point for the news media.A decrease in reliable sources of freshwater has an enormous negative impact on agricultural production at a time when there is a global need to increase yield. According to How to Feed the World in 2050, a strategic report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2009, world population will grow by another two billion to around nine billion people in the next 40 years, requiring a 70 per cent increase in food production.