In irrigated as well as in rainfed areas, it is essential to work on the increase in water/ moisture-use efficiency of the crops. Since water is precious, suitable methods of irrigation and in-situ moisture conservation practices are to be adopted by the farmers on the basis of the suggestions made by the agricultural scientists of the country. In rainfed areas, suitable tillage can play a significant role in the conservation of moisture. Selection of crops and their varieties, fertilizer management and proper methods of sowing are the factors for increasing the moisture-use-efficiency and productivity. Methods of irrigations are to be modified in irrigated areas mainly to check the unnecessary loss of water.

Air tanah sangat potensial untuk mengairi tanaman pangan terutama palawija di lahan tadah hujan. Salah satu cara pemanfaatan air tanah tersebut dengan membuat sumur pantek. Hal ini memungkinkan karena kedalaman air tanah relatif dangkal (10-15 m dari permukaan tanah). Pengembangan air tanah tersebut akan berdaya guna apabila manfaat yang diperoleh cukup besar dibandingkan dengan biaya yang dikeluarkan. Frekuensi pemberian air tiap 14 hari tidak berpengaruh nyata terhadap hasil kedelai dan jagung di Sukamandi (Subang), Haurgeulis (Indramayu) dan Adipala (Cilacap) dibandingkan pemberian air tiap 7 maupun 10 hari. Penyaluran air yang berasal dari pompa menggunakan slang plastik untuk mengurangi kehilangan air selama penyaluran sehingga menghemat bahan bakar pompa. Besar biaya untuk pengoperasian pompa rata-rata Rp 240.000,- dan Rp 265.000,- masing-masing untuk kedelai dan jagung sedangkan keuntungan bersih rata-rata budidaya kedelai dan jagung masing-masing Rp 374.000,-/ha dan Rp 321.000,-/ha

Water is an essential recurring input for agriculture productivity and key to food security. Its availability in space and time has been a matter of great concern in many parts of the world. In India there is growing awareness about the scarcity of water under the increased water demand from agriculture and other sectors. Further, the projected reduction in water availability to the agriculture sector from the share of 89

West Africa's rice imports currently satisfy 70% of the soaring local demand, worsening the food vulnerability of an increasingly urbanized population. Despite considerable rice-growing potential, lack of water control systems, access to improved seeds, agrochemicals and appropriate mechanization have resulted in modest production growth rates, unable to alter the region's dependency on imported rice. Governments aim to boost production with import duties and input subsidies. However, questions remain as to whether these policies enable the rice sector to respond to changing consumers preferences for high grade rice and to contribute to national economic growth. We present the results from a Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) on rice production in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Niger and under three water management systems: irrigation (public scheme), supplemented rain-fed (rainfall aided by autonomously-sourced water supplies) and purely rain-fed. Our results show that policy interventions in these West African countries (i.e., input subsidies and import taxes) did not significantly enhance the profitability of rice production to farmers due to the effect of market failures (limited capital access and non-competitive market for rice) and the low quality of local milled rice. The PAM results point strongly to the importance of improving rice quality and yields through more efficient water management and post-harvest handling/processing and targeted breeding to match consumers' preferences.

West Africa's rice imports currently satisfy 70% of the soaring local demand, worsening the food vulnerability of an increasingly urbanized population. Despite considerable rice-growing potential, lack of water control systems, access to improved seeds, agrochemicals and appropriate mechanization have resulted in modest production growth rates, unable to alter the region's dependency on imported rice. Governments aim to boost production with import duties and input subsidies. However, questions remain as to whether these policies enable the rice sector to respond to changing consumers preferences for high grade rice and to contribute to national economic growth. We present the results from a Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) on rice production in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Niger and under three water management systems: irrigation (public scheme), supplemented rain-fed (rainfall aided by autonomously-sourced water supplies) and purely rain-fed. Our results show that policy interventions in these West African countries (i.e., input subsidies and import taxes) did not significantly enhance the profitability of rice production to farmers due to the effect of market failures (limited capital access and non-competitive market for rice) and the low quality of local milled rice. The PAM results point strongly to the importance of improving rice quality and yields through more efficient water management and post-harvest handling/processing and targeted breeding to match consumers' preferences.

M. Blümmel, M. Samad, O. P. Singh, T. Amede, 'Opportunities and limitations of food - feed crops for livestock feeding and implications for livestock - water productivity', The Rangeland Journal, vol. 31(2), p.207, CSIRO Publishing, 2009 | The paper discusses the contribution of crop residues (CR) to feed resources in the context of the water productivity of CR in livestock feeding, using India as an example. It is argued that crop residues are already the single most important feed resource in many livestock production systems in developing countries and that increasing their contribution to livestock feeding needs to be linked to improving their fodder quality. Using examples from multi-dimensional crop improvement, it is shown that CR fodder quality of key crops such as sorghum, rice and groundnut can be improved by genetic enhancement without detriment to grain and pod yields. Improving crop residue quality through genetic enhancement, agronomic and management interventions and strategic supplementation could improve water productivity of farms and systems considerably. The draw-backs of CR based feeding regimes are also pointed out, namely that they result in only moderate levels of livestock productivity and produce higher greenhouse gas emissions than are observed under feeding regimes that are based on high quality forages and concentrates. It is argued that feed metabolisable energy (ME) content should be used as an important determinant of livestock productivity; water requirement for feed and fodder production should be related to a unit of feed ME rather than feed bulk. The paper also revisits data from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) work on livestock?water productivity in the Indian state of Gujarat, showing that water input per unit ME can vary several-fold in the same feed depending on where the feed is produced. Thus, the production of one mega joule of ME from alfalfa required 12.9 L of irrigation-derived water in south Gujarat but 50.7 L of irrigation-derived water in north Gujarat. Wheat straw in south Gujarat required 20.9 L of irrigation-derived water for 1 MJ ME and was in this instance less water use efficient than alfalfa. We conclude that water use efficiency across feed and fodder classes (for example crop residue v. planted forages) and within a feed is highly variable. Feeding recommendations should be made according to specific water use requirement per unit ME in a defined production system

Environmental analyst Lester R. Brown documents the ways In which human demands are outstripping the earth's natural capacities--and how the resulting environmental damage is undermining food production.--From publisher description.