Reuse of agricultural drainage water (DW) for irrigation is one of the few on-farm water management options available to growers on the west side of California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV) for reducing drainage water volumes (San Joaquin Valley Drainage Implementation Program, 2000).

A new farming method first developed to conserve precious irrigation water may have the added benefit of producing rice containing much less arsenic than rice grown using traditional rice-farming methods, researchers in the United Kingdom report.

In the remote desert highlands of southern Yemen, a team of archaeologists have discovered new evidence of ancient transitions from hunting and herding to irrigation agriculture 5,200 years ago.

Expansion of irrigation has masked greenhouse warming in California’s Central Valley, but irrigation may not make much of a difference in the future, according to a new study in the Aug. 13 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.g

Growing food and fiber entails the use of fertilizer and irrigation systems and results in land clearing. These ‘side effects’ of agriculture can lead to regime shifts—or ‘tipping points’ which include desertification, salinisation, water degradation, and changes in climate due to altered water flows from land to atmosphere.

South Asia has witnessed a rapid growth in rice and wheat production that has defined the Green Revolution there. During the past 30 years, the Indian Punjab has transformed its agriculture through new technology that provides for high-producing plants, increased fertilization, and irrigation.

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved on June 21st an International Development Association (IDA) credit* of US$100 million to help increase agricultural productivity, accelerate growth and reduce rural poverty in Ethiopia.

World Bank Supports Second On-Farm Irrigation Project

The World Bank approved on June 12 a EUR15 million loan for the Agriculture Strengthening and Accession Project for FYR Macedonia.