As climate change alters rainfall patterns, irrigation can be a powerful tool for increasing the world's food supply, feeding more than a billion people without converting wild nature into agricultural land, according to a new study by Lorenzo Rosa of Carnegie published in Environmental Research Letters.

"Population trends indicate that we will need to double global food production by 2050," Rosa said. "To achieve this, we will need to clear more land or cultivate more efficiently, despite the increased stress of a warming world."

The conversion of undeveloped land into farms exacerbates climate change and decreases biodiversity. But low crop yields on existing agricultural land can be improved with modern technology. "However, it is crucial to evaluate these intervention strategies to see which ones will lead to greater increase in food production and the least environmental impact," Rosa said.

Currently, two-thirds of the world's crops are limited by rains. Climate change is expected to change rainfall patterns and increase thermal stress in plants, meaning that relying solely on rainfall will not be able to meet increased demand for food.

One strategy to improve agricultural land productivity is irrigation. Studies show that irrigated crops are twice as productive as those that depend exclusively on rainfall. However, irrigation already accounts for between 85 and 90 percent of human water consumption. Is it possible to use irrigation to increase food production without creating water shortages?

Source: Agrolink