Water Scarcity may lead to World War-III

Everyone in the world predict if the world as to face World War-3 then it will be for water.Water only natural resource which is a key for survival of the people in Earth.Every year Mar 22,we celebrate world water day,to focus attention on the on the importance of fresh water and advocate sustainable management of fresh water.Water is a renewable and finite resource available globally to tune of 200,000 Km3.The human population, on the other hand,has been continuously growing,Which means that there is less water for everyone to satisfy the need for living a healthy life.

The steady increasing demand for agriculture products is the main reason behind agriculture water use.Besides economic development, particular in emerging market economics,is translated into a demand for a more varied, water-intensive diet, including meat and diary products.Agriculture accounts for 70% of fresh water withdrawals from river,lakes and aquifers more than 90% in some developing countries.Rain-fed agriculture covers 80% of the cultivated land and is responsible for about 60% of crop production.

The last 50 years have witnessed a rapid acceleration in water resources development for agriculture.Development in hydraulic infrastructure as well as private and community schemes.As a global population grew from 2.5 billion in 1950 to six billion in 2000 the irrigated are doubled and water withdrawals tripled.As population continues to grow, the demand for food intensifies and the pressure on water from agricultural activities is expected to increase.

There are seven billion people to feed on the planet today and another two billion are expected to join by 2050.When a billion people in the world already live in chronic hunger,water resource allocation gets much more complicated.How ever water is a free gift of nature and renewable resource.We cannot manufacture water according to its demand or find out a substitute.Coping with population growth and non-agriculture water requirements.

Facts:

• Consume less water intensive food products to maximum extent possible.
• Reduce atrocious food wastage:around 30 % of the food produced worldwide is never eaten, and the water used to produce its a loss.
• Produce more food with less water:Water productive should be improved with the application of less water intensive technologies like sprinkler and drip irrigation's.Further,proper land preparation and implementation of bio fertilizers will reduce water requirements considerably.
• For each crop , the optimum water requirement should be identified and irrigation designed.
• Research should be encouraged fro innovative of less water intensive and high yielding seeds for different crops.
• The application of marginal usage of second quality of water in agriculture.
• On average we drink between 2-4 liters of water a day.But it takes 1500 liters to produce just 1kg of grain and 10 times that quantity for meat.
• To Produce enough food to satisfy a person's daily need,it takes about 3000 liters of water or a thousand times more than water we drink.
• Today agriculture accounts for 70 % of the water use,Followed by 20% for industry and energy and about 10% for domestic use.
• In 2007,the estimated number of undernourished people worldwide was 923 million.
• Over the period up to 2050,the world's water will have to support agricultural system that will feed and create livelihood for an additional 2.7 billion people.
• The extent of land under irrigation in the world is 277 million hectares, about 20% of all cropland.
• Irrigation increase the yield of most crops by 100-400% and irrigated agriculture currently contributes to 40% of the world's food production.
• Poor drainage and irrigation practices have to led waterlogging and salinisation of approximately 10% of the world's irrigated lands.
• The intergovernmental panel  on climate change predicts that yields from rain-dependent agriculture could be down by 50% by 2020.
• Cue to climate change,Himalayan snow and ice which provide huge amounts of water for agriculture in Asia,Are expected to decline by 20% by 2030.