STUDY URGES WATER CONSERVATION ON FARMS:

February 1, 2005

STUDY URGES WATER CONSERVATION ON FARMS: (01/10/05): " A growing population

coupled with diminishing fresh water supplies should force major changes in

the way the world's farmers water their crops in the coming decades, a

recent study recommends. Since agriculture uses about 70 percent of the

world's fresh water every year, farming should be the focus of intense

conservation efforts, said David Pimentel, a professor at Cornell

University and primary author of the study published in the October issue

of the journal BioScience.

" We in the U.S. waste a lot of water in contrast to other people, " Pimentel

said. " Agriculture is going to have to give up water as the population

grows. States like California, Colorado, Texas and Nebraska are going to

have to make some major changes. " The study said farmers should use

water-conserving irrigation methods combined with water and soil

conservation practices to minimize run-off. The study also suggests

governments eliminate water subsidies to farmers to encourage more

efficient water use, work to reduce water pollution and protect forests and

wetlands.

Pimentel suggests consumers can help reduce water usage by buying locally

produced crops instead of those grown far away and by switching the types

of foods they eat. For the Northeast, that means eating cabbage instead of

lettuce grown in California or choosing chicken and pork over beef. It

takes 3,500 liters of water to produce one kilogram of chicken, but 43,000

liters for the same amount of beef, he said. Rice needs about 1,600 liters

of water per kilogram, but corn requires just 650 liters.

" There are lots of things individuals can do to change food habits, " he said.

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ation_on_farms/

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