Today, agriculture consumes 70 percent of all global water withdrawn for consumptive use, up to 95 percent in several arid and semi-arid countries. In fact, irrigated agriculture has played a major role in the development of rural economies, supporting economic growth and poverty reduction. The irrigation water, passing from its source to the field and then finally consume by crops, has been through many links, including water resources allocation, conveyance, distribution, irrigation, soil evaporation and plant transpiration, etc. So, corresponding measures should be taken at each of these links. In order to reflect the essence of water-saving irrigation in a comprehensive and objective way and make the issue less complicated, the irrigation water consumption, irrigation water using efficiency, and engineering and technical requirements, etc. have been selected as the key criteria on water saving in irrigated land.

There is a vast range of techniques and technologies available for minimizing water losses and maximizing water saving in agriculture and efficient use of irrigation water, ranging from simple tubes for field water application to sophisticated canal automation and telemetry. Water saving practices in irrigated agriculture can be categorized as engineering, management, technology, technique, policies and institutional. The success of these parameters depends on the level of their integration and socio-economic dimensions of a given locality. The modern irrigation knows how to use less water to produce more agriculture products.

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Scoping Document

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1. Water use efficiency: Benefits flow from SA water innovation to irrigation schemes

2. Water Saving in Irrigated Agriculture in Egypt (Case Studies and Lessons Learned) by Er. Mohamed Hassan Amer, Er. Sayed Ahmed Abd El Hafez, and Mohamed Bakr Abd El Ghany

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Links < South African Water Research Commission (WRC) > < Water Administration System (WAS) >