New technologies to increase water use efficiency in agriculture in LAC by 2030

One of the main challenges of the 21st century is feeding a growing population with fewer natural resources. Projections show that to feed a world population of 9 billion people in 2050 it would be necessary to increase food production by 70%. The main resource for food production is water. Agriculture, mainly irrigated agriculture, is the sector with the greatest extraction and use of water on the planet. However, efficiency in irrigation water use in LAC is less than 40%, indicating that increased efficiency is possible through new technologies and innovations.

In LAC, the implementation of programs to improve water use efficiency for irrigation is limited by the need to modernize irrigation technologies and generate capacities for capture, real-time monitoring and analysis of information. The objective of this project is to increase water use efficiency through new irrigation technologies applied to the agricultural systems of LAC at two working scales: plot and hydrographic basin.