IRRIGATION IN THE WORLD - THE FUTURE WILL NOT BE LIKE THE PAST

Irrigated farming performs an essential task in meeting the basic food needs of billions of people in the world. In the future, the irrigate d sector will have to provide an even larger proportion of total food supplies. But country-wide, regional and seasonal water scarcity in de veloping countries poses severe problems for national governments and the international development community. The challenges of growing wat er scarcity an exacerbated by the increasing costs of new water, waste ful use of already developed water supplies, degradation of soils in i rrigated areas, depletion of ground water, pollution of water and its impact on human health, and the massive subsidies and distorting incen tives which govern water use. Fundamental forces and their implication s for change are identified: competition for water, environmental conc erns, irrigation technology, economic and political liberalisation. Th e: paper comes to the conclusion that the future needs more than today 's professionalism in drawing up new ideas and relief plans. It requir es true decisive action in solving all those problems already identifi ed; it cannot afford to delay taking such action.