Background reports | How to obtain this publication | Further information | Contact

March 2010 ISBN 9789264083455

Agriculture is the major user of water in most countries. It also faces the enormous challenge of producing almost 50% more food by 2030 and doubling production by 2050. This will likely need to be achieved with less water, mainly because of growing pressures from urbanisation, industrialisation and climate change. This report shows the trends and outlook for water use in agriculture, examines the policy experiences of OECD countries in managing their resources - and recommends what countries should be doing and why.  Summary of the book (pdf, 157 KB)  Water in agriculture: improving resource management (OECD Observer)

Background reports

Sustainable Management of Water Resources in Agriculture is supported by the following questionnaire and reports which are free to access and download:

• OECD Member Country Questionnaire Responses on Agricultural Water Resource Management
  
  
• Agricultural Water Pricing: Australia
  Seamus Parker, Council of Mayors (South-East Queensland); and Robert Speed, Freelance Consultant, Australia
• Agricultural Water Pricing: EU and Mexico
  Alberto Garrido, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; and Javier Calatrava, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Spain
• Agricultural Water Pricing: Japan and Korea
  James E. Nickum and Chisa Ogura, Asian Water and Resources Institute, Japan
• Agricultural Water Pricing: Turkey
  Erol H. Cakmak, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
• Agricultural Water Pricing: United States
  Dennis Wichelns, Hanover College, United States
• Agriculture’s Role in Flood Adaptation and Mitigation – Policy Issues and Approaches
  Joe Morris, Tim Hess and Helena Posthumus, Cranfield University, United Kingdom
• An Economic Analysis of the Virtual Water Concept in Relation to the Agri-Food Sector
  Dennis Wichelns, Hanover College, United States
• Environmental Effectiveness and Economic Efficiency of Water Use in Agriculture: The Experience of and Lessons from the Australian Water Reform Programme
  Michael D. Young, University of Adelaide, Australia
• Financing Water Management and Infrastructure Related to Agriculture across OECD Countries
  Frank A. Ward, New Mexico State University, United States
  

How to obtain this publication

To get your copy of Sustainable Management of Water Resources in Agriculture, visit:

• OECD Bookshop - available to browse online for free and buy in print and e-book versions, both in English and French 
• OECD iLibrary - available to consult and download (subscriber access only)
• Our local distributors in your country
  

Further information

• Further data and analysis of water use in agriculture by OECD member countries is available in the publication Environmental Performance of Agriculture in OECD Countries Since 1990.
• For all OECD work on water, visit www.oecd.org/water.
  

Contact

• For queries relating to OECD work on water, write to water@oecd.org
• For queries relating to OECD work on agriculture, write to the OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate at tad.contact@oecd.org