Water and Agricultural Competitiveness

Rathinasamy Maria Saleth - Water and Agriculture Competitiveness

Mon, Mar 30, 2009

Discussion Summary:

People have finally woken up to climate change, soon we will wake up to water.

At current consumption levels, humans are consuming 1.3 Earths. We cannot keep up this pace, and must learn to do more with less.

By 2050, all natural environments outside of protected zones will be destroyed.

We are not paying for embedded costs. For example, a large coffee takes 280 liters of water to produce. Markets can be efficient, but only when they capture true costs.

Agriculture can be a lot more sustainable through some simple techniques

• Using drip irrigation
• Keeping carbon in the soil instead of burning it
• We can start measuring water use
• Genetic modifications Accurate water pricing