This report shows a broad range of statistics pertaining to world food and agriculture. It presents, where appropriate, the differences between developed and developing countries, continents and regions. It is hoped that managers and policy-makers dealing with international issues relating to food and agriculture will find the tables useful.

The International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID) is an international independent multi-donor trust fund programme created in 1990 and first located at the World Bank. Since 1998, it has been hosted by FAO as a Special Programme. IPTRID aims to assist developing countries and countries in transition in building capacity for sustainable agricultural water management to reduce poverty and enhance food security, while conserving the environment.

Strong partnerships with national agricultural research systems and other stakeholders constitute the backbone of ICARDA’s research agenda. The outreach programs of the Center play a key role in promoting partnerships in their respective sub-regions and in implementing collaborative research and training programs. To make an assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the partnerships, the Board of Trustees of ICARDA commissioned an external review of its outreach programs in 2003.

In the months since approval in November 2002, the Challenge Program on Water and Food

Session: Sess. 3

Session: Sess. 3

A aplicação de lâminas de irrigação em pastagem irrigada sob pivô-central é, de maneira geral, realizada sem um critério técnico pertinente ao sistema, pois se deve considerar que para um mesmo período a pastagem se encontra em diferentes estádios de desenvolvimento em cada parcela, apresentando taxas de evapotranspiração diferenciadas dentro da área irrigada; todavia, usualmente se aplica uma única lâmina para toda a área.

Alrededor del 40% de los alimentos del mundo y el 60% de sus granos se producen utilizando métodos de irrigación. Entre los años 1900 y 1950, la superficie total irrigada a través del mundo entero prácticamente se duplicó, aumentando aproximadamente de 48 millones a 94 millones de hectáreas. Hacia el año 2000, la superficie había aumentado nuevamente más del doble, alcanzando 240 millones de hectáreas. Esta expansión dramática de las zonas irrigadas ha dado lugar a una infraestructura enorme y costosa.

"... Based on a global model of supply and demand for food and water, this report shows that if current water policies continue, farmers will indeed find it difficult to meet the world’s food needs. Hardest hit will be the world’s poorest people. The results from the model used in this report also show the consequences of changing the course of water policy. Further inattention to water-related investments and policies will produce a severe water crisis, which will lead in turn to a food crisis.

Governments are now shifting their role from direct management of irrigation systems to regulation of the water sector, provision of support services to water user associations, and capacity building among water user associations and irrigation service providers.... International experience suggests that successful irrigation sector reform programs establish both a policy working group and a national secretariat that help to guide and coordinate the planning and implementation of the reform process.