9th International Micro Irrigation Conference
9th International Micro Irrigation Conference
The world’s population is projected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and close to 10 billion by 2050. This will lead to a significant increase in demand for food and fibre as projections show that overall food production would have to be raised by some 70 percent towards 2050 while production in the developing countries would need to be almost doubled. Similarly, present global water demand is projected to increase by 55% with increased stiff competition among various sectors. So major challenge would be to produce more with less water in a sustainable manner taking into account impacts of climate change and variability. As water stress spreads around the globe, finding ways of getting more crop per drop to meet our food needs is among the most urgent of challenges. The first answer to this call is micro irrigation, which delivers water directly to the roots of plants in just the right amounts. It can double or triple water productivity – boosting crop per drop – and it appears to be taking off worldwide. Over the last thirty years, the area under micro irrigation methods have risen by more than 1000%, to 16.5 million hectares at present.
Since both land and water resources are finite resources, increased agricultural production to meet the requirement of the increasing population will have to come from the same limited net sown area by increasing productivity with an optimal use of available water and land resources. Micro irrigation (drip / trickle or localized irrigation), which was introduced on commercial scale in the world sometime in the seventies, has emerged as one of the key interventions for water saving and for improving crop productivity with reduced labour input leading to increased farmer’s income.
With a view to share experiences in the use of new technologies and best management practices in drip, micro-sprinkler, and other localized irrigation systems I, on behalf of the International Commission on Irrigation & Drainage (ICID) and host Indian National Committee on Surface Water (INCSW), invite you to the 9th International Micro Irrigation Conference of ICID to be held from 16-18 January 2019 in Aurangabad, India. The Theme of the International Conference is ‘’Micro Irrigation in Modern Agriculture”.
I am confident that your presence at the 9th International Micro Irrigation Conference will not only be technically rewarding but also provide you an opportunity to closely interact with several hundred delegates working in this area as well as enjoying the rich historic culture of the city of Aurangabad.
I look forward to welcoming you at Aurangabad.
Eng. Felix Reinders
President
International Commission on Irrigation & Drainage (ICID)
Web site: http://micro-irrigation2019.com
