Agriculture, food and water - FAO.org

AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND WATER
21
Figure 5 Irrigated area as proportion of irrigation potential in developing countries
100
90
80
1997/99
2030
% of irrigated area
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Sub-Saharan
Africa
Latin America
Near East/
North Africa
India
South Asia
China
East Asia
World
This figure shows that a vast
share of the irrigation potential
is already being useg in Asia
and in the Near East but there
remains a large potential still
untapped in sub-Saharan
Africa and Latin America.
Source: FAO, 2002.
the increasing scarcity of suitable areas for irrigation and of water resources in some countries,
as well as the rising cost of irrigation investment. The first selection of economically attractive
irrigation projects has already been implemented, and prices for agricultural commodities have
not risen to encourage investment in a second selection of more expensive irrigation projects.
Most of the expansion in irrigated land is achieved by converting land in use in rainfed agriculture
or land with rainfed production potential but not yet in use into irrigated land. The expansion
of irrigation is projected to be strongest in South Asia, East Asia and Near East/North Africa.
These regions have limited or no potential for expansion of non-irrigated agriculture. Arable
land expansion will nevertheless remain an important factor in crop production growth in many
countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and some countries in East Asia, although to a
much smaller extent than in the past. The growth in wheat and rice production in the developing
countries will increasingly come from gains in yield, while expansion of harvested land will
continue to be a major contributor to the growth in production of maize.
Future investments in irrigation
In many developing countries, investments in irrigated infrastructures have represented a
significant share of the overall agricultural budget during the second half of the twentieth
century. The unit cost of irrigation development varies with countries and types of irrigated
infrastructures, ranging typically from US$1 000 to US$10 000 per hectare, with extreme cases
reaching US$25 000 per hectare (these costs do not include the cost of water storage as the cost of
dam construction varies on a case-by-case basis). The lowest investment costs in irrigation are in
Asia, which has the bulk of irrigation and where scale economies are possible. The most expensive