MANIFESTO

Section 7
WATER CONSERVATION IS CENTRAL TO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Industrial agriculture has led to intensive water use and increased water
pollution, reducing availability of fresh water. Drought and water scarcity
in large parts of the world will increase due to changes in climate. Reducing
intensive water use in agriculture is a vital adaptation strategy. Ecological and
organic farming reduces demands for intensive irrigation while enhancing soil
capacity for retention of water while improving water quality.
Industrial chemical agriculture has contributed to a water crisis both through
intensive water use and through pollution of surface and ground water through
agrichemical pollution.
In tropical countries, intensive irrigation has caused additional problems of
water logging and salinization, putting fertile lands out of food production.
Climate change will increase water stress in many parts of the world. Australia
is already suffering from an extended drought, and the Darfur conflicts between
pastoralists and settled agriculturalists have been linked to depleting water
resources of Lake Chad.
The destruction of the tropical rainforests in Brazil for soya and in Indonesia for
palm oil is also disrupting the local hydrological cycle created by the rainforests.
Global warming is triggering the melting of glaciers that recharge water of major
river systems. More than 5,018 glaciers of the Himalaya are being impacted.
Pindari glacier is retreating at 13 metres a year, and the Ganges glacier at 30
metres annually. In 13 years it has receded by one-third of a kilometre. In two
decades Himalayan glaciers will shrink from 500,000 sq. km to 100,000 sq. km.
In a few decades there will be no glacial melt in the Himalayan Rivers in the peak
of summer leading to a further aggravation of drought. As a result per capita
availability of water will drop from 1800 cubic metres to 1000 cubic metres.
Reducing water waste and pollution has become a survival imperative.
Ecological and organic farming can contribute to reduction in water use by
increasing soil moisture conservation through increasing the organic matter
content of soils. Organically farmed soils are better adapted to weather
extremes because they make the soil sponge-like, allowing it to retain more