Actual Crop Water Use in Project Countries : A Synthesis at the Regional Level
This report aims to synthesize the results of a crop water use study conducted by country teams of the GEF/World Bank project, Regional Climate, Water, and Agriculture: Impacts on and Adaptation of Agro-ecological Systems in Africa. It also present...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/07/7998373/actual-crop-water-use-project-countries-synthesis-regional-level http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7481 |
| Summary: | This report aims to synthesize the
results of a crop water use study conducted by country teams
of the GEF/World Bank project, Regional Climate, Water, and
Agriculture: Impacts on and Adaptation of Agro-ecological
Systems in Africa. It also presents the results of the
second phase of the study based on climate change scenarios,
conducted by the South Africa country team. The actual
evapotranspiration of five commonly grown crops-maize,
millet, sorghum, groundnuts, and beans-in two selected
districts were analyzed by six country teams. In addition,
two country teams also analyzed other crops grown in the
districts. The regional analysis shows that the actual yield
of the different crops-specifically of maize and
groundnuts-improves with an increase in actual
evapotranspiration, although the gap remains wide between
actual and potential yield and actual and maximum
evapotranspiration, especially for the rainfed crops. This
highlights the importance of improved water management if
agriculture is to play an important role as a source of food
security and better livelihoods. The report highlights the
vulnerability of maize to water stress and the increased
risks to the viability of rainfed farming systems based on
this crop. The results of the second phase of analysis show
that a 2°C increase in the temperature and a doubling of
carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere will shorten
the growing period of maize, which will result in decreased
crop water requirement and use. The authors recommend
extending this type of analysis to other crops as well as to
other countries to develop a clearer picture of the changing
pattern in crop water use of the major crops grown in the
project countries. |
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