Development of a new long-term drought resilient soil water retention technology

Excerpt

Increasing frequencies of drought coupled with increasing populations are requiring more water for irrigated agriculture. As global populations approach 9 billion by 2050, even more water will be required to produce an estimated 60% to 70% more food (McKenna 2012). Production of these greater quantities of food require, at current water use efficiency rates, 50% more water (Clay 2004). Consequently, the growing demand for food and fiber combined with dwindling water supplies (in terms of both quantity and quality) available for agricultural irrigation require new soil technologies that conserve water.

In the United States, the Ogallala Aquifer supplies 30% of groundwater for irrigated agriculture, and water supplies are being rapidly exhausted, especially in the southern regions (Steward et al. 2013). In other regions, reduced snow cover and surface water supplies are unable to sustain traditional irrigated agriculture, and severe drought is experienced more often (Clay 2004). Construction of large reservoirs along international and continental rivers is threatening natural water flow to communities and nations downstream. More frequent droughts with longer-term severity cause uncertainty in commodity prices and global food supplies.

During this last century, global freshwater withdrawal increased more than six-fold, from 579 to 3,750 km³ y⁻¹ (900 mi³ yr⁻¹),…