How can the world grow more food,increase incomes, reduce poverty, and protect theenvironment with growing numbers of mouths to feed andincreasingly constrained resources? A big part of the answerlies in better management of agricultural water.Agricultural water management (AWM) encompasses irrigationon both a large and small scale, drainage of irrigated andrain fed areas, watershed restoration, recycling of water,rainwater harvesting, and better in-field water managementpractices. There is considerable scope for improving returnson water from agricultural use. The key economic challengeis to set up an incentive framework that encouragesefficient water use and profitable high value agriculture.Evidence indicates that such a framework improves efficiencyand accountability, raises productivity, and promotessustainable and environmentally responsible resource use. Atthe same time, irrigation schemes pose a financialchallenge: to recover costs at a rate sufficient to financeservices to farmers. The broad challenge is to encourageboth large- and small-scale private investment.
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