News Water
'Agriculture must be given priority in water supply'
The agricultural sector in Germany must be given priority when water availability is limited during dry periods. That is what the Deutscher Bauernverband says on World Water Day, March 22. Only 2% of the agricultural area in Germany is irrigated, but the need is increasing due to extreme weather.
"Agricultural entrepreneurs in Germany need a number of things to be able to anticipate climate change." That is what Bernhard Krüsken, secretary of the representative of the Deutscher Bauernverband, says. "One condition is that the sector is given priority when it comes to the availability of water. It is up to the sector to use this economically, for example by no longer plowing."
Only 2% water use
In Germany there is an average of 700 to 800 millimeters of precipitation per year. That is sufficient to grow crops, but of course the rain does not fall uniformly throughout the country. Of the 28,5 billion cubic meters of water consumed in the country on an annual basis, the agricultural sector accounts for only 2%. DBV provides figures for this from the German statistical office Destatis. At almost 50%, energy extraction in particular extracts a great deal of water from the country.
Farmers do not irrigate much in the country. 'Only' half a million hectares can be irrigated. These figures are 6 years old, whereby the last 3 (dry) years have certainly been heavily invested in sprinkler systems. This area refers to less than 3% of the agricultural area. In total, just under 16.000 companies (almost 6% of the total) have irrigation equipment.
Water for potato cultivation
Especially in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria there is a lot of irrigation. Not surprising, because potato and other vegetable cultivation is concentrated here. Two thirds of the irrigation is done on grain, sugar beet and potatoes. Almost 80% of the irrigation water used comes from groundwater. Only 11% is surface water. At present, reels are the most commonly used irrigation, but DBV points to more efficient methods, such as drip irrigation.
Niels van der Boom
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