EU indications for a more sustainable agriculture
The progressive rise in land temperatures, the increase in the population, a deficient transport system, which causes significant losses from the distribution networks and an incorrect mix of crops, which is very close to the production of fodder for the world meat industry, will probably lead to to 2050 to an unsustainable situation due to the lack of water, identified by experts as water stress.
According to data processed by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), which points the finger at the enormous phenomenon of water waste at all levels, the consumption of blue gold in the world sees a distribution expressed as follows:
The SIWI Institute goes into detail about the numbers, indicating some extremely critical points on the use of water, underlining, among others, that an incorrect worldwide diet based on meat requires about 8-10 times more water than the cultivation of cereals.
Furthermore, the continuous population growth leads to an increase in food demand, which translates into a greater demand for water by agriculture, in the face of a constant reduction of rainfall due to climate change.
It should also be noted that, according to the data processed by the research, a quarter of the water that is used in world agriculture is used to produce about 1 billion tons of food which will then be thrown away .
SIWI also underlines the inequality between the water consumption of a person who lives in developed areas of the planet compared to another who lives in developing areas, which expresses a difference that is greater, for the first subject, than 30 -50 times the second.
However, precisely because of the demographic trend of the planet, developing areas will have a 50% higher demand for water than current consumption, creating a situation whereby 47% of the world’s population will live in areas with water problems.
To close the little reassuring circle we can mention another important problem, which concerns the waste of water caused by the age of the aqueducts, on which little maintenance is carried out because perhaps, one has the wrong concept, that a loss of water is not a so serious.
But how much water do we have and who uses it?
On the planet we have about 1.4 billion km3 of water, but only 2.5% is made up of fresh water, which can be counted at 35 million km3, but 70% of this quantity is expressed in permanent ice or snow. in the mountains, in the Antarctic and Arctic areas.
Thus, we can easily dispose of only 1% of all the water present on the planet in the form of water reserves in the subsoil and on the surface.
We must also consider that on the planet about 1 billion people do not have access to water and that about 2.5 billion do not have adequate sanitation. This situation, according to WHO , causes cholera, malaria and intestinal diseases which are the main cause of infant mortality.
How to get out of this situation?
From a circular economy point of view, agriculture too, which we remember consumes about 70% of the water available on earth, must use urban waste water that comes from purification plants, in order to save drinking water .
According to the rules issued by the European Community regarding agricultural irrigation, farmers want to sensitize to a sustainable use of water through the use of non-drinking water.
Based on the indications of the Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella , there are minimum parameters for the use of urban waste water from treatment and purification plants, which concern both microbiological values and the processes of plant control .
The European Commission itself indicates that the system of reuse of these waters for agricultural purposes is under exploited and that the use of drinking water, in addition to an enormous use of energy for its extraction and transport, creates an important environmental impact which must take into account.
It also indicates the presence, in a third of the European territory, of a situation of water stress, which will be further aggravated by the tendential decrease in rainfall and the increase in temperatures.
Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.
VISUALIZZA LA POLICY COMPLETA