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Managing water resources in Libya through reducing irrigation water demand: more crop production with less water use

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2014

Abstract

The looming water crisis in Libya necessitates taking immediate action to reduce the agricultural water demand that consumes more than 80% of the water supplies. The available information on water use efficiency and crop water productivity reveals that this proportion can be effectively reduced while maintaining the same, if not more, total agricultural production at the national level. Crop water productivity, which is depressingly low, can be doubled through implementing several measures including relocating all major agricultural crops among different hydroclimatic zones and growth seasons; crop selection based on comparative production advantages; realisation of the maximum genetically determined crop yields; and several other measures of demand water management. There is an urgent need to establish the necessary institutional arrangements that can effectively formulate and implement these measures as guided by agricultural research and extension services incorporating all beneficiaries and stakeholders in the process.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 2013

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References

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