Irrigation

Contrary to most of the rest of the inhabited world, irrigation does not yet play an important role in Germany’s agriculture.

However, this picture will definitely change in the near future as the quantities of water needed for agriculture will increase steadily on a global basis in our attempts to feed the world’s ever-increasing population. The conversion of semi-arid areas into fields, higher water consumption for higher yields per hectar and the cultivation of so-called energy plants will aggravate this problem even further so that the need for irrigation technologies for agriculture in will continue to grow.

Climate changes in Middle Europe, characterized by heavier rainfall and longer periods of drought, will make irrigation a subject which cannot be ignored.

Many regions are faced with the dilemma of deciding whether scarce water resources should be used as drinking water or for agricultural purposes. To solve this problem, the Alliances’ experts are working on water-saving irrigation technologies and developing concepts for re-using water to irrigate fields.