What Contribution Can Surface Water Irrigation Make to Sustainable Crop Intensification in Bangladesh's Feed the Future Zone?
Global food requirements are projected to increase until 2050. In South Asia, average wheat, maize and rice yields have however increased by only 2.2 percent, 1.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, since the 1960s.1 Rather than raising yield, crop production can be increased by expanding cultivated land area, though this has undesirable environmental outcomes such as biodiversity loss. The potential for agricultural expansion in South Asia is also limited because most arable land is cropped for at least part of the year, usually during the monsoon. Farm area per capita in South Asia has also shrunk by 63 percent since 1961, to approximately 0.1 hectare per person.2