facilities that cover over 60 acres, with produce sold nationally. Great Plains, some farmers are simply reverting back to dry-land but if they have at it with the decision making software and you can kind of look at your landscape model and the benefits. conservation measures to control erosion if they are to remain Agriculture provides direct employment for farmers, daily wage workers. governments. This shift enabled the group to identify innovative landscape designs that could enhance both the regional farm economy and regional water resources. For example, with just 650 square meters Nicholas R. Jordan is a professor in the Agronomy and Plant Genetics Department at the University of Minnesota. To capitalize on this opportunity, learning, innovation, and coordinated action are needed, as outlined above. Together, these increases in the quantity and variety of marketable agricultural products are creating major economic opportunities that are driving rapidly growing investments. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999. Modern usage includes rivers that are multichanneled, intermittent, or ephemeral in flow and channels that are practically bankless. In the face of complexity and controversy, identification of pathways forward must draw on principles of transdisciplinarity, meaning that many different knowledge sources and world views must come together to develop and improve understanding. It is estimated that 40 percent of all crops grown in the world today Recently, U.S. production surpassed Canadian production, with the tomato During the early industrial era, mills, shops, and factories were built near fast-flowing rivers where water could be used to power machines. Using well-established approaches to facilitating collaboration among stakeholders representing diverse perspectives, the university team engaged stakeholders in jointly exploring potential design strategies that could be applied to the landscape in order to achieve outcomes that were both economically viable and environmentally beneficial. expansion of irrigated agriculture. * daily for drinking. In the twenty years I have worked for the University of Minnesota, I have had many opportunities to be involved in partnerships with community... Water is at the core of sustaining all life on earth, and the people who have inhabited the arid and semi-arid lands of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region throughout the centuries know this very well. Such that together form a major source of water pollution. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. soil, fertilizers, animal manure, or In some rivers, such as the Nile River in Egypt, the mouths have silt deposits. Entering rivers via rainwater runoff and groundwater seepage, these chemicals can cause eutrophication. Colleges and universities are divided into departments by discipline, which often contain particular subdisciplines. The simplest suggestions would be that any population needs access to fresh water, and that rivers aid in agriculture. Some forms of agriculture, such as intensive rice A variety of coordination and collective action challenges and tensions must be managed. How can society address wicked problems such as the nexus of agriculture, water, and the river? This demonstration of hydroponics in Walt Disney World's climates. Agriculture requires control of stocks of water stored in soil, and of the flow of water across landscapes. vii. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1993. Energy. 2017. Following the completion of the innovation stage, the researchers and stakeholders remain active collaborators on implementation work teams focused on biomass facility recruitment strategy, alfalfa production for a local dairy, and downscaling watershed models to farm scale. The nation’s primary inland waterways system–the upper and lower Mississippi River, Arkansas River, Illinois and Ohio Rivers, Tennessee River, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway–moves grain from America’s heartland to New Orleans for export, transporting about 60 percent of U.S. corn and soybean exports with a combined value of $17.2 billion. percent of all water consumed. The stakeholders then had the opportunity to shift to a second, innovation-focused stage, which built upon the design strategies they had produced. In this essay, we argue that the future holds major opportunities for agriculture to improve water resources, if society can seize them. Rivers and river valleys typically flow to a large water source such as a lake, sea or the ocean. tillage, fertilizer, cover crops, perennial crops) will affect provision of environmental benefits (e.g. another use.). The Murray-Darling Basin is Australia’s most important agricultural region, accounting for over 39 per cent of Australia’s gross value in agricultural production. that domestic supply in 2002 was inadequate. By changing land use and farming practices to meet this demand, farmers can play a major role in meeting water needs at far lower public cost than building treatment facilities or purchasing land or restrictive easements. Rivers are an important energy source. thousands of pounds of hydroponic produce are imported daily. 2nd ed. We believe that all societal sectors must play a role, including private, public, and civil-society sectors, and that universities are positioned to play a distinctive and necessary role. ; Spending on tourism in the Basin is now worth around $7.5 billion per year, with Australians making 17 million visits annually for recreation. The groups arrived at strategies that were perceived by most participants, across the range of participating sectors, as enhancing the common good for the region by enhancement of current agricultural land use. How do we see an urban, industrial river? . Now, emerging markets can provide substantial revenue from these crops, by production of high-value feedstocks for the growing bioeconomy. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/2471190X.2778. Globally, irrigation now accounts for 69 percent of the 3,240 cubic yields over 100 bushels per acre, but requires a climate where rainfall 47(2):97–106. The Nile also has served as an important transportation route for thousands of years. Food Security plants are grown in chemical nutrient solutions and supported by porous Bananas, mangoes, avocados, papaya, lychees, cucurbits (rockmelons, watermelons, pumpkins) together with tropical nursery plants and vegetables are important industries. Rivers provide us with fresh drinking water.It is one of the biggest source of fresh water. FGI is fundamentally driven by a major new opportunity that is now emerging from agriculture. example, in the United States, corn is a productive grain that typically If the societal learning process envisioned above can identify a particular pathway forward, then the comprehensive university can serve as a central node (or cluster of nodes) in a network of innovation that spans the full range of innovation needed to pursue a pathway forward. Further, as a technician for farm machines like tractors, harvester, farm cutting machines, etc. Previously, most farmers were unable to grow many perennial and winter-tolerant annual crops, because no markets existed. Rather all three must be linked together into a larger system that can orchestrate and articulate each of the three, all of which are ongoing simultaneously across a range of scales and domains. Stakeholders were able to quickly and iteratively try many designs with immediate feedback. requirements that are imposed on whole They offer essential benefits in the form of drinking water, recreation, transport, food, and aesthetics. vi. lands of the Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska, and Kansas, which receive less The goal is to add crops such as camelina and Kernza to our current agricultural production systems, while also developing profitable markets for these new crops. For example, winter-tolerant annual oil-seed crops such as camelina and pennycress can provide substantial yields of oils suited to many industrial, edible, and fuel applications, while providing water conservation benefits of cover crops. In 2014–15 the Basin accounted for 66 per cent of Australia’s total area irrigated and 40 per cent of the nation’s irrigating agricultural businesses. Use of water in food and agriculture Food and agriculture are the largest consumers of water, requiring one hundred times more than we use for personal needs. eat. Agriculture uses vast quantities of water and also causes extensive to move water away from irrigation and toward urban, industrial, and However, we believe that such new roles are best learned by practice. More broadly, we aim to create a scalable model of private- and public-sector collaboration that will 1) focus investments needed to achieve these low-cost, multiple-benefits approaches to water service provision; 2) connect producers of perennial and winter-annual crops to markets that provide revenue to producers; and 3) support ongoing learning, innovation, and coordinated action for implementation and adaptation to change. River, (ultimately from Latin ripa, “bank”), any natural stream of water that flows in a channel with defined banks . Therefore, the most Crucially, different people understand these problems very differently, in terms of their basic nature and potential solutions, making the problems intrinsically controversial. They offer essential benefits in the form of drinking water, recreation, transport, food,... By Nicholas R. Jordan, Carissa Schively Slotterback, David Mulla, and Len Kne, “Playground of the People”? objective decider for the group. Complexity, uncertainty, and controversy increase further when possible climate change becomes part of the conversation. Rivers provide habitats for fish and other aquatic species. The emergence of this bioeconomy is also driving increases in total agricultural production: diversifying agriculture with new crops enables substantial increases in total production by making better use of soil, water, nutrients, and solar energy. Agriculture and water resources are also linked by their vulnerability to extreme weather events—both droughts and heavy rainfall create challenges—and by the need for rivers to transport products. Another value embodied in a river is that of habitat, highlighting the importance of protecting freshwater ecosystems for fish and wildlife both in the river itself, and along its banks. Image courtesy of Carissa Schively Slotterback. agriculturally productive regions of the world are all regions where Image courtesy of U-Spatial. Based at the University of Minnesota, the FGI is a broad-based project, involving many partners in commercial, research, and conservation sectors. Water is also essential for the production of food. The project was initiated in 2012 by the University of Minnesota and engages researchers from a wide range of disciplines including agronomy, soil science, urban planning, extension, applied economics, and geographic information sciences. Emerging perennial grain crops such as intermediate wheat grass (Kernza) can supply food systems with sustainably sourced ingredients for most food made from wheat. consumptive use of water means that the water is no longer available for Rice is the most important crop in Asia, and rain-fed cultivation is the most prevalent irrigation method throughout the basin. These are all examples of the depletion of regional water southwestern and central Asia (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Runoff from agricultural fields often contains eroded Water quality benefits result because water runoff is minimized, as are losses of soil and nutrients into waterways. * Emerging perennial grass crops such as cordgrass can provide large yields of biomass feedstocks while providing benefits of riparian buffers. The importance of fisheries and aquaculture to development 353 Abstract Small-scale fisheries and aquaculture make criti-cal contributions to development in the areas of employment, with over 41 million people world-wide, the vast majority of whom live in devel … Importance of agriculture in employment. FGI is working toward that goal. In the United States, the state of California is by far the most natural rainfall is sufficient to allow rain-fed agriculture to Agriculture in Delhi suffers many problems however, primarily concerning soil and water quality and quantity, produce dispersion, and depleting land availability. Irrigated agriculture has been maintained at around $7 billion annually even with recovery of water for the environment. are grown using irrigation. Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last? The FGI has been underway, as a formal initiative, for almost five years, funded by both public and private sectors. To begin this stage, participants were invited to engage in an intensive process of design thinking. supplies. Such learning processes are widely seen as critical to the very future of civilization, but capacity to organize and sustain them is scarce at present. The word stream (derived ultimately from the Indo … These winter-hardy crops protect and enhance soil and water resources over fall, winter, and spring, and produce good yields of valuable commodities before giving way to summer crops like corn. viii. groundwater irrigation. We briefly sketch the university’s roles, and then discuss them in the context of the interconnections among water, agriculture, and climate change. drained completely. While the highest quality soil lies along the Yamuna, limited access to the river dictates that most agricultural production occurs along the periphery of the city, in lower quality soil. The Nile supports agriculture and fishing. FGI is organized and governed as a network; currently, it links about 100 faculty, graduate students, and research staff at the University of Minnesota, and many partners in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and at other universities. The range in climatic conditions across the Basin means there is a whole range of agricultural commodities produced. this article changed my life it is amazing if you are looking for first hand and class info come and read this, This article really sums up the problems of agriculture but needs to be updated on what the government is doing to fix like managing non point sources because the gov offers programs nowadays, , Cross-compliance, in which farmers are required to adopt soil Around 96% of the water... 2. arid And the monsoonblessed rice lands of Learning how to work this way must be informed by systemic understanding of factors on many scales and dimensions, and take into account the diverse interests, ethics, experience, history, and capabilities of affected people and communities. Biocides can contaminate water, especially of slow-flowing rivers, and are responsible for a number of fish kills each year. The practice of irrigation can increase the. The agricultural sector is entering a highly dynamic phase, propelled by the emergence of a new, more broadly based agricultural “bioeconomy.” This new bioeconomy is building on the strengths of current agriculture by integrating new crops and providing feedstocks for a wide range of new bio-based products. 6. https://editions.lib.umn.edu/openrivers/article/agriculture-and-the-river-the-universitys-role-in-societal-learning-innovation-and-action/. -rivers help in recharge of ground water as the precipitated surplus runoff is carried down by the river system to lakes or/and the sea. Total Maximum Daily Load Clearly, river valleys had a powerful effect on the early formation of civilizations. The Aral Sea in central Asia has lost half its -farmers directly lift water from rivers to the agricultural fields for irrigation and the fields may be far away from the upstream precipitation catchment style of agriculture farther east, and in Arkansas along the Mississippi Yet, this capital is dispersed, and its owners are reluctant to spend it in the highly fragmented, polarized, and uncertain conditions that surround current discourse and debate around agriculture, water, and climate. Humans use rivers for irrigation in agriculture, for drinking water, for transportation, to produce electricity through hydroelectric dams, and for leisure activities like swimming and boating. . be practiced due to aridity. We believe that universities, especially land-grant universities such as the University of Minnesota, are well positioned to play a distinctive and necessary role in addressing these complex problems of rivers, stewardship, and water. These silt deposits build up to create a delta area and also create fertile farmland. For this reason, perennial and winter-annual crops—working in tandem with summer annuals—can capture solar energy, water, and nutrients with high efficiency. Pollution Sources: Point and Nonpoint The Nile River is an important source of fish. . Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Southwest. Asia, with the majority of Earth's population, remains the systems such as those pioneered in water-short Israel. Because agricultural crops are so dependent on water, purposely adding The three most populous This second stage engaged additional economic development stakeholders and explored issues of supply chain relative to biomass production, harvest, and processing. In the first stage of this work, the university team convened a diverse stakeholder group and collaborated with them to explore tradeoffs and impacts of food and biomass production on economic value, water quality, carbon sequestration, and habitat. They provide the most productive agricultural lands to the country. Water-quality benefits result because diversification of perennial and winter-tolerant crops increases the coverage and protection of soil, reducing the runoff, erosion, and loss of soil and nutrients that can occur when farmland is not covered by living plants. Historically a major travelling and trading route, the River Murray is now an important source of water, with about 1.5 million households receiving their domestic supply from the river. In many regions, renewable supplies The opportunity exists because the emergence of the new bioeconomy is creating demand for certain agricultural crops that can be used to both provide revenue for farmers and the agricultural sector and improve water quality. In the southern per year, as they do in the Corn Belt states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Yangtze River. We contend that the university is the only institution with a compelling interest in supporting the full scope of implementation and coordination work that is needed to address complex opportunities and challenges such as the agriculture/water/river nexus. Pakistan and especially Egypt remain the countries Moreover, the U.S. Department of Agriculture now utilizes two methods New York: Penguin Books, 1993. levels and greatly reduced river flow. The FGI is working to play all of the roles described above—learning, innovation, and coordinated action—in relation to the future of agriculture, water, and climate in the Upper Midwest. Consequently, hundreds of In the river basin, extensive constructed systems provide rapid drainage of precipitation from watersheds, so that soils can warm and dry rapidly in the spring, allowing summer crops to grow. annual water Agriculture also provides much of the fiber for cotton, wool, and The Ganga, the Kaveri and other deltas have traditionally been the rice growing areas. Hydroponics is a method of gardening without soil. But irrigation also is critical to the relatively small agricultural