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Can integrated aquaculture-agriculture (IAA) produce “more crop per drop”?

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Abstract

The global demand for food production will increase because of rapid population growth and increased competition for land and water. The ever-increasing demand for water in agriculture is one of the key limiting factors for food production. Thus, producing more food for each drop of water is vital to addressing water scarcity and food insecurity. This article provides an overview of integrated aquaculture-agriculture (IAA) that has great potential to increase food productivity and reduce risks associated with water scarcity. The practice of pond-based IAA and rice-fish farming is recognized as an efficient use of water, which increases water productivity and food security. IAA also provides a wide range of social, economic, and environmental benefits. It is, therefore, recognized that IAA produces “more crop per drop”. We suggest that the wider adoption of IAA with efficient use of blue and green water would increase global water productivity and food security.

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Notes

  1. Former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Anan has been credited with crystallizing this concept as the world needing “more crop per drop”.

  2. Aquaponics, a relatively new concept of farming fish with vegetables, is often considered as IAA but has not been discussed in this article.

  3. In addition to blue and green water, there are two other types of water: (1) white water - part of the rainfall that returns to the atmosphere by evaporation (Liu and Savenije 2008), and (2) grey water or polluted water (Chapagain and Hoekstra 2011).

  4. Water withdrawal refers to water diverted from a ground or surface water sources (e.g., lake, river, stream), or pumped from aquifers for human use. Part of the withdrawal water can be reused and restored to the environment. Conversely, the non-returned part denotes consumptive water that is evaporated or incorporated into organisms or products (Verdegem and Bosma 2009).

  5. Non-consumptive water means water withdrawn for use that is not consumed and is still available for other uses. Conversely, ‘consumptive water’ means water use in agriculture that is not returned.

  6. The gap between actual and potential yields for a specific crop, where actual yields are dictated by management, and potential yields are dictated by climate.

  7. The World Food Prize 2012 was awarded to Dr Daniel Hillel for his role in implementing micro-irrigation.

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Acknowledgments

This review was made possible by the award of a Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation Grant 2012 to the first author for a collaborative research visit to the Centre for Water Management and Reuse (CWMR), University of South Australia. Subsequently, the study was further supported by the CWMR. A previous version of this paper was presented by the lead author at SA Water Corporation, Adelaide, Australia. We would like to express gratitude to Dr Kate Brauman at the University of Minnesota, USA for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors.

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Ahmed, N., Ward, J.D. & Saint, C.P. Can integrated aquaculture-agriculture (IAA) produce “more crop per drop”?. Food Sec. 6, 767–779 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-014-0394-9

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