Food security under the pressure of water loss Why the upstream documents have not reached effective planning in agriculture?

The production of agricultural products in the country is faced with challenges such as limited water and soil resources, low productivity and wastage of products, and these challenges are still standing despite the laws and upstream documents of food security.

Ambassador Arjan-Majidjebari: An expert in the field of water and agriculture, emphasizing the need to match the production with the country's resource capacity, said: increasing production without considering the water and soil capacity cannot create sustainable food security.

In a conversation with Ambassador Arjan, Mohammad Alaei added: The problem of agriculture in the country is not only the lack of water resources, but also the amount of products that are produced against the water consumed. Increasing water productivity in agriculture and reducing crop waste can help supply the country's food needs without putting more pressure on water resources.

Alaei clarified: According to the official announcement of the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad in Mehr 1401, water productivity in Iran's agricultural sector is about 900 grams of product per cubic meter of water. This figure is significantly different from the global average of about 2.5 kg of product per cubic meter of water. Of course, the comparison of these figures depends on the type of product and the productivity calculation method.

Referring to the Mashhad plain, this water and agriculture expert said: Water productivity in this area is about 1,700 grams of product per cubic meter of water. If this amount reaches 3.4 kg, the same amount of product can be produced with half the amount of water used. A capacity whose realization depends on the type of cultivation, climatic conditions and production methods.

Product waste and water wastage in the food chain

The head of Khorasan Chamber of Commerce's Water and Environment Commission Razavi continued: Another part of the food security issue is related to products that are produced with the use of water and other agricultural inputs, but perish before reaching the consumer or during the stages of storage and consumption.

Citing an example in this context, he said: the volume of water related to products that are turned into waste in Razavi Khorasan province reaches about 80 million cubic meters annually. This figure is based on calculations and regional statistics and does not mean the possibility of directly recovering all this volume of water, but it shows that reducing waste can reduce part of the pressure on water resources.

Upstream documents, the distance between law and implementation

The former head of the Khorasan Regional Water Authority stated: Our country has several documents and laws for managing water resources, reforming the cultivation pattern and providing food security. The national document of knowledge-based food security, which was approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution in 1402, is one of these documents. Also, Article 32 of the law of the Seventh Development Plan deals with the goals related to food security and agricultural production, and Article 33 obliges the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad to formulate a cultivation pattern that is appropriate to the climatic conditions, water and soil capacity, and the capabilities of the regions.

Lack of plan and pressure on water and soil resources

This water and agriculture expert said: The existence of approved laws and goals alone is not enough to solve agricultural problems, and what is important is to transform these decrees into planning and executive action. If the area under cultivation and the type of crops are determined without paying enough attention to the capacity of water and soil resources, the pressure on the resources will continue and the increase in production may end up at the cost of intensifying the water imbalance. The amount of water used for production, the share of waste in the food chain and the adaptation of the cultivation pattern to the actual capacity of the resources should also be considered in the evaluations.