Water scarcity could worsen in over 80 per cent of world’s croplands by 2050, study warns

Scientists believe findings could have implications for agricultural water management

A farmer looks at damaged finger millet crop due to adverse weather conditions and unseasonal rains in a field on the outskirts of Bangalore (AFP via Getty Images)

Water scarcity is expected to increase in over 80 per cent of the world’s agricultural lands by mid-century, a new study warns.

The research, published in the journal Earth’s Future, assessed current and future water requirements for global agriculture and predicted whether the water levels available from rainwater or irrigation would be sufficient to meet those needs under the ongoing climate crisis.

For the study, scientists including those from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, developed a new index for two major sources of water for agriculture: soil water that comes from rain, called green water, and blue water which is via irrigation from rivers, lakes, and groundwater.