Food Supply Increasingly Relies on Irrigation

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Irrigated Land as a Percentage of Agricultural Land, 1961-94

Poor water management on irrigated cropland is a leading cause of degraded farmland. For more information see http://www.wri.org/trends/soilloss.html.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), FAOSTAT Statistical Database (FAO, Rome, 1997).

Note: Asia and Europe do not include the countries of the former Soviet Union until 1991.