Thus, between 1992 and 2004 India built 200 large and medium-sized irrigation projects—and the area irrigated by such schemes shrank by 3.2m hectares.The village of Veeralapalam offers a snapshot of this, and of the losers in a political economy where water is the main currency.
Standing on the edge of town, the museum Shear Outback pays homage to the work of shearers, a more common Australian legend than the migrant grower of the irrigation towns.
Shepparton, a town of 27,000 people in the heart of the Goulburn valley fruit industry, is one of the largest irrigation centres in Australia.
The Asian Development Bank has pumped $220m into the country for irrigation systems – irrigation that will enable the cotton industry – and you can add your voice to those lobbying to prevent it.
Fertile fields famed for their melons, wheat and barley are now parched wastelands after irrigation canals were destroyed by shelling.
Macfarlane says the industries need the next generation of apprentices, including in the areas of mining, beef, cattle production, dairy and irrigation, wool classing and horse breeding.
The hotel is in Machico, perfect for exploring the east coast fishing villages, and for heading inland to the central plain, crisscrossed with levadas – irrigation channels that are now walking paths.
"Plausible explanations for the low yields include lack of access to quality resources such as water, inputs and low use of new technologies that require money – such as fertiliser, machinery and irrigation technology," the report says.
Method: Kick Start, a not-for-profit organisation that specialises in irrigation technology, is making portable water pumps accessible to farming communities across Africa – most significantly in Kenya, Tanzania and Mali.
Only 6% of Africa's cultivated land is irrigated, limiting the volume of crops that can be grown out of season, but increased access to irrigation systems stands to increase food productivity by up to 50%.
Mina Holland Idea: Portable irrigation technology helping sub-Saharan smallholder farmers grow crops out of season.
