The FAO's AQUASTAT Programme released a report that finds that 82% of the total annual withdrawal in South and East Asia, 1981 km3, is used for agriculture, higher than the global agricultural water withdrawal of 70%.
It also highlights that India and China have the highest rates of water withdrawal in the world.
August 2012: The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) AQUASTAT Programme has released a report, titled “Irrigation in Southern and Eastern Asia in Figures,” which presents the most recent data from the AQUASTAT survey of 22 countries in the Southern and Eastern Asian region. The report documents changes since the first AQUASTAT survey, which took place ten years ago.
The report finds that 82% of the total annual withdrawal in the region, 1981 km3, is used for agriculture, higher than the global agricultural water withdrawal of 70%. It also highlights that India and China have the highest rates of water withdrawal in the world.
The report is broken down into the following sections: presentation of the survey; regional analysis; transboundary river basins; and country profiles. The country profiles review the following aspects: geography, climate and population; economy, agriculture and food security; water resources and water use; irrigation and drainage development; water management, policies and legislation related to water use in agriculture; environment and health; and prospects for agricultural water management. The river basin profiles on the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, Indus, Mekong and Salween rivers include sections on: geography, population and climate; water resources; water quality; water-related developments in the basin; and transboundary water issues. [Publication: Irrigation in Southern and Eastern Asia in Figures]