Sustainable Agricultural Practices: A Must!

In Lebanon,

By 2040 the temperatures are expected to increase by around 1°C on the coast and 2°C in the mainland, and by 2090 they will be 3.5°C and 5°C higher, respectively.

Lebanon’s arid/ semi-arid climate makes it poor in water resources availability and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change; the estimated changes in the precipitation rates will put tremendous pressure on national water security and impact the agricultural sector, which uses around 70% of the available water for irrigation.

The expected decrease in precipitation, changes in the rainfall pattern and increase in evapotranspiration will lead to earlier drought occurrence by 15-30 days which will exacerbate the existing water shortage that is already under pressure from urbanization and population growth.

Changes in weather patterns will reduce the total volume of water by 6-8%, shrink snow cover by 40% and increase drought period.

With an increase in 1°C the water will face a reduction of 6% to 8% of the total water resources volume, while with a warming temperature of 2°C the reduction is estimated to be 12% to 16%.

In addition, climate change will induce a reduction of 40% to 70% of the snow cover with an increase of 2°C – 4°C respectively and a shift of elevation of snow from 1,500m to 1,900m, which will influence the rivers and groundwater recharge and impact the water availability during the summer season.

We have to be proactive about reducing our water consumption and re-evaluate how we are using water in agriculture and take water conservation seriously.

Agriculture accounts for 70% of global water resource use, and about 60% of that water is actually wasted through runoff or evapotranspiration. So a large part of the solution must come from more sustainable agricultural practices like hydroponic farming used at Cedar Greens, which uses over 95% less water than traditional agriculture.

By improving water use and management in agriculture, humanity will increase the water resources that are available to those that need it the most, help developing communities around the world in a sustainable manner, reduce soil erosion and reduce conflicts over natural resources.