Importance of Water Conservation in Agriculture

The essay explores the significance of water conservation in agriculture, examining its relation to climate change and pesticide use. It presents a balanced view, considering the impact of these factors on agricultural productivity and food security, ultimately concluding that while water conservation is crucial, it is not the only key issue faced by agricultural communities.

Running head: ISSUE WITH AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES
Issue with agricultural communities
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1ISSUE WITH AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES
Introduction
In the recent time, there are various challenges or issues being faced by the agricultural
communities. One of the key challenges faced by them is the conservation of water. This is due
to the reason that scarcity of water is faced by the agricultural communities, which is posing
threat to the entire agricultural system1. However, conserving water will involve extra cost and
infrastructure for the farmers regardless of the benefits that they will gain. Different authors have
given different views regarding the importance of the water conservation for the agricultural
communities. This is leading to the issue that whether water conservation is the prime and key
issue for the agricultural community or not. On the other hand, it should also be noted that in the
current time, there are various issues faced by the agricultural communities and water
conservation is one of them rather the most important one.
This essay will discuss about the intensity of the importance of water conservation for the
agricultural communities compared to the other issues faced by them.
Issue with climate change
One of the major issues faced by the current agricultural communities is the change in
climate and environment. This can also be considered as one of the major issues due to the
reason that change in climate determines the every aspect and element of the agricultural
process. Thus, change in climate will influence the water supply, soil quality and the weather
required for the agriculture. According to different authors2, change in the climate will determine
the nexus of soil, water and waste. According to the author, if the climate is not favorable enough
1 Lipper, Leslie, et al. "Climate-smart agriculture for food security." Nature Climate Change 4.12 (2014): 1068.
2 Lal, Rattan. "Climate‐strategic agriculture and the water‐soil‐waste nexus." Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil
Science176.4 (2013): 479-493.

2ISSUE WITH AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES
for the agricultural process, then the agricultural productivity will not get increased even with
having effective and latest water conservation technologies.
In the current time, degradation of climate and environment is one of the most affected
areas due to the rapid increase in the pollution and emission globally. In addition, with the
origination of the global warming, current agricultural communities are witnessing fluctuations
in the seasonal weather conditions, which are causing negative impact on the productivity. On
the other hand, global warming is also leading to the increase in the possibility of the natural
disasters such as earthquake and tornadoes. These are causing huge negative impacts on the
contemporary agricultural communities. Thus, according to the authors, it can be concluded that
water conservation is not having holistic impact on the agricultural communities globally similar
to the climate change. This is due to the fact different regions are having scarcity of the water
resources and some other areas are not having any such issues. On the other hand, climate
change is applicable across all regions around the world and will have similar negative impact on
the agricultural communities. From opinion of these authors, it can be concluded that climate
change is more important issue than the water conservation for the agricultural communities in
the current time.
Food security and pesticides
In the current scenario, agricultural communities face the dilemmas of enhancing the
food productivity as well as exposure to the harmful chemicals used in the agricultural process.
This can be considered as dilemma due to the reason that without using the pesticides and
chemical fertilizers, productivity cannot get increased and on the other hand, using if more
chemicals will have negative health impacts on the communities. Thus, in the current time,

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agricultural communities are facing the issue of balancing between the use of the chemicals and
the agricultural productivity. According to some authors3, enhancing the agricultural productivity
without using the chemicals is one of the major issues faced by agricultural communities. The
more they will use the pesticides, the more will be their productivity. However, on the other
hand, using more pesticides will have health concern for the farmers. The authors have also
stated that this issue is not having any effective solution and it is also one of the major issues
faced by the current agricultural communities.
There are some other authors who have also stated that pesticides are having health
impact not only on the farmers but also on the end consumers4. Thus, in to prevent these issues,
farmers should not use chemicals in their agricultural activities. However, in the case also,
farmers are forced to use the chemicals in order to generate their productivity and revenue. The
authors have also stated that that with the concentration on food security and elimination of
hunger globally, chemicals in the agricultural processes are becoming more important. Having
the effective and efficient water conservation system will not be able to reduce the impact of the
use of the pesticides and may increase the rate of contamination. Thus, it can be concluded that
using the chemical pesticides is also one of the major issues for the current agricultural
communities and it is also more important for the farmer compared to the water conservation.
3 Popp, József, Károly Pető, and János Nagy. "Pesticide productivity and food security. A review." Agronomy for
sustainable development 33.1 (2013): 243-255.
4 Kim, Ki-Hyun, Ehsanul Kabir, and Shamin Ara Jahan. "Exposure to pesticides and the associated human health
effects." Science of The Total Environment 575 (2017): 525-535.

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Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that water conservation is one of the major issues for the
contemporary agricultural communities. This is mainly due to the reason that water scarcity is
increasing in different regions around the world. However, the statement that water conservation
is the key issue for the current agricultural communities is also not true. This is due to the reason
that there are various other issues faced by them in the current time. This essay discussed about
some of those issues such as climate change and use of pesticides. These issues are also as
important as the water conservation for the agricultural communities. Moreover, the issue of the
climate change is most important due to the reason that climate determines the other aspects of
the agricultural processes. This issue is having more holistic impact compared to the water
conservation to the agricultural communities. This essay evaluate the issue of climate change and
using pesticides with the help of different scholarly articles and it is being concluded that water
conservation alone cannot be considered as the most important issue of challenge for the current
agricultural communities.

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Reference
Kim, Ki-Hyun, Ehsanul Kabir, and Shamin Ara Jahan. "Exposure to pesticides and the
associated human health effects." Science of The Total Environment 575 (2017): 525-535.
Lal, Rattan. "Climate‐strategic agriculture and the water‐soil‐waste nexus." Journal of Plant
Nutrition and Soil Science176.4 (2013): 479-493.
Lipper, Leslie, et al. "Climate-smart agriculture for food security." Nature Climate Change 4.12
(2014): 1068.
Popp, József, Károly Pető, and János Nagy. "Pesticide productivity and food security. A
review." Agronomy for sustainable development 33.1 (2013): 243-255.