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True or False: Water

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True or False: We need more water than we currently have to grow more food.

The answer is FALSE

According to the WWF, it's not the total amount of water that is the problem - it's how we are using it.

Currently the world is drawing on 54 percent of the world's accessible freshwater, says WWF, with 70 percent of that used by the global agriculture sector. But 60 percent of the water the sector uses, or 1,500 trillion liters, is "wasted through inefficient irrigation methods", it says.

Take rice, for example, which half of the world depends on for food - every kilo of rice produced requires 3,000-5,000 liters of water. Alternative methods of farming can remedy this, says WWF, citing 'system of rice intensification', or SRI, which it says in trials have show increased crop yields while using 30 percent less water.

(WWF; Environmental News Network) E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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