With rapidly increasing water demands, the competition among household, industrial, environmental, and agricultural water uses has been escalating in Asia and in the world.

Approximately there are more than 151 million hectares are irrigated and productive area in Asia, wherein rice crop accounts for 40-46 percent.  At the field level, rice receives from two to three times more water than other crops, but an unknown proportion of the water losses from individual fields is reused by other fields downstream.

From the figure below, it is estimated that irrigated rice receives some 34-43 percent of the total world’s irrigation water, or 24-30 percent of the total world’s freshwater withdrawals.

Click on the bar graphs to view exact figures

The rest is used in industry and for domestic purposes. Approximately 56% of the world’s 271 million ha irrigated area of all crops is in Asia, where rice accounts for 40-46% of the net irrigated area of all crops. At the field level, rice receives up to 2-3 times more water than other irrigated crops, but an unknown proportion of the water losses from individual fields are reused by other fields downstream.

Now you are familiar with how water is use in Asia and the world. The next lesson is about water scarcity in rice growing areas