The British Crop Protection Council’s congress, set to take place in November, will tackle the ongoing global issues relating to water shortages in agriculture.

The congress’s final plenary session, headlined ‘Water and agriculture - understanding the biggest constraint to global food production’, will tackle the wide-ranging issue as well as looking at new technology, crop diversification and extending production seasons.

With food demand set to rise by an estimated 30 per cent in developing countries in the next few years, water scarcity is likely to place significant limitations on future agricultural productivity.

Andy Turner, water resources policy manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Water resources are already vital for the production of food. With serious levels of climate change and significant population growth forecast over the coming decades, future challenges are going to be huge.”

Mike Wade, executive director of California Farm Water Coalition, who is speaking at the congress, said: “Protecting agricultural water resources is essential to meeting future global food production demands. Doing so requires a balanced approach to water resource management and that is not currently happening in California. Misguided environmental policies not only hurt farm production by restricting water deliveries, they are not improving the environmental resources they were intended to help.”

Participants from more than 50 countries have confirmed their attendance at this year’s congress. It is set to be a real global event, attracting interest from both the technical and commercial side of the worldwide crop production and crop protection industry.