Deputy minister: Current water scarcity creates numerous difficulties in agriculture

The existing water scarcity has created numerous challenges for ensuring water supply in agriculture, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sarvan Jafarov told a COP29 event titled "Sustainable Water Use: The Role of SMBDA" in Baku, Report informs.

Jafarov noted that Azerbaijan is also among the countries suffering from water scarcity:

"Total water resources amount to 36 billion cubic meters, but due to drought, the usable volume decreases to 22 billion cubic meters. Additionally, only 30% of these water resources are formed within Azerbaijan, while the remaining 70% originate beyond its borders. The development of agriculture and increase in agricultural production in Azerbaijan directly depends on improving water supply."

According to the deputy minister, global climate change leads to continuous decrease in precipitation and increased water scarcity, which creates significant challenges for the agricultural sector:

"Monitoring results conducted through satellite images to assess the impacts of climate change in Azerbaijan revealed that water levels have dropped in the lower reaches of the Kura River. Furthermore, 15% of the country's territory is under threat of drought, and 6% faces desertification. More efficient use of existing water, land, and climate resources, adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change, improvement of water supply, and effective application of modern water supply technologies play an important role in increasing agricultural production."