Water resource withdrawals, irrigated area, and irrigation water application rates

This chapter reviews the environmental performances of agriculture in OECD countries related to water resource withdrawals, irrigated area, and irrigation water application rates. It provides a description of the policy context (issues and main challenges), definitions for the agri-environmental indicators presented, and elements related to concepts, interpretations, links to other indicators, as well as measurability and data quality. The chapter then describes the main trends of the agri-environmental indicators, using available data covering the period 1990-2010 and based on a set of tables and figures.