FAO and IWMI’s Milestone Publication Gives Actionable Guidelines on Water Quality for Agriculture

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) co-launched “Water Quality in Agriculture: Risks and Risk Mitigation” at the Rome Water Dialogue on October 5, 2023. This landmark publication, by a team of international experts, offers a comprehensive look at risk assessment and mitigation, with an emphasis on technical solutions and good agricultural practices. The guidelines cover crop and livestock farming, as well as fish farming or aquaculture. 

Combining and updating previous FAO works on water quality, salinity and wastewater reuse, the 2023 release is a compendium guiding evaluation and safe use of water for agriculture, with due attention to health and environmental protection.

The book gives an overview of key recommended water quality guidelines, with special emphasis on wastewater and brackish (salinity) water use, their risk assessment and mitigation options for pathogenic and chemical contaminants, including salinity-related threats.

To launch the publication, Dr. Sasha Koo-Oshima, the FAO’s Deputy Director, Land and Water Division, remarked, " The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development acknowledges the significance of water quality, and policy makers have identified water reuse as key to a more sustainable future. This is particularly important for many low- and middle-income countries where wastewater treatment is not keeping pace with urbanization. Growing urbanization is increasing the demand for water and producing more wastewater. 

The first detailed look at risk assessment and mitigation in 30 years, “Water Quality in Agriculture: Risks and Risk Mitigation” draws among others on three previous works: “Water quality for agriculture” (Ayers & Westcot 1976, 1985), “Wastewater treatment and use in agriculture” (Pescod, 1992), and “Water desalination for agriculture purposes” (Beltran & Koo-Oshima, 2006). It is complemented by two other recent FAO guidelines for Brackish Water Use and Antimicrobial Resistance.

Download the publication: Water quality in agriculture: risks and risk mitigation.