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Abstract
By 2025, water withdrawals are expected to increase by 50% in developing countries and 18% in
developed countries. By 2050, 2.7 billion people will need to draw from our current source of freshwater;
irrigated agriculture currently accounts for 40% of all food production. With the demand for irrigation
water rapidly increasing and supply being finite, issues related to conservation, allocation and policy are
becoming more and more important. This investigation is aimed at analyzing production behavior
through a study of average farm revenue and several input demand variables. It is found that farmers
seek to maximize profit through increased water application rates as well as production of high -valued,
water -intensive crops. Through an understanding of what drives production behavior, policy makers can
increase their understanding of irrigation water importance as well as properly control its usage.
Furthermore, by investigating water consumption in the largest water using sector (agricultural
production), the world can come to a better understanding of the importance of irrigation in the
agricultural industry as well as the impact of decreases in water availability on food production.