130 litres per kg of water being used for potatoes

To compare the direct and indirect water use that occurs during the production of various products, the term 'virtual water' was developed. For example, with the production of meat, this term not only includes water that is used for drinking (direct water use), but also water that is necessary for the production of all the animal feed, reports the German website topagrar.com

For example, in order to produce 1 kg of beef circa 15,000 litres of water is needed, while for the same amount of rice circa 2,500 litres of water is needed, and for the same amount of potatoes only circa 130 litres of water is needed. These numbers hold true for Germany. In Israel and Egypt the production of 1 kg of early potatoes uses 200 to 400 litres of virtual water. Improved irrigation techniques and needs-oriented forecasting should make future water use in potato cultivation more effective and thereby reduce further virtual water use.

In einem weiteren Schritt kann dann noch zwischen "grünem" Wasser (Niederschlag und Bodenfeuchte) sowie "blauem" Wasser (Bewässerung) unterschieden werden. Die Angaben zu den Produkten schwanken jedoch innerhalb der Literatur z. T. erheblich und sollen hier nur die Relationen darstellen, erklärt die Versuchsstation Dethlingen.

Topagrar.com - Lesen Sie mehr auf: http://www.topagrar.com/news/Acker-Agrarwetter-Ackernews-Wasserverbrauch-von-Kartoffeln-betraegt-135-l-kg-1736329.html