Agriculture in Oregon
 
 
Some 70% of the water used by humans is employed in agriculture. The increased use of irrigation systems in recent decades has helped increase the amount of land that can be cultivated and thus the size of crops.

The negative effects of this are manifold: the most significant include the salinisation of the soil, which occurs especially in semi-arid regions requiring large-scale irrigation; and the contamination of the water table and rivers due to fertilisers and pesticides, which contain nitrates and are damaging to human health.

The problem is difficult to resolve, but will involve more efficient use of water resources (“more crop per drop” was the slogan adopted by the FAO in 2003, the International Year of Freshwater).

Centre pivot irrigation systems, such as those shown in the COSMO-SkyMed images, could represent one efficient solution, since the water is distributed to the crops at low pressure. However, these systems require a high initial investment which only rich, technologically advanced countries can afford.


 
Download image: Details of an agricultural area with a centre pivot
irrigation system along the Columbia River in Oregon (USA).
This high-resolution COSMO-SkyMed image makes even the irrigation system’s wheel tracks visible

 

 
Download image: Details of an agricultural area with a centre pivot
irrigation system along the Columbia River in Oregon (USA).
This high-resolution COSMO-SkyMed image makes even the irrigation system’s wheel tracks visible



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