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Clinton highlights water saving at World Food Prize ceremony

13 June 2012 01:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday highlighted the importance of water preservation at the World Food Prize ceremony held at the State Department here in Washington, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Daniel Hillel, an Israeli scientist, was named the winner of this year’s 250,000-dolar World Food Prize. Hillel developed the so-called micro-irrigation technology, which uses drip irrigation methods to grow plants in some of the driest places in the world.

Stressing the importance of saving water, Clinton said it is " especially fitting" to honor Hillel, who understood the " importance of getting every last drop used efficiently."

"For 40 years, Dr. Hillel has worked to solve this problem by bringing his micro-irrigation techniques to the driest and least hospitable growing climates on earth, from Israel to Pakistan to Sudan," said the U.S. diplomat.

The World Food Prize was created in 1986 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug. The prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

The micro-irrigation technology that Hillel developed applies water in small but continuous amounts directly to plant roots through plastic pipes, cutting the amount of water needed to nourish crops. The application of the technology in more than 30 countries over the past 50 to 60 years has benefited millions of farmers.

"Today, farmers using micro-irrigation produce high-yield, nutritious crops on more than 6 million hectares worldwide," Clinton said.

Noting the increasing demand for water, she warned: "But our water supply is finite."

"So if we’re going to strengthen food security, we have to get more out of each drop," Clinton noted.