Farmers are using cleaner-burning engines to power tractors, harvesters, irrigation pumps and other farm equipment. The old tires are recycled into fuel, eliminating fire and safety hazards as well as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and disease-carrying rodents. Because water is the lifeblood of agriculture, California farmers make every drop count. Many farmers use irrigation return systems to capture water after it has run through fields and pump it to the head of the field to use it again. Water use is less now than it was 30 years ago, and farmers are producing 67 percent more crops.
Many nurseries use reclaimed water to quench the thirst of plants, shrubs and trees.
Agriculture uses only 43 percent of that available one-third, while 11 percent goes for urban uses and 46 percent is devoted to environmental uses. All rights reserved. Read our legal notice .