Irrigation of 88% of agricultural land in Azerbaijan is sourced from surface water, said Firudin Taghiyev, the head of the Land Use Control Department at Azerbaijan’s Agriculture Ministry, Report informs.

Taghiyev made the announcement at the event titled “The Role of Water Management Systems in Climate-Resilient Agriculture: COP29 Roundtable Discussions,” Report informs.

According to him, only 180,000 hectares rely on groundwater for irrigation and drinking purposes. He highlighted that Azerbaijan’s surface water resources total 36 billion cubic meters, but this volume can decrease to 22 billion cubic meters during drought years.

“Water resources are limited in Azerbaijan. Only 30% of the annual water balance is generated within the country, while 70% comes from outside its borders. Of the 12 billion cubic meters of annual water consumption, 7-8 billion cubic meters are used for irrigation and agricultural supply, 2 billion cubic meters for other purposes such as drinking water and production, and 3-4 billion cubic meters are lost during transportation,” Taghiyev explained.