Irrigated cropping intensity

The cropping intensity is a fraction of the cultivated area that is harvested. The cropping intensity may exceed 100 percent where more than one crop cycle is permitted each year on the same area. In AQUASTAT, the cropping intensity has been calculated on irrigated crops only, and becomes practically the ratio of the harvested irrigated areas over the area equipped for full control irrigation actually irrigated. Areas under double irrigated cropping (same area cultivated and irrigated twice a year) are counted twice. Therefore the total area may be larger than the area actually irrigated, which gives an indication of the cropping intensity. The total is only given if information on all irrigated crops in the country is available. Irrigation, by decoupling the crop production from the natural precipitation, increases cropping intensity in countries where temperatures are not a limiting factor.