On Monday, a panel of experts said world water scarcity is a growing problem that will have a direct effect on agriculture and an expanding population that will need food. DTN/The Progressive Farmer says panelists at an Ag Symposium at the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City said farmers worldwide need to find a way to produce more food on the same amount of land or they’ll need to broaden agriculture’s footprint in the face of expanding water shortages. Mark Rosegrant of the International Food Policy Research Institute said water scarcity has grown in recent years and drought is expanding in different areas of the world. He said the adoption of new technologies, including drop and sprinkler irrigation, is not having system-wide benefits as far as curbing water use. However, the panel also said the rate of growth in annual grain production yields of 1.2 percent between 1965-2011 won’t be enough to feed a projected population of nine billion in 2050.