[tzs]

Some places have great soil for agriculture but not enough water.

Some places have plenty of water but not so great soil.

You can have a globally more productive society if you arrange to bring the good soil and the abundant water together.

Since it is way easier to transport water than to transport soil (there is no soil equivalent to the pipeline or the aqueduct) that is generally the direction we've went.

[antisthenes]

It's mostly a myth that you need great soil to grow anything in farming.

Most of the time, the soil merely acts as a substrate to temporarily hold water with nutrients from the fertilizer that was put there during irrigation.

Having great soil does help, obviously, in that you can probably save on fertilizer costs, but in the end the soil will be depleted regardless by industrial farming.

[trickstra]

Or hydroponics/aquaponics, where you don't need any soil, and only about 10% of the water.