Wow. Bad idea.

Hold on. Don't we need deserts to be deserts?

I reckon there is some misunderstanding of this article. It demos advanced irrigation technologies that could grow crop even in a harsh condition like in deserts. I don't believe author encourages or approves people to use more precious water to harvest less precious rice pudding.

Correct, I don't believe the author thinks this is a good idea either. There's a reason those bits of land are deserts. Pumping fossil water from non-replenishing underground aquifers and spewing it upstairs is simply not sustainable.