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12 Analysis of the agricultural situation in Azraq Basin German-Jordanian Programme “Management of Water Resources” Comparing data from different census shows indeed the fast extension of agricultural land in Azraq region (it concerns only the area around Azraq and its different sub regions): Area (region) In 1980, most wells were still manually operated and only few 60000 Total were artesian Non wells, most of Type of Well 481 number Consumption (MCM) Wells Wells which existed working Working WAJ in Al-Dughayla 50000 of wells area. Typically, two-thirds of a Legal agricultural well 304 farm is 6.3 planted with 59 trees (mainly 245 40000 Illegal agriculture well 561 olive trees, 13.2 grapes, 325 pomegranate, 236 and some stone fruit trees). The Private 229 governmental well 13 0.7 3 10 UNDP 30000 remaining third of the farm is 117 Governmental well for drinking water 20 planted 16.9with vegetables 4 (mainly 16 MOA 20000 Wells for herds in remote areas 11 with melon, ? onion, 5garlic and 11 winter crops: wheat, barley, as well as Total 10000909 37.1 391 518 some alfalfa). In 1990, both manual and artesian wells were still used. 0 Um-El massael, Al-Elawat and Um- 1980 1996 2009 Swaweneh are three locations that were created recently (after Working 1994) but already represent 30% Wells of the cultivated land in Azraq region. 289 3 11 5 Al-Awshaq Ain-El-Beida Al-Dughayla Al-Ratami 26 Azraq- Al-Janobi Um-El Massael Al–Elawat Um- Swaweneh Total No of farms Area in 1980 (du) Average size farm (du) No of farms Area in 1994 (du) Average size farm (du) No of farms 2009 Area in 2002 (du) Average size farm (du) Data MoA 1980 18 Data UNDP 1996 19 Data WAJ 2009 20 14 9 49 26 1203 835 5990 426 86 93 122 16 38 20 80 45 1751 1338 20451 2060 46 67 256 46 49 45 182 99 2174 3597 26200 2600 44 80 144 26 19 0 0 0 103 315 0 0 0 7566 17 73 46 0 0 0 191 837 0 0 0 24686 18 129 55 95 20 16 512 980 14151 1375 770 51847 18 149 69 48 101 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Total number Non Working Figure 3. Constant increase Type of the of number Well of farms and total cultivated land in the Azraq region over the years despite the prohibition of of wells Wells founding new farms (different sources). Legal agricultural well 345 56 18 Illegal agriculture well 6 3 Ministry of Agriculture, Annual Report, Wael Sartawi, 1980. 19 The Azraq Oasis Conservation Project: JOR/1992/G311996/. 20 Communication from Mohammad Private Al-Hawi, governmental Water Authority well of Jordan (2010) about 11 data in 2009. - Private agricultural wells with permits 5 -
Analysis of the agricultural situation in Azraq Basin German-Jordanian Programme “Management of Water Resources” 13 It can be noticed that data from WAJ and MOA are not compliant with each other: while WAJ estimates the total irrigated area to be 51847 du in 2002 (more recent data is not available in WAJ), MoA announces a total area under cultivation of 88028 du in 2010. Today, most wells are artesian wells, only few manual wells are still in use in South Azraq and Al-Ratami. More details about the historical development of Azraq region were collected by way of interviews with long term Azraq inhabitants in September and October 2010, and are available in Annex 3. Today, around 15000 inhabitants live in Azraq. 2.2. North Badia and Jiza area: an entrepreneurial, marketoriented agriculture succeeds traditional animal breeding In the 1960s, the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) developed settlement programs for Bedouins by switching from animal husbandry to irrigated agriculture, focusing on subsistence and fodder crops. Even if it seemed to have failed in most cases, many Bedouins adopted the idea and began to drill wells and engage in farming activities, often keeping part of their herd too. The first farmers grew mostly olives and fodder crops 21 . This region was therefore one of the first parts of Jordan to develop bore-hole irrigation and clearing of stones and boulders from the land surface was carried out to prepare land for vegetables under drip irrigation. This was the origin of a modern market-oriented agriculture developed by small to medium entrepreneurial farmers, supplying growing cities and exporting their surplus produce around the Middle East. Until the 1980s, tariffs and subsidies for farming activities contributed significantly to the growth of Jordan’s agricultural sector. Thanks to subsidised electricity and diesel used to run wells pumps, as well as subsidies for some field crops and stone fruits (such as peaches), profit margins were guaranteed for most farmers. A feature of irrigation in this area is the rapid build-up of salinity which resulted in many abandoned farms across this region 22 . 1000000 1100000 1200000 1300000 800000 900000 Aqaba 200000 300000 400000 500000 N 0 37.5 75 200000 Irbid AlRamtha Jerash Um Al-Qutain Al Safawi Al-Salt Amman Madaba Al-Jiza Karak Al-Tafila Maan 150 Km Al-Azraq Legend Cities Rivers Azraq Surface Water Basin Other Surface Water Basins in Jordan 300000 400000 500000 800000 900000 1000000 1100000 1200000 1300000 21 Van Aken, 2007. Historical trajectory of a river Basin in the Middle East – the Lower Jordan River Basin (in Jordan) 22 http://alic.arid.arizona.edu/jordansoils/_html/land_regions.html#top
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