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Analysis of the agricultural situation in Azraq Basin
German-Jordanian Programme “Management of Water Resources”
7.1. 1. – Technical assistance
for irrigation optimisation at
the farm level
A detailed study to collect data
about the existing situation of
irrigation systems and practices in
the Azraq Basin is necessary before
planning any project for irrigation
optimisation (c.f. Baseline study, as
detailed in Extra studies required).
Provision of technical support to
the farmers located in the Azraq
basin could include:
- Organise farmer trainings (field
days) and farmer meeting in
order to raise awareness about
irrigation techniques and possible
water savings, through discussion
between farmers, as well as through
knowledge transfer (introducing
notions of evapotranspiration,
soil moisture holding capacity of
the soil, structure of roots, soil
profiles…).
- Evaluate irrigation networks
performance for interested farms,
and provide recommendation for
improvements (by optimising the
current irrigation system 64 , or
by switching to a more efficient
irrigation system ). Assist the
farmers to optimise the on-farm
irrigation networks (adapted design
of the irrigation system) 65 .
- Train the farmers on the newly
optimised irrigation practices:
Irrigation scheduling according to
crop / age of planting / planting
season / soil characteristics
/ irrigation network (when to
start irrigation, how to manage
irrigation during the season,
when to stop irrigation). Organise
trainings and guidelines (through
MoA or NCARE if possible for
sustainability, or the cooperative
if created). Introduce the use
of tensiometers (simplest and
cheapest soil moisture monitoring
system).
This might include the creation
of pilot farms (farms of leading
farmers) to demonstrate good
irrigation practices (measuring flow
and pressure, flushing procedures,
monitoring of irrigation, planning
of irrigation schedule…).
- Provide subsidies for modern
water saving irrigation materials.
Subsidy mechanism should be
carefully studied (percentage of
subsidy according to farmers’
category, according to old / new
irrigation system, or revolving
fund…)
7.1.2. – Technical assistance
for better fertilisation
practices
Fertilisation programs are most of
the time quite empirical (except in
high-tech stone fruit tree farms).
Some farmers are using some
chemicals without knowing their
precise impacts, and calculation
of quantities used is not related
to elements availability in soil (it
can be highlighted here that nearly
no farmer is using soil tests to get
more information about his soil, in
spite of the low cost of the test 66 ).
It seems that over-fertilisation is
64 In a farm in Al Ratami, by switching from surface to open tube irrigation, water use was reduced and production on olive trees doubled!
65 This might suppose the creation of a mechanism for subsidy, to help farmers in investing in more water saving irrigation material.