How suitable an area is for WH depends on local society, farming practices, and whether the area meets the basic technical requirements of the WH system in question. When planning such systems, appropriate data must be available on the climate, soil, crops, topography, and socioeconomics of the project area. The available tools and methods of data acquisition for planning, designing, and implementing WH systems, include field visits, site inspections, topographic and thematic maps, aerial photos, satellite images, and geographic information systems (GIS) must also be considered.

Irrigation management of crops in Egypt is characterized by the application of more water than the crops require. In fact, large amounts of water are supplied without any estimates of the soil water content at the root zone. The rationale for doing so is the assumption that more irrigation water means a greater yield. So, eliminating the use of this unnecessary irrigation water could help save the resource, provided that this can be done with low yield losses.

From these workshops and an analysis of project documentation, we can conclude that possibilities for the improvement of water use do exist. These improvements depend not only on technical aspects, but also on organization and policy considerations.

This report describes the use of improved methodologies developed to identify suitable watersheds based on an integrated resources management concept. The approach integrates multi-disciplinary knowledge, GIS utilities, and verification in the field to develop and test a methodology to identify watersheds with specific characteristics
– in this case, the watersheds most suited to the project activities.

 All over Asia, small women and men farmers are experiencing extreme and intense weather events brought about by climate change. Almost all of them are caught unprepared by changing climate patterns: rains are heavier, storms and floods occur more often, dry seasons are more intense and last longer. They do not understand why this is happening. All they know is that they have to find a way to adapt to and survive these changes.

ABSTRACTED FROM THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This paper focuses on the role of the rice sector in Cambodian agriculture strategy. The paper first reviews the performance of the rice sector in Cambodian agriculture and rice-related government policies and interventions, and it then identifies potential and constraints for future development of the rice sector.

In light of persisting land use conflicts and marginal productivity on village lands, a research in the captioned topic was deemed necessary. This report makes a review of policies on land and livestock agriculture behind the backdrop of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, policies on land and agriculture, and aspirations for land reform. Violations in land rights and prevailing tenure insecurity lasting for decades have skewed mindsets of many users and the land administrators. Policy implementation and enforcement are in dire need of enhancement.

The Jordan Badia is representative of the vast drier environments of the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region. Pasture rangeland covers the majority of the Badia, although the vegetative cover is not dense. The vegetation in the Badia includes shrubs and short grasses. Barley is the main field crop in dryland farming, although irrigated forage, vegetables, and fruit orchards are also found in the Badia. Most of Jordan’s livestock (70%) is produced in the Badia.

This is the fundamental scope of the Irrigation Benchmark Project, where the emphasis was placed on introducing and implementing new water saving technologies. Additionally, emphasis was laid on the participation and involvement of farmers in water users’ associations (WUA) and other community organizations, as well as with government organizations – particularly, those concerned in the Extension Service of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Reforestation measures for degraded lands, strategies for the sustainable management of forest resources, and agroforestry practices that incorporate trees into farming systems are increasingly demonstrating their promise for producing commercialized tree products. Although the level of investment so far has remained modest, the challenge is to find ways to scale up promising investments in a way that will have a clear impact at the landscape level.

This report summarizes results from a large multi-partner project, Integrated watershed development
for food security and sustainable improvement of livelihood in Barani, Pakistan. The project (2007
to 2010) aimed to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate cost-effective technologies for monitoring
and use of water and land resources at watershed scale. It used an integrated approach combining
applied research, capacity building, and watershed improvement/rehabilitation through community

CropSyst is the crop growth model chosen as a decision tool for the Tadla Benchmark project. CropSyst is a daily time step simulation model. The model was developed to serve as an analytic tool to study the effect of cropping systems management on productivity and the environment. The model simulates the soil water budget, soil– plant nitrogen budget, crop canopy and root growth, dry matter production, yield, residue production, and decomposition. Management options include cultivar selection, crop rotation, irrigation, nitrogen fertilization, tillage operations, and residue management.