GCP/RAB/012/ITA: Support Cooperation on Agricultural Water Management in the Lower Mesopotamia

Transcription

1 xt] GCP/RAB/012/ITA: Support Cooperation on Agricultural Water Management in the Lower Mesopotamia Capacity Development for Farm Management Strategies to Improve Crop-Water Productivity Using AquaCrop Workshop Report Erbil, Iraq December 2013 [Type text]

2 Training Team: Dirk Raes KU Leuven Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Division Soil and Water Management Leuven, Belgium Marie Thérèse Abi Saab Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) Organization Team: Maher Salman Anwer Hamad Technical Adviser, Land and Water Division (NRL) FAO - HQs, Rome maher.salman@fao.org Officer - In-Charge, FAO Erbil Sub-office FAO - Iraq Anwer.Hamad@fao.org Alba Martinez International Consultant-Water Resource Management Land and Water Division (NRL) FAO - HQs, Rome Alba.MartinezSalas@fao.org 1

3 1. BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION FAO, in collaboration with the Italian Cooperation and partners in countries, is implementing the project GCP/RAB/012/ITA: Support Cooperation on Water Resources Management in the Lower Mesopotamia. The overall objective of the project is to promote sustainable development in the lower Mesopotamia by supporting countries cooperation to address common problems of water resource management. Due to the instability in the region and the open areas of tension on water management, the project seeks to implement a set of lower key alternatives that can, in addition to their technical and institutional collective benefits to improving water resources management, act politically as confidence building measures. This will be done by achieving the following outputs: (1) Established hydroeconomic modelling for the lower Mesopotamia region; (2) Strengthened capacity of national institutions in water resources management through the application of advanced tools and trained skills; (3) Enhanced understanding of river basin management and water quality issues at sub-basin level and improved water quality monitoring systems; (4) Set up a technical and institutional platform for a water resources early warning system; (5) Established and further developed lower Mesopotamia cooperation and coordination mechanisms; and (6) Implemented in country pilot projects on agriculture water management. The workshop Capacity development for farm management strategies to improve crop-water productivity using AquaCrop contributes to achieving output (2) by building the capacity of national institutions in water resources management. The main objective of the workshop was to build local through the application of FAO crop-water model, AquaCrop, so to develop their skills in strategic on-farm management towards increased crop-water productivity in rainfed and irrigated production systems. AquaCrop is a model that simulates yield response to water of herbaceous crops ( It is designed to balance simplicity, accuracy and robustness, and is particularly suited to address conditions where water is a key limiting factor in crop production. It is a companion tool for a wide range of users and applications including yield prediction under climate change scenarios. 2

4 Ever since January 2009, when the Land and Water Division of FAO released AquaCrop, training workshops have been organized all over the world in order to disseminate the use of this tool. These workshops count with the participation of staff from governmental and non-governmental agencies dealing with agricultural water resources management, from extension services formulating practical advices to farmers, or from relevant research or higher education institutions. Participants can be project managers, researchers, irrigation engineers, extension specialists, and teaching staff involved with the training of agricultural and/or water engineers. 2. ORGANIZATION AND VENUE The present report refers to the AquaCrop Workshop that took place at the International Hotel in Erbil (Iraq), from 2 to 6 December The training was organized by the following partners: The Land and Water Division of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations; The FAO Regional Office for the Near East, the FAO Office in Iraq, and the FAO Office in Iran; The Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources in Iran and Iraq. 3

5 3. PARTICIPANTS Seventeen participants attended the 5-day workshop. They came from several official institutes and organizations in Iran and Iraq. These are: the Iranian Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture, the University of Teheran, the Soil and Water Research Institute in Karaj (Iran), the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, the University of Baghdad, the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of the Kurdistan Region. The complete list of participants, with their respective organizations is provided below. Niazali Ebrahimipak Senior Expert Soil and Water Research Institute, Iran Jabbar Azizbeigi Head Engineer Water & Soil Ilam Agriculture Organization, Iran Mohammad Reza Emdad Researcher Soil and Water Research Institute, Iran Ali Banavand Irrigation Directorate Khuzestan Soil & Water Department Mehdi Panahi Researcher Soil and Water Research Institute, Iran Mohiaddin Goosheh Researcher Soil and Water Research Institute, Iran Abdolmajid Liaghat Professor Tehran University, Iran Fatemeh Ghafari Senior Expert Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture, Iran Fadhil Abbas Sharhan Al-Muttairi Water Resources Senior Chief Engineer Ministry of Agriculture, Iraq 4

6 Basim Majeed Hameed Al-Khazrajy Senior Chief Engineer Directorate of Water Resources, Diyala (Iraq) Amer Hasan Salih Al-Haddad Professor Water Resources Engineering Department University of Baghdad, Iraq Hawre Hassan Mohammed Senior Engineer Ministry of Agriculture & Water Resources, Kurdistan, Iraq Shawkat Saib Jameel Al-Kadhumi Senior engineer Ministry of Agriculture, Iraq Hadi Hashim Hussein Agricultural Engineer Ministry of Agriculture, Iraq Riyadh Mudheher Salih Senior agricultural engineer National Centre for Water Resources Management, Iraq Sardar Ibrahim Qanbar Expert Ministry of Agriculture & Water Resources, Kurdistan, Iraq Basim Tuama Naser Senior agricultural engineer National Center for Water Resources Management 5

7 4. PROGRAMME Each of the 5 workshop days was organized in 4 sessions of 1.5 hours each; two in the morning and two in the afternoon. The workshop programme was divided between theoretical sessions and practical sessions at the computer. In the morning the conceptual background, calculation procedures and features of the AquaCrop software were explained. The afternoon sessions were devoted to exercises at the PC. Each participant had its own PC. The timetable of the workshop is presented in Annex 2. At the start of the first day there was an opening ceremony with representatives from FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Kurdistan. Addresses were given by: Mr. Sardar Ibrahim Qanbar (Ministry of Agriculture & Water Resources, Kurdistan), who welcomed participants and gave an overview about the importance of the workshop and the cooperation between Iran and Iraq; Maher Salman (FAO, Rome) who gave an overview of the ongoing Lower Mesopotamia project funded by the Italian Cooperation; Dirk Raes (KU Leuven, Belgium) on the objectives of the workshop At the closing ceremony Mr. Muhammed Amin Faris, General Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources in Kurdistan, joined the workshop and gave the final speech. The content, relevance, delivery of the material, the level of the course, logistics and timing of the course were briefly discussed. At the end, the certificates of attendance were distributed to all the participants. 6

8 Number of participants Number of participants [Type text] 5. EVALUATION On the last day of the workshop, the participants received an evaluation form (Annex I) which they completed anonymously. In total, 20 filled evaluation forms were handed in General aspects of the AquaCrop Workshop How did you find the workshop? Comments Excellent Very good Satisfactory Weak Poor The workshop is quite beneficial How relevant was the workshop to your job? Comments Excellent Very good Satisfactory Weak Poor I find it relevant for my job, since I have a soil and water resources background 7

9 Nubmer of participants [Type text] How was the length of the workshop (5 days)? How was the time availability for theoretical and practical sessions? Excellent Very good Satisfactory Weak Poor length workshop theoretical sessions practical sessions Comments Length of workshop The length of the workshop should be longer than 5 days (especially for practical exercises) A second workshop (follow-up) would be needed Time for theory Not enough time It would need at least extra two days Time for practical sessions Not enough time It would need at least extra two days. It is suggested that each group from each country should bring their own data to work on during the practical sessions 8

10 5.2. Individual sessions of the workshop Quality of the theoretical sessions Excellent Very good Satisfactory Weak Poor Session Field management Irrigation management Initial soil water content Deficit irrigation Crops Soil characteristics Climate data Introduction to AQ Number of participants The quality of the practical sessions Excellent Very good Satisfactory Weak Poor Session Field management Irrigation management Initial soil water content Deficit irrigation Crops Soil characteristics Climate data Introduction to AQ Number of participants 9

11 Number of participants Number of participants [Type text] Comments In general all sessions were very clear. In the climate and crops session, more time to cover all aspects would be necessary. In the crops session, more explanation on varieties would be needed AquaCrop software Will AquaCrop be useful in your everyday work? Comments Excellent Very good Satisfactory Weak Poor AquaCrop is very useful and much needed for my job Is the AquaCrop interface easy to understand? Comments Excellent Very good Satisfactory Weak Poor Yes, for any specialist It would need more practice for a better understanding 10

12 5.4. Which is the most difficult part of the software to understand/use? Why? Replies Participants In general the software is easy to understand 3 The climate part. For example, the transfer of data from Excel to AquaCrop 3 The soil profile was difficult because; more background on the subject was needed 2 The crop part, since it is not my field 1 All the software was found difficult 1 Field management and deficit irrigation 1 Calibration and evaluation; they are understandable but more practice is needed 1 Calibration of climate change; as I don t have a scientific background on this subject Venue and organisation: Overall satisfaction Excellent Very good Satisfactory Weak Poor Comments Meals Accomodation Equipment and supplies Location & venue Very good preparation Preparation & planning Nubmer of participants 11

13 5.6. What were the best things about the course? Replies Participants The theory was very well explained 5 It s a new software, bringing new experiences 2 The simplicity and sequence of lectures and training 1 The power points that were used in the training course 1 The course will build a good relationship between the participants and could develop cooperation between the countries The implementation of the course is very good (with the combination of theory and practice) 1 It gave me a view about the potential ability to improve the rainfed and irrigated agriculture 1 The focus of crop, soil and irrigation What were the worse things about the course? Replies Participants The duration was short 4 Nothing 3 The practical sessions were sometimes a bit confusing Additional comments 12

14 6. PICTURES Closing ceremony Distribution of certificates at the closing ceremony Theoretical session Practical session Group picture of participants, organizers and trainers 13

15 ANNEX 1: Evaluation form Rating key 1-Poor / 2-Weak / 3- Satisfactory / 4-Very good / 5-Excellent 1. General aspects of the workshop Question Rating 1 to 5 Comments How did you find the workshop? How relevant was the workshop to your job? How was the length of the workshop (5 days)? How was the time availability for theoretical sessions? How was the time availability for practical sessions on the computer? 14

16 2. Individual sessions of the workshop Session Quality of the sessions Comments Theory Exercises on PC Introduction to AquaCrop Climate Soil Crop Initial soil water content and onset Irrigation management Field management Deficit irrigation Conclusions, way ahead 3. AquaCrop software Question Will AquaCrop be useful in your everyday work? Is the AquaCrop interface easy to understand? Rating 1 to 5 Comments 15

17 4. Which is the most difficult part of the software to understand/use? Why? 5. Venue and organisation: Overall satisfaction Aspect Preparation and planning Location and venue Equipment and supplies Accommodation Meals Rating 1 to 5 Comments 6. What were the best things about the course? What were the worst things about the course? Additional comments

18 ANNEX 2: Workshop Timetable Morning Session 1 from 9.00 to Introduction to AquaCrop MORNING programme Theoretical sessions Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Opening ceremony Introduction to the course Introduction to AquaCrop Presentation of AquaCrop userinterface Soil and Crop characteristics Soil characteristics: Soil Physical Characteristics Soil Water content Soil Water balance Soil water movement Specification of soil characteristics in AquaCrop Yield response to water Crop characteristics: Crop Transpiration Biomass production Yield response to water Coffee/tea break Irrigation & Field management Irrigated farming Net irrigation requirement Irrigation schedule Generation of Irrigation schedule Deficit irrigation Applications and climate change Climate change Soil salinity Deriving practical guidelines from simulation results: Presentation of case studies Formulation of guidelines Morning Session 2 from to Climate Reference ET (ETo) Agroclimatic data collection and processing Required weather data for AquaCrop Crop characteristics: Canopy development Tuning of canopy development to local environmental conditions Crop canopy response to water Creating and updating projects Crop characteristics: Yield response to water (cont.) Tuning of crop parameters Rainfed farming: Initial soil water content Start of growing cycle Farm management Water saving techniques Flooded rice Soil fertility and crop responses Calibration of soil fertility stress Calibration/Validation Feedbacks and follow up by the participants Closing ceremony [Type text]

19 Afternoon Session 1 from to AFTERNOON programme Practical sessions Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Climatic data processing Practical Exercise on PC: ETo calculator Input of climatic data and calculation of ETo Simulations with AquaCrop Practical Exercise on PC: Database management (Soil) Database management (Crop) Canopy development Simulations with AquaCrop Practical Exercise on PC: Database management (Crop) Response to water stresses Response to temperature stresses Irrigation & Field management Practical Exercise on PC: Database management (Irrigation) Irrigation scheduling Coffee/Tea break Afternoon Session 2 from to Practical Exercise on PC: ETo calculator Import of climatic data AquaCrop: Database management (Climate) Practical Exercise on PC: Database management (Crop) Canopy development Practical Exercise on PC: Initial soil water content Start of the growing cycle (rainfed agriculture) Practical Exercise on PC: Database management (Field Management) Limited soil fertility Shaded cells refer to practical exercises at PC 1

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