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In de geïrrigeerde landbouw wordt op grote schaal gedeeltelijk of helemaal niet gezuiverd water gebruikt. Ingegaan wordt op de vraag hoe via voorlichting en zuiveringstechnieken kostenbewust hergebruik van water voor de landbouw kan plaatsvinden zonder dat pathogene organismen terechtkomen bij de consument, de omwonenden of de boeren

Key words: Alternate wetting and drying, Climate change adaptation, Crop growth simulation models, Genotype × environment interaction, N use efficiency, Oryza sativa L., Phenology, Sahelian irrigation schemes, Sowing date, Spikelet sterility, Temperature increase, Water productivity, Weed control. In the vulnerable environment of the Sahel with its erratic rainfall pattern, irrigated rice production is of major importance. To aid Sahelian rice farmers to sustain irrigated rice production, this study explores management options. It includes field experiments performed at two typical Sahelian sites and simulation studies using crop growth simulation models. This thesis provides evidence that it is possible to use less irrigation water while maintaining rice production, thus increasing water productivity. The effects of a temperature increase on the growing cycle and spikelet sterility of new rice varieties in interaction with different sowing dates is quantified. The simulation results show that the sowing window will be restricted and that the cultivar choice may alter; together they will remain the most important determinants of rice production in the coming decades. In Chapter 2, field experiments involving three water saving regimes using combinations of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and flooding and a fully flooded control show that between 480 and 1060 mm of irrigation water was used in the water saving treatments compared with 800 to 1490 mm in the flooded rice treatment. Water productivity of the water-saving treatments was higher than of the flooded control, and yields ranged between 141 and 56% of the control. When weeds were controlled, crop yields obtained with a combination of AWD and flooding were comparable with those obtained in fully flooded plots receiving the same weed management. In Ndiaye, agronomic N use efficiency was smaller in the AWD treatments compared with fully flooded conditions. An irrigation regime for rice that starts as conventional (flooded), and then changes to AWD can save water with little or no yield loss, while maintaining low weed pressure and efficient use of N. To assess genotype adaptability, in Chapter 3 the results of experiments involving five genotypes, sown on 15 consecutive dates are presented. Yield (0-12t ha–1) and crop cycle duration (117-190 days) varied with sowing date, genotype and site. Rice yield was very sensitive to sowing date and the associated temperature regimes. Spikelet sterility due to cold stress (T < 20oC) was observed when the crops were sown betweenAugust and October,and heat stress (T > 35oC) resulted in spikelet sterility for sowingin April and May. For the simulation studies of Chapter 4, experimental data were used to calibrate both the DSSAT and ORYZA2000 models. Original genetic coefficients of DSSAT did not simulate phenology well, while genetic coefficients that did, resulted in lower than observed yields. Simulations by ORYZA_S and ORYZA2000 resulted in an increase in simulation error at sowing dates in the last three months of the year. The results show that local calibration at the same sowing date is needed. In the African Sahel, a temperature increase of between 1.8 and 4.7oC is predicted by 2080. Simulations by an improved and validated version of ORYZA2000 presented in Chapter 5 show that rice crop cycle length will decrease by 10‒30 days. The results suggest that with projected temperature changes, timing of sowing and consequently of the risk for crop loss due to sterility will remain the major determinant of rice yield. There is an urgent need for heat tolerant rice varieties. Without adaptation, cropping calendars will change, in the worst case scenario only a single crop will be possible. I conclude by suggesting viable options for adaptive management of irrigated rice in the changing environments of the Sahel to sustain production in the 21stcentury.

This case-study is designed to support the development of the Viet Nam – Netherlands Water Partnership on Water for Food and Ecosystems. The partnership is between Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV). IUCN has been asked to coordinate the Partnership development process, including through undertaking study that will identify strategies for the management of water resources that balance agricultural production with the maintenance of the integrity of critical ecosystems that depend on adequate water flows. The case study is being carried out in Hop Tien commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam. The purpose of the case study is to identify mechanisms based on that water resources management, which are traditionally approached as single purpose management regimes, should be enhanced to become more integrated, multi-stakeholder based management systems. At the irrigation scheme level, water resources management is considered as irrigation governance and management. The integrated approach is carried out with considerations of various interests such as irrigation, domestic water supply and fishery in Hop Tien commune. On the other hand, issues of saving water, water resources protection should be paid attention in the case study to ensure sustainable water resources development in the area.

This thesis is a study of a modernised irrigation scheme in Tanzania. It aims to understand how irrigation and agricultural technologies have interacted with local society to transform production, paying particular attention to gender relations and changes for women farmers. The thesis seeks to contribute to a better understanding of what kinds of livelihood and production changes (negative and positive) eventuate under ‘modernised’ irrigation systems, and how these contrast with conditions under the older local irrigation systems the scheme has replaced. The central research question of the thesis is to understand how irrigation modernisation in the 1980s shaped, and has been reshaped by, the livelihood needs and options of water users. The thesis analyses the initiatives and interactions of agents at various levels – i.e. international, national, community and farm levels – as they attempt to make use of and adjust to the technical and operational demands of a modern scheme. In methodological terms, this thesis is guided by a technographic approach, as advocated by Richards (2002), Richards (2007) and Bolding (2005). A technographic approach ‘focuses on the complex interactions between social groups, collective representations, innovation processes, technical artifacts and nature’. In this case technography is applied to a socio-technical institution, the Lower Moshi irrigation scheme, located in semi-arid lowland terrain at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. The research work took place over three seasons. In addition to careful examination of project documentation, and interviews with project staff, the study also undertook a randomised sample survey of 300 farmers in the four main project area settlements, and made detailed observational studies across the agricultural cycle of a smaller number of farm holdings owned and operated by both men and women farmers. Since only about 30% of farmers within the scheme actually cultivate irrigated plots sampling was designed to ensure proper representation of non-irrigating farmers, since the activities of this poorer (non-irrigating) group is crucial to the understanding the socio-economic dynamics of the scheme more generally. Finally, some attention was paid to off-scheme communities. Many of the technical problems experienced by the scheme (notably, the failure to distribute water in volumes originally planned) relate to concurrent socio-economic and technical changes taking place in up-stream communities, in particular, and an account is offered of some aspects of these off-project agro-technical changes, and of the disputes that then arose over water rights. The thesis first offers an historical summary of irrigation in the Kilimanjaro region, based on secondary sources and project documentation. In this part of Africa the mountains are wet and forested, and the surrounding plains are dry. The Chagga people (Wa-Chagga) were densely populated on the mountain, farming the wetter slopes intensively in the 19th century, and it was an aim of colonial government to resettle “excess” population in the plains. Some development of irrigation took place from the 1920s to encourage this relocation of population, and a diverse population (mainly but not exclusively Wa-Chagga) settled in Lower Moshi district to farm, assisted by possibilities of irrigation. After independence, the Japanese government offered funding and technical assistance to the Tanzanian government to modernise, re-develop and extend irrigation in Lower Moshi, and a new scheme came into operation in the 1980s, with a strong emphasis on intensive rice production, using high-yielding (Green Revolution) semi-dwarf varieties such as IR54. 22 7 The central finding from this part of the analysis (covered mainly in Chapters 1 and 2) is that the planners did not sufficiently take into account that irrigation in Lower Moshi and among Wa-Chagga and neighboring populations was no new thing. Many of the technical and social problems the scheme subsequently faced can be traced to the fact that farmers were already familiar with irrigation techniques and had developed traditional institutional arrangements to handle water rights and labour burdens. Farmers outside the scheme undercut it by being quick to adopt some project innovations, and to adapt their own practices accordingly. They also diverted water from flowing into the scheme, arguing that access to water from the mountain was an established traditional right under British rule, and still respected by the independent government of Tanzania. The scheme thus failed to develop the area originally intended, and is chronically short of water, undermining the confidence of farmers within the scheme in its management procedures. A further important finding is that women were largely excluded from the associations involved in traditional irrigation water management (apart from providing labour on specific occasions) and gendered notions of task and property rooted in local tradition have continued to influence land inheritance and water rights within the modern scheme. Actual as opposed to planned workings of the scheme are addressed in Chapters 3 and 4, and an account is offered of the introduction of new agricultural technology. Impacts or changes in relation to crop production, hired employment and other production strategies, and income distribution among population are discussed, along with impact on livelihoods. The scheme has had a highly layered impact. Those able to secure plots with reliable water do, indeed, make money out of intensive rice production, but the percentage is rather small, since the project is not able to irrigate reliably, or at all, many areas within the scheme. Farmers in tail end areas with unreliable water, or able only to farm land the project has never succeeded to irrigate, lack the capacity to influence management to change water distribution in their favour. The scheme lacks capital to invest in technical solutions to inadequate water distribution, but in any case the major problem lies in reduced flow, in part a product of up-stream diversions by non-scheme farmers. The project management has failed to assert its legal water right, since the government agrees that traditional rights also apply. Scheme management and maintenance suffer as a result. Farmers without water do not see why they should help maintain the scheme or pay dues. Some solve their problems by becoming “free riders” and acquire water by illegal means; others focus on (less profitable) dry-land crops. A range of these conflicts is examined, including contradictions between different classes of scheme settlers, e.g. wealthier farmers with better access to the scarce water and poorer farmers (including women plot owners) found in tail end areas. A complex interaction of modern property regimes and customary values in the modernisation process is reported. Irrigation project managements in Africa need to take account of these legal and cultural complexities. Intra-household gender relations are a specific focus in the later chapters of the thesis (5-6). Women play a crucial role in the agricultural labour process, both in irrigated and non-irrigated agriculture. They are (by custom) the major providers of household food, while husbands focus on earning cash for other household expenses. The introduction of a cash crop (rice) complicates this division of responsibility. Women continue to provide labour on irrigated plots, but men assume the main decision making role. A small number of women has acquired rights to irrigated land on the scheme (through purchase or inheritance) but a majority are in the position of farm workers or tenants. Irrigated rice increases women's labour burdens and 228 responsibilities, since this is a cash crop and they still have to work on household food crops as well. The scheme has continued to show many of the problems of public irrigation development in Africa since the 1970s discussed in the introduction. However, the situation in Lower Moshi is not as reported for parts of (West) Africa, where women have been supplanted by men in (modernised) rice farming. Here women never enjoyed rights over irrigated crops. What has happened on the scheme is that their burdens have intensified. In cases where women have no husbands they tend to be among the poorest farmers residing within the scheme, with little reliable water or farming only rain-fed crops. In short, the scheme has widened the gap between rich and poor, and intensified existing gender inequalities, in regard to ownership of plots, agricultural output, division of labour, and coping strategies. The thesis also shows that there are strong gender differentials in water rights and in participation in water management. Alienation of women from management and repair undermines scheme renewal. Irrigation management must develop a stronger focus on gender issues to overcome challenges of inequitable water access, if it is to provide any wider opportunities for better livelihoods, food security and nutrition in the area.

This thesis is a study of a modernised irrigation scheme in Tanzania. It aims to understand how irrigation and agricultural technologies have interacted with local society to transform production, paying particular attention to gender relations and changes for women farmers. The thesis seeks to contribute to a better understanding of what kinds of livelihood and production changes (negative and positive) eventuate under ‘modernised’ irrigation systems, and how these contrast with conditions under the older local irrigation systems the scheme has replaced. The central research question of the thesis is to understand how irrigation modernisation in the 1980s shaped, and has been reshaped by, the livelihood needs and options of water users. The thesis analyses the initiatives and interactions of agents at various levels – i.e. international, national, community and farm levels – as they attempt to make use of and adjust to the technical and operational demands of a modern scheme. In methodological terms, this thesis is guided by a technographic approach, as advocated by Richards (2002), Richards (2007) and Bolding (2005). A technographic approach ‘focuses on the complex interactions between social groups, collective representations, innovation processes, technical artifacts and nature’. In this case technography is applied to a socio-technical institution, the Lower Moshi irrigation scheme, located in semi-arid lowland terrain at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. The research work took place over three seasons. In addition to careful examination of project documentation, and interviews with project staff, the study also undertook a randomised sample survey of 300 farmers in the four main project area settlements, and made detailed observational studies across the agricultural cycle of a smaller number of farm holdings owned and operated by both men and women farmers. Since only about 30% of farmers within the scheme actually cultivate irrigated plots sampling was designed to ensure proper representation of non-irrigating farmers, since the activities of this poorer (non-irrigating) group is crucial to the understanding the socio-economic dynamics of the scheme more generally. Finally, some attention was paid to off-scheme communities. Many of the technical problems experienced by the scheme (notably, the failure to distribute water in volumes originally planned) relate to concurrent socio-economic and technical changes taking place in up-stream communities, in particular, and an account is offered of some aspects of these off-project agro-technical changes, and of the disputes that then arose over water rights. The thesis first offers an historical summary of irrigation in the Kilimanjaro region, based on secondary sources and project documentation. In this part of Africa the mountains are wet and forested, and the surrounding plains are dry. The Chagga people (Wa-Chagga) were densely populated on the mountain, farming the wetter slopes intensively in the 19th century, and it was an aim of colonial government to resettle “excess” population in the plains. Some development of irrigation took place from the 1920s to encourage this relocation of population, and a diverse population (mainly but not exclusively Wa-Chagga) settled in Lower Moshi district to farm, assisted by possibilities of irrigation. After independence, the Japanese government offered funding and technical assistance to the Tanzanian government to modernise, re-develop and extend irrigation in Lower Moshi, and a new scheme came into operation in the 1980s, with a strong emphasis on intensive rice production, using high-yielding (Green Revolution) semi-dwarf varieties such as IR54. 22 7 The central finding from this part of the analysis (covered mainly in Chapters 1 and 2) is that the planners did not sufficiently take into account that irrigation in Lower Moshi and among Wa-Chagga and neighboring populations was no new thing. Many of the technical and social problems the scheme subsequently faced can be traced to the fact that farmers were already familiar with irrigation techniques and had developed traditional institutional arrangements to handle water rights and labour burdens. Farmers outside the scheme undercut it by being quick to adopt some project innovations, and to adapt their own practices accordingly. They also diverted water from flowing into the scheme, arguing that access to water from the mountain was an established traditional right under British rule, and still respected by the independent government of Tanzania. The scheme thus failed to develop the area originally intended, and is chronically short of water, undermining the confidence of farmers within the scheme in its management procedures. A further important finding is that women were largely excluded from the associations involved in traditional irrigation water management (apart from providing labour on specific occasions) and gendered notions of task and property rooted in local tradition have continued to influence land inheritance and water rights within the modern scheme. Actual as opposed to planned workings of the scheme are addressed in Chapters 3 and 4, and an account is offered of the introduction of new agricultural technology. Impacts or changes in relation to crop production, hired employment and other production strategies, and income distribution among population are discussed, along with impact on livelihoods. The scheme has had a highly layered impact. Those able to secure plots with reliable water do, indeed, make money out of intensive rice production, but the percentage is rather small, since the project is not able to irrigate reliably, or at all, many areas within the scheme. Farmers in tail end areas with unreliable water, or able only to farm land the project has never succeeded to irrigate, lack the capacity to influence management to change water distribution in their favour. The scheme lacks capital to invest in technical solutions to inadequate water distribution, but in any case the major problem lies in reduced flow, in part a product of up-stream diversions by non-scheme farmers. The project management has failed to assert its legal water right, since the government agrees that traditional rights also apply. Scheme management and maintenance suffer as a result. Farmers without water do not see why they should help maintain the scheme or pay dues. Some solve their problems by becoming “free riders” and acquire water by illegal means; others focus on (less profitable) dry-land crops. A range of these conflicts is examined, including contradictions between different classes of scheme settlers, e.g. wealthier farmers with better access to the scarce water and poorer farmers (including women plot owners) found in tail end areas. A complex interaction of modern property regimes and customary values in the modernisation process is reported. Irrigation project managements in Africa need to take account of these legal and cultural complexities. Intra-household gender relations are a specific focus in the later chapters of the thesis (5-6). Women play a crucial role in the agricultural labour process, both in irrigated and non-irrigated agriculture. They are (by custom) the major providers of household food, while husbands focus on earning cash for other household expenses. The introduction of a cash crop (rice) complicates this division of responsibility. Women continue to provide labour on irrigated plots, but men assume the main decision making role. A small number of women has acquired rights to irrigated land on the scheme (through purchase or inheritance) but a majority are in the position of farm workers or tenants. Irrigated rice increases women's labour burdens and 228 responsibilities, since this is a cash crop and they still have to work on household food crops as well. The scheme has continued to show many of the problems of public irrigation development in Africa since the 1970s discussed in the introduction. However, the situation in Lower Moshi is not as reported for parts of (West) Africa, where women have been supplanted by men in (modernised) rice farming. Here women never enjoyed rights over irrigated crops. What has happened on the scheme is that their burdens have intensified. In cases where women have no husbands they tend to be among the poorest farmers residing within the scheme, with little reliable water or farming only rain-fed crops. In short, the scheme has widened the gap between rich and poor, and intensified existing gender inequalities, in regard to ownership of plots, agricultural output, division of labour, and coping strategies. The thesis also shows that there are strong gender differentials in water rights and in participation in water management. Alienation of women from management and repair undermines scheme renewal. Irrigation management must develop a stronger focus on gender issues to overcome challenges of inequitable water access, if it is to provide any wider opportunities for better livelihoods, food security and nutrition in the area.

This case-study is designed to support the development of the Viet Nam – Netherlands Water Partnership on Water for Food and Ecosystems. The partnership is between Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV). IUCN has been asked to coordinate the Partnership development process, including through undertaking study that will identify strategies for the management of water resources that balance agricultural production with the maintenance of the integrity of critical ecosystems that depend on adequate water flows. The case study is being carried out in Hop Tien commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam. The purpose of the case study is to identify mechanisms based on that water resources management, which are traditionally approached as single purpose management regimes, should be enhanced to become more integrated, multi-stakeholder based management systems. At the irrigation scheme level, water resources management is considered as irrigation governance and management. The integrated approach is carried out with considerations of various interests such as irrigation, domestic water supply and fishery in Hop Tien commune. On the other hand, issues of saving water, water resources protection should be paid attention in the case study to ensure sustainable water resources development in the area.

FLOW-AID is a 6th Framework European project which started in autumn 2006. Its objective is to contribute to sustainability of irrigated agriculture by developing, testing in relevant conditions, and then optimizing an irrigation management system that can be used at farm level. The system will be used in situations where there is a limited water supply and water quality. The project integrates innovative sensor technologies into a decision support system for irrigation management, taking into consideration relevant factors in a number of Mediterranean countries. Its specific objectives are to develop and test new and innovative, but simple and affordable, technical hardware and software concepts for irrigation under deficit, at farms in a large variety of set-ups and constraints. It focuses on a maintenance free tensiometer; wireless, low-power sensor networks; an expert system to assist farm zoning and crop planning, in view of expected water availability, amount and quality; and a short-term irrigation scheduling module that allocates available water among several plots and schedules irrigation for each one

Keywords: Modified rice cultivation, Water-saving, Farm typology, Technology adoption, Policy interventions, Farmers livelihoods, Resource use efficiency and Linear programming. The looming water crisis and water-intensive nature of rice cultivation are driving the search for alternative management methods to increase water productivity in rice cultivation. Solely reducing water use in rice resulted in proportional reduction in yield, hence various management practices of rice cultivation have to change simultaneously to enhance water productivity, without reducing the productivity of other factors, primarily land (i.e. yield), labour and fertilizer. Experiments were conducted under on-station and on-farm conditions to compare rice production using modified methods of planting, irrigation, weeding, and nutrient management with conventional methods of cultivation. An yield advantage of up to 1.5 t ha–1 was achieved with a water-saving of 40% for the combination of modified methods over conventional methods. However, adoption by farmers remained limited due to the increased labour demand for modified planting, unwillingness of agricultural labourers to change practices, difficulties with modified nursery preparation and gender issues related to mechanical weeding. Potential for adoption of novel cultivation practices depends on the structure and functioning of the farm, hence four rice-based farm types were identified based on biophysical and socio-economic characteristics of the farms using principal component analysis. Opportunities exists in all four farm types to adopt one or more components of modified rice cultivation, but change in government policies are needed to improve adoption such as rules and regulations, pricing, institution building and infrastructure development, as well as training and education to farmers. An identical set of policy interventions cannot be applicable in all farm types since current resource use efficiencies and adaptability to changes differed substantially. Hence, we quantified current use efficiency of water, labour, nutrient and capital in all four farm types both at crop and farm level and qualitatively assessed the possible impact of different policy measures differentiated per farm type. A multi objective linear programming (MGLP) model was developed to explore quantitatively the impact of government policies introducing water pricing and water quota on adoption of modified rice cultivation including water-saving irrigation and related impact on farm profit. The combination of modifying rice cultivation and water pricing was effective in achieving both the objectives of farmers (i.e. maximizing income) and the society at large (i.e. increasing the use efficiency of water resources through inclusion of modified rice cultivation in the farming plan). The required degree of water pricing has to be kept low since higher prices lead to decrease in farm profit. Impact differed across farm types and affected poor resource endowed farmers most. Providing water quota can be an option to protect the livelihoods of poor resource endowed farmers. Apart from government water pricing and quota, policy instruments such as training and education in modified rice cultivation practices, development of irrigation infrastructure and organised cooperative management of commonly available water resources could have impact on the adoption of modified rice cultivation but this remains to be clarified.

Keywords: Modified rice cultivation, Water-saving, Farm typology, Technology adoption, Policy interventions, Farmers livelihoods, Resource use efficiency and Linear programming. The looming water crisis and water-intensive nature of rice cultivation are driving the search for alternative management methods to increase water productivity in rice cultivation. Solely reducing water use in rice resulted in proportional reduction in yield, hence various management practices of rice cultivation have to change simultaneously to enhance water productivity, without reducing the productivity of other factors, primarily land (i.e. yield), labour and fertilizer. Experiments were conducted under on-station and on-farm conditions to compare rice production using modified methods of planting, irrigation, weeding, and nutrient management with conventional methods of cultivation. An yield advantage of up to 1.5 t ha–1 was achieved with a water-saving of 40% for the combination of modified methods over conventional methods. However, adoption by farmers remained limited due to the increased labour demand for modified planting, unwillingness of agricultural labourers to change practices, difficulties with modified nursery preparation and gender issues related to mechanical weeding. Potential for adoption of novel cultivation practices depends on the structure and functioning of the farm, hence four rice-based farm types were identified based on biophysical and socio-economic characteristics of the farms using principal component analysis. Opportunities exists in all four farm types to adopt one or more components of modified rice cultivation, but change in government policies are needed to improve adoption such as rules and regulations, pricing, institution building and infrastructure development, as well as training and education to farmers. An identical set of policy interventions cannot be applicable in all farm types since current resource use efficiencies and adaptability to changes differed substantially. Hence, we quantified current use efficiency of water, labour, nutrient and capital in all four farm types both at crop and farm level and qualitatively assessed the possible impact of different policy measures differentiated per farm type. A multi objective linear programming (MGLP) model was developed to explore quantitatively the impact of government policies introducing water pricing and water quota on adoption of modified rice cultivation including water-saving irrigation and related impact on farm profit. The combination of modifying rice cultivation and water pricing was effective in achieving both the objectives of farmers (i.e. maximizing income) and the society at large (i.e. increasing the use efficiency of water resources through inclusion of modified rice cultivation in the farming plan). The required degree of water pricing has to be kept low since higher prices lead to decrease in farm profit. Impact differed across farm types and affected poor resource endowed farmers most. Providing water quota can be an option to protect the livelihoods of poor resource endowed farmers. Apart from government water pricing and quota, policy instruments such as training and education in modified rice cultivation practices, development of irrigation infrastructure and organised cooperative management of commonly available water resources could have impact on the adoption of modified rice cultivation but this remains to be clarified.

FLOW-AID is a 6th Framework European project which started in autumn 2006. Its objective is to contribute to sustainability of irrigated agriculture by developing, testing in relevant conditions, and then optimizing an irrigation management system that can be used at farm level. The system will be used in situations where there is a limited water supply and water quality. The project integrates innovative sensor technologies into a decision support system for irrigation management, taking into consideration relevant factors in a number of Mediterranean countries. Its specific objectives are to develop and test new and innovative, but simple and affordable, technical hardware and software concepts for irrigation under deficit, at farms in a large variety of set-ups and constraints. It focuses on a maintenance free tensiometer; wireless, low-power sensor networks; an expert system to assist farm zoning and crop planning, in view of expected water availability, amount and quality; and a short-term irrigation scheduling module that allocates available water among several plots and schedules irrigation for each one

Iran faces widespread droughts regularly, causing large economical and social damages. The agricultural sector is with 80-90 % by far the largest user of water in Iran and is often the first sector to be affected by drought. Unfortunately, water management in agriculture is also rather poor and hence water productivity of crops WP is far below potential. The growing water scarcity due to drought and the increasing water demands of industries, households and environment, are major threats to sustainable agricultural development in Iran. Therefore, the development of a reliable agricultural drought assessment system would be very beneficial for proper operational decision making on farms, for early warning, for identification of potential vulnerability of areas and for mitigation of drought impacts. Given the current water scarcity, the limited available amount of water should be used as efficient as possible. To explore on-farm strategies which result in higher WP-values and thus economic gains, the physically based agrohydrological model Soil Water Atmosphere Plant (SWAP), was calibrated and validated using measured data at 8 selected farmer’s fields (wheat, fodder maize, sunflower and sugar beet) in the Borkhar irrigation district in Iran during the agricultural year 2004-05. Using the calibrated SWAP model, on-farm strategies i.e. deficit irrigation scheduling, optimal irrigation intervals and extent of cultivated area, were analyzed based on relations between WP- indicators and water consumption. The results showed a large potential of the improvement of water productivity under limited water supply in the Borkhar irrigation district. Although agrohydrological models like SWAP offer the possibilities for predicting crop yield, such models may become inaccurate because of uncertainty of input parameters like irrigation scheduling, soil hydraulic parameters and planting dates. This holds especially true when applying distributed modelling at regional scale. Hence to reduce the uncertainty in application of SWAP at regional scales, remotely sensed data of leaf area index and evapotranspiration were used in combination with a geographical information system. The remotely sensed data were inserted into the distributed SWAP model using data assimilation techniques i.e. sequential updating. Data of LAI were derived from Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) spectral bands of remote sensing data with moderate to high spatial resolution. However, due to resolution limitations of existing remotely sensed data i.e. thermal bands, these data could not be used directly for routine ET estimation of individual fields. Therefore, a new disaggregation method based on linear disaggregation of ET components within each MODIS pixel, was developed and applied to the simulated MODIS data. The results of the proposed approach were further compared with two other disaggregation approaches being based on weighted ratios, as derived from dividing ET maps of high and low spatial resolution data. The biggest advantage of the proposed linear disaggregation approach was that the number of high spatial resolution images needed in this method is low, i.e. the approach can even be applied using one land cover map only. As in many regions access to high spatial resolution thermal images is currently not possible, the linear disaggregation method can still be used to assess drought impacts far in advance. Water balance components as computed by SWAP are quite sensitive to the upper boundary conditions, and hence to irrigation times and application depths. In order to know how much water has been applied, the cumulative actual ET data were therefore used in an automatic calibration mode, i.e. inverse modelling of irrigation scheduling. The ability of inverse modelling to reproduce the initial irrigation times and depth, was first investigated using forward cumulative SWAP simulated ET data based on 5, 15 and 30 days. Thereafter, the cumulative disaggregated remotely sensed ET data based on 5 days were used in the inverse modelling process. The results showed that the performance of inverse modelling is promising in identifying the irrigation time and depth of irrigation using 5 days based cumulative ET data. However, irrigation amounts, which rewet the soil profile beyond field capacity and thus cause excessive percolation, could not be detected by the applied inverse modelling approach. Also, assimilation of remotely sensed data into a distributed SWAP by automatic calibration needed a large amount of computation time, especially at regional scale. Hence, to insert the valuable information from remotely sensed land surface data into the SWAP model at regional scale, a simple updating assimilation technique was used. The SWAP model was implemented in a distributed way using the spatial distributed information of soil types, land use and water supply on a raster basis with a grid size of 250 m. In order to link spatial information data with SWAP, a coupling program was written by the author in MATLAB. This program took care of the transfer of in- and output data from one system to the other, as well as to run the model for each pixel. To have a prediction of crop yield far in advance, the sequential updating process of remotely sensed based data (LAI and/or relative evapotranspiration ET/ETp) was halted at one respectively two months before the end of the wheat growing season. During the sequential updating process known weather data were used, while for the remaining part of the growing season different scenarios were considered based on weather data of a dry, wet and normal year. A value for the optimum gain factor Kg, that performed best with respect to the observations, was selected Simulation with assimilation of both LAI and ET/ETp -data at both the regional and field scale (bias about %) was very promising in forecasting crop production one month in advance. However, longer term predictions i.e. two months in advance, resulted in a higher bias between the simulated and statistical data. It appeared that in the assimilation process LAI data have a dominant influence. Because of this dominant influence, it is suggested to repeat the assimilation process using the LAI data of the most advanced satellite i.e. IRS-P6 (ResourceSAT1&2) with higher spatial and temporal resolution. The surface water in the Borkhar irrigation canal network is provided by diversion of the water from the Zayande Rud river. Since this river is mainly fed by the snow melt from January to April, a comprehensive drought assessment system on seasonal basis can be developed by integration of the developed agricultural drought assessment system with the estimates of available surface water being derived from snow pack and snow cover.

In de geïrrigeerde landbouw wordt op grote schaal gedeeltelijk of helemaal niet gezuiverd water gebruikt. Ingegaan wordt op de vraag hoe via voorlichting en zuiveringstechnieken kostenbewust hergebruik van water voor de landbouw kan plaatsvinden zonder dat pathogene organismen terechtkomen bij de consument, de omwonenden of de boeren

Iran faces widespread droughts regularly, causing large economical and social damages. The agricultural sector is with 80-90 % by far the largest user of water in Iran and is often the first sector to be affected by drought. Unfortunately, water management in agriculture is also rather poor and hence water productivity of crops WP is far below potential. The growing water scarcity due to drought and the increasing water demands of industries, households and environment, are major threats to sustainable agricultural development in Iran. Therefore, the development of a reliable agricultural drought assessment system would be very beneficial for proper operational decision making on farms, for early warning, for identification of potential vulnerability of areas and for mitigation of drought impacts. Given the current water scarcity, the limited available amount of water should be used as efficient as possible. To explore on-farm strategies which result in higher WP-values and thus economic gains, the physically based agrohydrological model Soil Water Atmosphere Plant (SWAP), was calibrated and validated using measured data at 8 selected farmer’s fields (wheat, fodder maize, sunflower and sugar beet) in the Borkhar irrigation district in Iran during the agricultural year 2004-05. Using the calibrated SWAP model, on-farm strategies i.e. deficit irrigation scheduling, optimal irrigation intervals and extent of cultivated area, were analyzed based on relations between WP- indicators and water consumption. The results showed a large potential of the improvement of water productivity under limited water supply in the Borkhar irrigation district. Although agrohydrological models like SWAP offer the possibilities for predicting crop yield, such models may become inaccurate because of uncertainty of input parameters like irrigation scheduling, soil hydraulic parameters and planting dates. This holds especially true when applying distributed modelling at regional scale. Hence to reduce the uncertainty in application of SWAP at regional scales, remotely sensed data of leaf area index and evapotranspiration were used in combination with a geographical information system. The remotely sensed data were inserted into the distributed SWAP model using data assimilation techniques i.e. sequential updating. Data of LAI were derived from Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) spectral bands of remote sensing data with moderate to high spatial resolution. However, due to resolution limitations of existing remotely sensed data i.e. thermal bands, these data could not be used directly for routine ET estimation of individual fields. Therefore, a new disaggregation method based on linear disaggregation of ET components within each MODIS pixel, was developed and applied to the simulated MODIS data. The results of the proposed approach were further compared with two other disaggregation approaches being based on weighted ratios, as derived from dividing ET maps of high and low spatial resolution data. The biggest advantage of the proposed linear disaggregation approach was that the number of high spatial resolution images needed in this method is low, i.e. the approach can even be applied using one land cover map only. As in many regions access to high spatial resolution thermal images is currently not possible, the linear disaggregation method can still be used to assess drought impacts far in advance. Water balance components as computed by SWAP are quite sensitive to the upper boundary conditions, and hence to irrigation times and application depths. In order to know how much water has been applied, the cumulative actual ET data were therefore used in an automatic calibration mode, i.e. inverse modelling of irrigation scheduling. The ability of inverse modelling to reproduce the initial irrigation times and depth, was first investigated using forward cumulative SWAP simulated ET data based on 5, 15 and 30 days. Thereafter, the cumulative disaggregated remotely sensed ET data based on 5 days were used in the inverse modelling process. The results showed that the performance of inverse modelling is promising in identifying the irrigation time and depth of irrigation using 5 days based cumulative ET data. However, irrigation amounts, which rewet the soil profile beyond field capacity and thus cause excessive percolation, could not be detected by the applied inverse modelling approach. Also, assimilation of remotely sensed data into a distributed SWAP by automatic calibration needed a large amount of computation time, especially at regional scale. Hence, to insert the valuable information from remotely sensed land surface data into the SWAP model at regional scale, a simple updating assimilation technique was used. The SWAP model was implemented in a distributed way using the spatial distributed information of soil types, land use and water supply on a raster basis with a grid size of 250 m. In order to link spatial information data with SWAP, a coupling program was written by the author in MATLAB. This program took care of the transfer of in- and output data from one system to the other, as well as to run the model for each pixel. To have a prediction of crop yield far in advance, the sequential updating process of remotely sensed based data (LAI and/or relative evapotranspiration ET/ETp) was halted at one respectively two months before the end of the wheat growing season. During the sequential updating process known weather data were used, while for the remaining part of the growing season different scenarios were considered based on weather data of a dry, wet and normal year. A value for the optimum gain factor Kg, that performed best with respect to the observations, was selected Simulation with assimilation of both LAI and ET/ETp -data at both the regional and field scale (bias about %) was very promising in forecasting crop production one month in advance. However, longer term predictions i.e. two months in advance, resulted in a higher bias between the simulated and statistical data. It appeared that in the assimilation process LAI data have a dominant influence. Because of this dominant influence, it is suggested to repeat the assimilation process using the LAI data of the most advanced satellite i.e. IRS-P6 (ResourceSAT1&2) with higher spatial and temporal resolution. The surface water in the Borkhar irrigation canal network is provided by diversion of the water from the Zayande Rud river. Since this river is mainly fed by the snow melt from January to April, a comprehensive drought assessment system on seasonal basis can be developed by integration of the developed agricultural drought assessment system with the estimates of available surface water being derived from snow pack and snow cover.

The depleted fraction, defined as the ratio of ETactual over total inflow (P Vc), relates parameters of the water balance of an irrigated area with each other in such a way that the (water) manager obtains information on the rate of change of water stored in the area (soil moisture and groundwater). If the annual average of the depleted fraction equals about 0.6 water storage in the area is stable, while water is stored for lower values of the depleted fraction. If the value of the depleted fraction exceeds about 0.6, the volume of water stored in the area decreases. This decrease is partly due to natural drainage and partly due to capillary rise into the root zone of the irrigated crop. Despite this capillary rise, the actual evapo-transpiration drops below the potential ET-value. For most crops, a decrease of ET by about 25 percent would result in a higher productivity in terms of yield per cubic meter water. However, the yield per hectare (and thus farm income) would decrease. Management of an irrigation system is recommended in such a way that the monthly values of the depleted fraction range is between 0.5 and 0.8. Such a management rule would provide sufficient water for leaching (at the 0.5 side of the range) and provide high crop yield per unit water consumed (at the 0.8 side).

PPO onderzocht de voor- en nadelen van waterconservering door in het zuidoostelijk zandgebied (Vredepeel en Veulen) twee akkerbouwpercelen in te richten met een hoog en een laag grondwaterpeil. Het verhoogde peil werd bereikt door infiltratie van slootwater via stuwen en ondiep gelegen drains. Bij het hoge peil hoeft niet beregend te worden en blijken er geen lagere opbrengsten te zijn voor de verschillende gewassen (aardappel, conservenerwt, waspeen, suikerbieten, stamslabonen), mits volgens advies bemest wordt; bij bemesting beneden het advies kan de stikstofvoorziening beperkend zijn. Voordeel van peilverhoging is dat de nitraatuitspoeling minder is; wel is er meer fosfaatuitspoeling

Irrigation development and management in Zimbabwe like many other sub-Saharan countries has problems related to sustainability. These problems are of a socio-technical nature related to both physical artefacts and configuration of the water delivery continuum as well as the social, economic, regulatory, financial and other institutional factors that shape the management subsystem. Six schemes in the SavecatchmentofManicalandprovince in Zimbabwe with different attributes related to water sources, mobilisation, conveyance, distribution, application and management were investigated for two cropping seasons in the period 1999 to 2000 to find out major elements that affected their sustainability.The focused on the concept ofteretechnology, thatis the ability to care for artefacts. It looked at whether this concept was present in Zimbabwe. Two old gravity surface irrigation schemes ofChakowaandDeurewere found to differ significantly due to system design and level of cooperation.Chakowascheme had no source regulation, was vulnerable to summer floods and was structured in a way that allowed head-end farmers unlimited access to water at any time leading to serious head -end tail end problems that resulted in significant differences in cropping programs and patterns. In contrastDeurehad a stabilised water source and cooperation that allowed farmers to practice across block water rotation through the distribution canal, cropping programs and patterns were similar and all farmers had access to a local niche market. This also translated to cooperation in operation and maintenance activities. AtMutema, a second-generation groundwater pumped conventional sprinkler scheme, poor water delivery due to power cuts and lack of repair resulted in salinity that lead to changes in cropping especially from vulnerable beans to mainly tomatoes and cotton. The need to save on electricity costs saw farmers at the newMusikavanhupumped surface scheme with proportional water division structures and a more reliable water delivery system deliberately enforcing reduced water supplies to winter crops. The new pumpeddraghosesprinkler system atBondeexperienced unreliable water delivery right from commissioning. This led farmers to emulate the simple gravity surface practices at theDeurewith which they share both a water source and abstraction. This is in contrast with the gravitydraghosesystem atMpudziwhere farmers on the heavier soils are engaged in full time market gardeningwiththeir main problem centring on strategies to replace worn out sprinklers or reduce the rate sprinkler wear. In conclusion it is thus observed that farmers are primarily concerned with water delivery security, and can operate systems effectively that are simple. They maintain components that are within their capacity only to avoid disruption of delivery and that the institutions need support to enhance capacity to deal with complex systems. It is therefore recommended that future planning and design of water delivery subsystems consider the engineering precepts that take into account theseteretechnologyrequirements to ensure that sustainable systems are developed such that the users can operate and maintain and using local resources and available managerial support structures from government and the private sector and other production related structures like markets to leverage the water delivery.

Irrigation development and management in Zimbabwe like many other sub-Saharan countries has problems related to sustainability. These problems are of a socio-technical nature related to both physical artefacts and configuration of the water delivery continuum as well as the social, economic, regulatory, financial and other institutional factors that shape the management subsystem. Six schemes in the SavecatchmentofManicalandprovince in Zimbabwe with different attributes related to water sources, mobilisation, conveyance, distribution, application and management were investigated for two cropping seasons in the period 1999 to 2000 to find out major elements that affected their sustainability.The focused on the concept ofteretechnology, thatis the ability to care for artefacts. It looked at whether this concept was present in Zimbabwe. Two old gravity surface irrigation schemes ofChakowaandDeurewere found to differ significantly due to system design and level of cooperation.Chakowascheme had no source regulation, was vulnerable to summer floods and was structured in a way that allowed head-end farmers unlimited access to water at any time leading to serious head -end tail end problems that resulted in significant differences in cropping programs and patterns. In contrastDeurehad a stabilised water source and cooperation that allowed farmers to practice across block water rotation through the distribution canal, cropping programs and patterns were similar and all farmers had access to a local niche market. This also translated to cooperation in operation and maintenance activities. AtMutema, a second-generation groundwater pumped conventional sprinkler scheme, poor water delivery due to power cuts and lack of repair resulted in salinity that lead to changes in cropping especially from vulnerable beans to mainly tomatoes and cotton. The need to save on electricity costs saw farmers at the newMusikavanhupumped surface scheme with proportional water division structures and a more reliable water delivery system deliberately enforcing reduced water supplies to winter crops. The new pumpeddraghosesprinkler system atBondeexperienced unreliable water delivery right from commissioning. This led farmers to emulate the simple gravity surface practices at theDeurewith which they share both a water source and abstraction. This is in contrast with the gravitydraghosesystem atMpudziwhere farmers on the heavier soils are engaged in full time market gardeningwiththeir main problem centring on strategies to replace worn out sprinklers or reduce the rate sprinkler wear. In conclusion it is thus observed that farmers are primarily concerned with water delivery security, and can operate systems effectively that are simple. They maintain components that are within their capacity only to avoid disruption of delivery and that the institutions need support to enhance capacity to deal with complex systems. It is therefore recommended that future planning and design of water delivery subsystems consider the engineering precepts that take into account theseteretechnologyrequirements to ensure that sustainable systems are developed such that the users can operate and maintain and using local resources and available managerial support structures from government and the private sector and other production related structures like markets to leverage the water delivery.

Major issues with respect to water management in Sirsa district are waterlogging and salinization in areas with saline groundwater and over-exploitation of groundwater in areas with fresh groundwater. The present crop yield increase of the major crops in Sirsa district is marginal. Recent studies show that water is the main limiting factor to increase the crop yields. In order to identify the main water losses, an extensive WAter PROductivity study (WATPRO) has been performed in Sirsa district

Major issues with respect to water management in Sirsa district are waterlogging and salinization in areas with saline groundwater and over-exploitation of groundwater in areas with fresh groundwater. The present crop yield increase of the major crops in Sirsa district is marginal. Recent studies show that water is the main limiting factor to increase the crop yields. In order to identify the main water losses, an extensive WAter PROductivity study (WATPRO) has been performed in Sirsa district

Rice is a profligate user of water. It takes 3,000–5,000 liters to produce 1 kilogram of rice, which is about 2 to 3 times more than to produce 1 kilogram of other cereals such as wheat or maize. Until recently, this amount of water has been taken for granted. Now, however, the water crisis threatens the sustainability of the irrigated rice ecosystem. In Asia, 17 million ha of irrigated rice areas may experience ‘physical water scarcity’ and 22 million ha ‘economic water scarcity’ by 2025. To safeguard food security and preserve precious water resources, ways must be explored to grow rice using less water. IRRI, together with Plant Research International of Wageningen University and Research Centre, organized a thematic workshop on Water-Wise Rice Production held 8-11 April 2002 at IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines. The objectives were to present and discuss the state-of-the-art in the development, dissemination, and adoption of water-saving technologies at spatial scales ranging from the field to irrigation system. This book contains the papers presented at the workshop.

Most of Jordan is arid and water resources are limited. This situation becomes more acute the more Jordan develops. New techniques in agriculture, industry and the domestic sector place an increasing demand upon clean and safe water. Good-quality water is hardly available. Unconventional water sources, including treated sewagewater, must be considered as alternative sources. This book focuses on treated sewagewater as a nutrient and water resource for agriculture. We expect that treated sewagewater use in agriculture will minimise farmers' demand for clean, purified, and therefore expensive, water and for chemical fertilisers.Treated sewagewater use in agriculture maintains environmental quality. Also other national goals, such as the creation of sustainable agriculture and the protection of scarce water sources, are thus served. Another advantage is the possibility of decreasing the necessary purification level. Costs for treatment, thanks to the role of soil and crops in acting as a bio-filter, will thus decrease. Moreover, using the nutrients present in treated sewagewater may diminish fertilisation costs. But disadvantages should also be considered. Treated sewagewater use in irrigation could be hazardous to the environment, since the influent, and hence the effluent, contains pollutants such as macro-organic matter, trace elements, pathogenic micro-organisms and ions.Use of treated sewagewater in Jordan is not a new idea. Advantages and disadvantages should be studied. However, what kind of research is then needed? Most scientific approaches in research are done under objectified, controlled conditions. Such experiments do not reflect the everyday reality of the farmers. Moreover, experimental research in agriculture does not always reflect the interests of Jordanian farmers. Another type of research is therefore needed. We need research that integrates Gamma and Beta sciences, farmers and scientists, and the environment and agricultural production. Prototyping, a mix of experimental farm research and agronomic designing is an answer to those needs. The technique has been used successfully in almost all European countries. The question was therefore, "why not be tested and used in Jordanian conditions"?We focused on designing, testing and improving theoretical prototypes of treated sewagewater using farms. A pilot group of six farmers was formed in three different zones of the study area, with a selection of six different crops (Alfalfa, Apricot, Tomato, Cucumber, Onion and Potato). Lessons, methods, techniques and recommendations gained from many experiments done on treated sewagewater use in crop production in Mediterranean countries were integrated and introduced into farming methods. Farmers started the conversion process and learned how to deal with treated sewagewater for irrigation. The purpose of this study is to design treated sewagewater using farms and to teach farmers to rely on their own skills and information. So not only hard knowledge became involved. The training of farmers and the developing of their managerial skills also became part of the problem statement. In particular, we created a situation of farm system research. Farmers had to do the job, facilitated by researchers. Farmer and facilitator tried to find a new balance between economical and socio-environmental goals.Chapter 1 looks at the consequences of Jordan's water shortages as a result of domestic, agricultural and industrial consumption . This chapter explores the actions recommended in the Dublin statement to overcome the over-consumption and pollution as well as the Jordan's law of Environmental Protection for the formulation of an effective environmental policy. It also shows the urgency in developing WASTEVAL programme for capacity building at the counterpart institutes in the Netherlands, Jordan, Egypt and the West Bank concerning wastewater valorisation for agricultural production in the Middle East area by using low-cost treatment technologies. This chapter concludes that designing treated sewagewater using farms must bring different stakeholders together. Policy-makers and planners who set the conditions for water purification must also be involved. As the WASTEVAL programme is about research and education concerning water scarcity in Middle East countries and this book especially reports about research results obtained in Jordan, we had to begin with describing Jordan's actual water deficit.The second chapter acquaints the reader among others, that limited clean water resources presented the main constraint for agricultural development. The deficit between supply and demand was 307 million m 3in 1998 and is projected to increase to 360 million m 3in 2020. At the same time, treated sewagewater will increase from 67 million m 3in 1998 to 232 million m 3in 2020. Chapter 2 gives the reader a sense of urgency: somebody must do something and quickly in order to stop the increasing shortage of clean water of Jordan. Agronomic, environmental, legislative and socio-cultural aspects of treated sewagewater are presented. It is shown that a farming system that could adequately address these aspects requires: integration of agro-technical, agro-ecological and agro-economical knowledge, joint agreement on normative objectives among stakeholders, and empirical team work to test, adapt and refine those farms under real commercial conditions and the promotion of the concept for rural development. Chapter 2 also demonstrates that among the all water users of Jordan, the agricultural sector is the most serious one. Jordanian agriculture, as big polluter of natural resources, according the 'polluter pays' principle, must learn as first how to produce well by low application levels of synthetic agro-chemicals. Stimulating the agricultural sector to use treated sewagewater for irrigation purposes only could redress the very negative water balance of Jordan. But first, the marginality of Jordanian farming, high production level demand of commodities for export and consumers not willing to pay more for their food, must be overcome.In Chapter 3 attention is given to the theoretical framework which addresses the co-operation and responsibilities of treated sewagewater producing and using sectors. Chapter 3 shows a model for how Jordanian farmers could be involved in decreasing their water use and pollution during crop production. It is assumed that sewagewater, after certain pre-treatment, carries along sufficient nutrients that could function as fertiliser and as water dose during primary production. As a consequence, supply of chemical fertiliser could be reduced considerably. Three advantages thus emerge. Cost for sewagewater cleaning becomes lower, the variable costs of farmers decrease and water demand of the agricultural sector moves from clean (cleansed or natural) water to treated sewagewater. The model assumes that aforementioned advantages just appear when the treated sewagewater producing and using sectors work together. Co-operation leads to harmonisation of end terms for quality goals of sewagewater, to recognition and accepting each other's working procedures and to cohesion among investments for intake and distribution of sewagewater. Co-operation will also lead to effective sharing of knowledge, sharing of concepts and definitions as well as to efficient regulation and the control over it. Co-operation will not come into being by itself. Both sectors are much too different for that. Therefore the model assumes that the government must facilitate such a co-operation.Chapter 4 translates the theoretical framework from chapter 3 in six research questions that had to be addressed during project's time. Each of them becomes answered in the chapters 5 to 10. Those chapters are set up as if they were separate publications. The reader will notice that between them some overlap may be found. That was, considering the holistic approach of this research unavoidable. On the other hand overlap also indicates that our approach of the problem statement from chapter 3 happened in an integrated way.Chapter 5 is about the way we looked for a suitable research site. Selected study areas had to offer conditions for concerted research by facilitated farmers. Three zones were identified. Each of them represented different levels of treated sewagewater quality and has sufficient conditions for the collection of reliable information about how farmers could use treated sewagewater for plant production. This provided comparative information on the potentials of treated sewagewater use in Jordan. Concerning the participation of farmers in the three different zones of our research area, I conclude that farmers were willing to co-operate on my terms (participation for the full duration of research, prepared to attend regular meetings with colleagues and researchers, and willing to provide data for publication). Furthermore, I found a serious gap between the perception of what scientists see as farmers' problems and what farmers themselves see as their problems. It was good to know this from the outset, as this knowledge made us consistently aware of our attitude towards farmers. I decided to act as an interrogator, rather than as a specialist who gives answers to questions never raised. I considered the farmer a relevant source of knowledge.Chapter 6 shows what consequences of working with farmers on their fields had to taken into account when starting the research. A conceptual model is presented in this chapter showing the steps that farmers and researchers have to go through during the whole research process. The farmers accepted the model as they feel that they got a clear place in the process. This chapter also presents a decision platform model where researcher and farmer learn to work together. The platform function as a school where farmers are trained in becoming better observers and managers of their land and researchers are trained in relying on farmers' experiences.Chapter 7 outlines the suitability of treated sewagewater for irrigation in the study area by using different parameters like electrical conductivity of water (EC w ), total dissolved solid values, sodium adsorption ratio, ion toxicity, total nitrogen and total phosphorus values, pH and microbiological quality. The suitability of treated sewagewater was assessed, based on World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) guidelines. The potential hazards in relation to public health and irrigation use were identified. The Jordanian regulations governing treated sewagewater use were reviewed, and necessary management practices outlined. An assessment of treated sewagewater for manuring purposes and the salination effects involved are also presented. Chapter 7 demonstrates that treated sewagewater may cover crop demands on nutrients and water, without chemical fertiliser supply.Chapter 8 outlines the three sources of information used to conduct an informal survey, namely, regional stakeholders, literature and field observation. Chapter 8 presents how small-scaled farmers in the research site redesigned their farms in a way that they could use treated sewagewater safe and well. This design is based on the prototyping technique used in many European countries. It also outlines the processes for establishing:The objectives of treated sewagewater using farms to be achieved in the future. A diagnosis of the existing situation of treated sewagewater use was made first. Besides this, the targeted contribution of the designed prototype in the long-term improvement of the treated sewagewater use situation in the area will be determined. The diagnosis and grading of objectives (prioritisation) should therefore be done in collaboration with the major actors involved in treated sewagewater use, and after careful examination of all available resources, agro-technology, experiences and knowledge.The translation and quantification of the objectives into suitable parameters. It is based on the careful examination and selection of parameters related to the objectives and the production system, and determines the quantification of the objectives of treated sewagewater use in irrigation. The criterion of being integrated in, or being indispensable to, a single objective was used for the parameter selection. In this way, the quantified objectives can be used as desired results, to evaluate the achieved results of the treated sewagewater use in irrigation prototypes. This step provides eleven parameters for treated sewagewater use.Relevant farming methods and techniques. The farming methods are nutrient management, water management and farm structure optimisation.Theoretical prototype. The theoretical prototype should secure the inter-linking of the new methods at all crop production levels: physical, biological-agronomic, product-market, and farm level. Otherwise objectives would not be achieved and the sustainability and productivity of the crop will be adversely effected.Testing of new farm designs in pilot farms.The initial results of practical application are presented. Practical application of the prototypes showed that participant farmers need a lot of training and data. Initial results clearly show that our design needs further improvement by progressive retesting procedures. Initial results also show the impact of former conventional farming methods. Farmers acquired a greater understanding about the damage which current agro-technological methods cause to relevant natural resources, as well as to their future prospects of farming. Many retesting cycles are required to get rid of the negative impacts of current agro-technological methods.The last part of the study outlines the main elements for a strategy of prototype improvement. Chapter 9 presents strengths and weakness analysis concerning the redesigned farms. This chapter also presents a simple SWOT analysis to study and explore further development of treated sewagewater prototype in Jordan. The results of this analysis were formulated in terms of desired government policy, research and extension services. This chapter concluded that farmers can only progress if they work for the development of certification systems that they initiate and manage themselves. Chapter 10 shows the role of stakeholders in safe use of treated sewagewater on farms. This chapter emphasis on the co-operation between the treated sewagewater producing and using sector. The study ends with a conclusion and recommendations regarding the proposed approach for treated sewagewater use in irrigated agriculture (chapter 11).

Rice is a profligate user of water. It takes 3,000–5,000 liters to produce 1 kilogram of rice, which is about 2 to 3 times more than to produce 1 kilogram of other cereals such as wheat or maize. Until recently, this amount of water has been taken for granted. Now, however, the water crisis threatens the sustainability of the irrigated rice ecosystem. In Asia, 17 million ha of irrigated rice areas may experience ‘physical water scarcity’ and 22 million ha ‘economic water scarcity’ by 2025. To safeguard food security and preserve precious water resources, ways must be explored to grow rice using less water. IRRI, together with Plant Research International of Wageningen University and Research Centre, organized a thematic workshop on Water-Wise Rice Production held 8-11 April 2002 at IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines. The objectives were to present and discuss the state-of-the-art in the development, dissemination, and adoption of water-saving technologies at spatial scales ranging from the field to irrigation system. This book contains the papers presented at the workshop.

Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, water balance, groundwater, net groundwater use, recharge, water management, Rechna Doab, Pakistan.Over-exploitation of groundwater resources threatens the future of irrigated agriculture, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. In order to reverse this trend and to ensure future food security, the achievement of sustainable groundwater use has become a global issue. To address the challenges of aquifer mining and sustainable management, a quantitative analysis of recharge and groundwater use is essential. Spatio-temporally distributed information on net groundwater use - i.e. the difference between tubewell withdrawals for irrigation and net recharge - is often unknown at the river basin scale. Conventionally, groundwater managers and policy makers look at either groundwater withdrawal by tubewells or phreatic surface fluctuations (if available). However, these methods are ineffective for describing the vertical water fluxes occurring between the unsaturated and saturated zones. Even in detailed groundwater modelling, these vertical water fluxes are difficult to assess.This endeavour aspires to develop a methodology for computing the various water balance components of the unsaturated zone by using geo-information techniques. These water balance components are then used to compute the net groundwater use. With this approach, groundwater recharge will not be quantified explicitly, but is a part of net groundwater use. Records of routine climatic data, canal discharges at major offtakes, phreatic surface depth, and coarse information on soil textural properties are required as input data. The Rechna Doab region (approximately 2.97 million ha), located in the Indus basin irrigation system of Pakistan, has been used for this case study.In order to better understand the interaction and dynamics of sub-soil water fluxes, field studies were conducted in rice-wheat and cotton-wheat areas representing shallow (2 m), as well as deep (10 m), phreatic surface conditions. A detailed physically-based transient agro-hydrological model (SWAP) has been used to compute sub-soil water fluxes including recharge, and capillary rise. The SWAP model was calibrated using in situ measurements of soil moisture content and actual evapotranspiration. The results of the field modelling were used to develop and test a new, simple method for computing soil moisture storage changes in the unsaturated zone, using root zone soil moisture content and depth to the phreatic surface. This method can also be applied in combination with Remote sensing and GIS data to compute soil moisture storage changes across vast areas.Regional scale actual evapotranspiration and soil moisture maps were derived using the remote sensing algorithm termed SEBAL (Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land). New geomatic approaches were developed and tested that estimate the disaggregated canal water distribution in an irrigated basin, using discharge measurements at main canal offtakes and satellite imagery. The accuracy of the computed canal water distribution was highest when Landsat image (with a resolution of 30 m) was used to identify the shape of the irrigated areas. This implies that high-resolution satellite images can be used to discern canal water use from groundwater use.Net groundwater use was computed for the entire Rechna Doab using the derived maps of spatially distributed water balance components. On an annual basis, an average net groundwater use of 82 mm yr -1was estimated, which coincides with groundwater inflows of 53 mm yr -1that conserve the water balance of the saturated zone. Using the technique presented in this thesis, the computed net groundwater use, based on an unsaturated zone water balance, deviates from classical method estimates, using specific yield and fluctuation of the phreatic surface, by 65%. The deviation from estimates using tubewell withdrawal related data is even higher (several hundred percent).

Most of Jordan is arid and water resources are limited. This situation becomes more acute the more Jordan develops. New techniques in agriculture, industry and the domestic sector place an increasing demand upon clean and safe water. Good-quality water is hardly available. Unconventional water sources, including treated sewagewater, must be considered as alternative sources. This book focuses on treated sewagewater as a nutrient and water resource for agriculture. We expect that treated sewagewater use in agriculture will minimise farmers' demand for clean, purified, and therefore expensive, water and for chemical fertilisers.Treated sewagewater use in agriculture maintains environmental quality. Also other national goals, such as the creation of sustainable agriculture and the protection of scarce water sources, are thus served. Another advantage is the possibility of decreasing the necessary purification level. Costs for treatment, thanks to the role of soil and crops in acting as a bio-filter, will thus decrease. Moreover, using the nutrients present in treated sewagewater may diminish fertilisation costs. But disadvantages should also be considered. Treated sewagewater use in irrigation could be hazardous to the environment, since the influent, and hence the effluent, contains pollutants such as macro-organic matter, trace elements, pathogenic micro-organisms and ions.Use of treated sewagewater in Jordan is not a new idea. Advantages and disadvantages should be studied. However, what kind of research is then needed? Most scientific approaches in research are done under objectified, controlled conditions. Such experiments do not reflect the everyday reality of the farmers. Moreover, experimental research in agriculture does not always reflect the interests of Jordanian farmers. Another type of research is therefore needed. We need research that integrates Gamma and Beta sciences, farmers and scientists, and the environment and agricultural production. Prototyping, a mix of experimental farm research and agronomic designing is an answer to those needs. The technique has been used successfully in almost all European countries. The question was therefore, "why not be tested and used in Jordanian conditions"?We focused on designing, testing and improving theoretical prototypes of treated sewagewater using farms. A pilot group of six farmers was formed in three different zones of the study area, with a selection of six different crops (Alfalfa, Apricot, Tomato, Cucumber, Onion and Potato). Lessons, methods, techniques and recommendations gained from many experiments done on treated sewagewater use in crop production in Mediterranean countries were integrated and introduced into farming methods. Farmers started the conversion process and learned how to deal with treated sewagewater for irrigation. The purpose of this study is to design treated sewagewater using farms and to teach farmers to rely on their own skills and information. So not only hard knowledge became involved. The training of farmers and the developing of their managerial skills also became part of the problem statement. In particular, we created a situation of farm system research. Farmers had to do the job, facilitated by researchers. Farmer and facilitator tried to find a new balance between economical and socio-environmental goals.Chapter 1 looks at the consequences of Jordan's water shortages as a result of domestic, agricultural and industrial consumption . This chapter explores the actions recommended in the Dublin statement to overcome the over-consumption and pollution as well as the Jordan's law of Environmental Protection for the formulation of an effective environmental policy. It also shows the urgency in developing WASTEVAL programme for capacity building at the counterpart institutes in the Netherlands, Jordan, Egypt and the West Bank concerning wastewater valorisation for agricultural production in the Middle East area by using low-cost treatment technologies. This chapter concludes that designing treated sewagewater using farms must bring different stakeholders together. Policy-makers and planners who set the conditions for water purification must also be involved. As the WASTEVAL programme is about research and education concerning water scarcity in Middle East countries and this book especially reports about research results obtained in Jordan, we had to begin with describing Jordan's actual water deficit.The second chapter acquaints the reader among others, that limited clean water resources presented the main constraint for agricultural development. The deficit between supply and demand was 307 million m 3in 1998 and is projected to increase to 360 million m 3in 2020. At the same time, treated sewagewater will increase from 67 million m 3in 1998 to 232 million m 3in 2020. Chapter 2 gives the reader a sense of urgency: somebody must do something and quickly in order to stop the increasing shortage of clean water of Jordan. Agronomic, environmental, legislative and socio-cultural aspects of treated sewagewater are presented. It is shown that a farming system that could adequately address these aspects requires: integration of agro-technical, agro-ecological and agro-economical knowledge, joint agreement on normative objectives among stakeholders, and empirical team work to test, adapt and refine those farms under real commercial conditions and the promotion of the concept for rural development. Chapter 2 also demonstrates that among the all water users of Jordan, the agricultural sector is the most serious one. Jordanian agriculture, as big polluter of natural resources, according the 'polluter pays' principle, must learn as first how to produce well by low application levels of synthetic agro-chemicals. Stimulating the agricultural sector to use treated sewagewater for irrigation purposes only could redress the very negative water balance of Jordan. But first, the marginality of Jordanian farming, high production level demand of commodities for export and consumers not willing to pay more for their food, must be overcome.In Chapter 3 attention is given to the theoretical framework which addresses the co-operation and responsibilities of treated sewagewater producing and using sectors. Chapter 3 shows a model for how Jordanian farmers could be involved in decreasing their water use and pollution during crop production. It is assumed that sewagewater, after certain pre-treatment, carries along sufficient nutrients that could function as fertiliser and as water dose during primary production. As a consequence, supply of chemical fertiliser could be reduced considerably. Three advantages thus emerge. Cost for sewagewater cleaning becomes lower, the variable costs of farmers decrease and water demand of the agricultural sector moves from clean (cleansed or natural) water to treated sewagewater. The model assumes that aforementioned advantages just appear when the treated sewagewater producing and using sectors work together. Co-operation leads to harmonisation of end terms for quality goals of sewagewater, to recognition and accepting each other's working procedures and to cohesion among investments for intake and distribution of sewagewater. Co-operation will also lead to effective sharing of knowledge, sharing of concepts and definitions as well as to efficient regulation and the control over it. Co-operation will not come into being by itself. Both sectors are much too different for that. Therefore the model assumes that the government must facilitate such a co-operation.Chapter 4 translates the theoretical framework from chapter 3 in six research questions that had to be addressed during project's time. Each of them becomes answered in the chapters 5 to 10. Those chapters are set up as if they were separate publications. The reader will notice that between them some overlap may be found. That was, considering the holistic approach of this research unavoidable. On the other hand overlap also indicates that our approach of the problem statement from chapter 3 happened in an integrated way.Chapter 5 is about the way we looked for a suitable research site. Selected study areas had to offer conditions for concerted research by facilitated farmers. Three zones were identified. Each of them represented different levels of treated sewagewater quality and has sufficient conditions for the collection of reliable information about how farmers could use treated sewagewater for plant production. This provided comparative information on the potentials of treated sewagewater use in Jordan. Concerning the participation of farmers in the three different zones of our research area, I conclude that farmers were willing to co-operate on my terms (participation for the full duration of research, prepared to attend regular meetings with colleagues and researchers, and willing to provide data for publication). Furthermore, I found a serious gap between the perception of what scientists see as farmers' problems and what farmers themselves see as their problems. It was good to know this from the outset, as this knowledge made us consistently aware of our attitude towards farmers. I decided to act as an interrogator, rather than as a specialist who gives answers to questions never raised. I considered the farmer a relevant source of knowledge.Chapter 6 shows what consequences of working with farmers on their fields had to taken into account when starting the research. A conceptual model is presented in this chapter showing the steps that farmers and researchers have to go through during the whole research process. The farmers accepted the model as they feel that they got a clear place in the process. This chapter also presents a decision platform model where researcher and farmer learn to work together. The platform function as a school where farmers are trained in becoming better observers and managers of their land and researchers are trained in relying on farmers' experiences.Chapter 7 outlines the suitability of treated sewagewater for irrigation in the study area by using different parameters like electrical conductivity of water (EC w ), total dissolved solid values, sodium adsorption ratio, ion toxicity, total nitrogen and total phosphorus values, pH and microbiological quality. The suitability of treated sewagewater was assessed, based on World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) guidelines. The potential hazards in relation to public health and irrigation use were identified. The Jordanian regulations governing treated sewagewater use were reviewed, and necessary management practices outlined. An assessment of treated sewagewater for manuring purposes and the salination effects involved are also presented. Chapter 7 demonstrates that treated sewagewater may cover crop demands on nutrients and water, without chemical fertiliser supply.Chapter 8 outlines the three sources of information used to conduct an informal survey, namely, regional stakeholders, literature and field observation. Chapter 8 presents how small-scaled farmers in the research site redesigned their farms in a way that they could use treated sewagewater safe and well. This design is based on the prototyping technique used in many European countries. It also outlines the processes for establishing:The objectives of treated sewagewater using farms to be achieved in the future. A diagnosis of the existing situation of treated sewagewater use was made first. Besides this, the targeted contribution of the designed prototype in the long-term improvement of the treated sewagewater use situation in the area will be determined. The diagnosis and grading of objectives (prioritisation) should therefore be done in collaboration with the major actors involved in treated sewagewater use, and after careful examination of all available resources, agro-technology, experiences and knowledge.The translation and quantification of the objectives into suitable parameters. It is based on the careful examination and selection of parameters related to the objectives and the production system, and determines the quantification of the objectives of treated sewagewater use in irrigation. The criterion of being integrated in, or being indispensable to, a single objective was used for the parameter selection. In this way, the quantified objectives can be used as desired results, to evaluate the achieved results of the treated sewagewater use in irrigation prototypes. This step provides eleven parameters for treated sewagewater use.Relevant farming methods and techniques. The farming methods are nutrient management, water management and farm structure optimisation.Theoretical prototype. The theoretical prototype should secure the inter-linking of the new methods at all crop production levels: physical, biological-agronomic, product-market, and farm level. Otherwise objectives would not be achieved and the sustainability and productivity of the crop will be adversely effected.Testing of new farm designs in pilot farms.The initial results of practical application are presented. Practical application of the prototypes showed that participant farmers need a lot of training and data. Initial results clearly show that our design needs further improvement by progressive retesting procedures. Initial results also show the impact of former conventional farming methods. Farmers acquired a greater understanding about the damage which current agro-technological methods cause to relevant natural resources, as well as to their future prospects of farming. Many retesting cycles are required to get rid of the negative impacts of current agro-technological methods.The last part of the study outlines the main elements for a strategy of prototype improvement. Chapter 9 presents strengths and weakness analysis concerning the redesigned farms. This chapter also presents a simple SWOT analysis to study and explore further development of treated sewagewater prototype in Jordan. The results of this analysis were formulated in terms of desired government policy, research and extension services. This chapter concluded that farmers can only progress if they work for the development of certification systems that they initiate and manage themselves. Chapter 10 shows the role of stakeholders in safe use of treated sewagewater on farms. This chapter emphasis on the co-operation between the treated sewagewater producing and using sector. The study ends with a conclusion and recommendations regarding the proposed approach for treated sewagewater use in irrigated agriculture (chapter 11).

Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, water balance, groundwater, net groundwater use, recharge, water management, Rechna Doab, Pakistan.Over-exploitation of groundwater resources threatens the future of irrigated agriculture, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. In order to reverse this trend and to ensure future food security, the achievement of sustainable groundwater use has become a global issue. To address the challenges of aquifer mining and sustainable management, a quantitative analysis of recharge and groundwater use is essential. Spatio-temporally distributed information on net groundwater use - i.e. the difference between tubewell withdrawals for irrigation and net recharge - is often unknown at the river basin scale. Conventionally, groundwater managers and policy makers look at either groundwater withdrawal by tubewells or phreatic surface fluctuations (if available). However, these methods are ineffective for describing the vertical water fluxes occurring between the unsaturated and saturated zones. Even in detailed groundwater modelling, these vertical water fluxes are difficult to assess.This endeavour aspires to develop a methodology for computing the various water balance components of the unsaturated zone by using geo-information techniques. These water balance components are then used to compute the net groundwater use. With this approach, groundwater recharge will not be quantified explicitly, but is a part of net groundwater use. Records of routine climatic data, canal discharges at major offtakes, phreatic surface depth, and coarse information on soil textural properties are required as input data. The Rechna Doab region (approximately 2.97 million ha), located in the Indus basin irrigation system of Pakistan, has been used for this case study.In order to better understand the interaction and dynamics of sub-soil water fluxes, field studies were conducted in rice-wheat and cotton-wheat areas representing shallow (2 m), as well as deep (10 m), phreatic surface conditions. A detailed physically-based transient agro-hydrological model (SWAP) has been used to compute sub-soil water fluxes including recharge, and capillary rise. The SWAP model was calibrated using in situ measurements of soil moisture content and actual evapotranspiration. The results of the field modelling were used to develop and test a new, simple method for computing soil moisture storage changes in the unsaturated zone, using root zone soil moisture content and depth to the phreatic surface. This method can also be applied in combination with Remote sensing and GIS data to compute soil moisture storage changes across vast areas.Regional scale actual evapotranspiration and soil moisture maps were derived using the remote sensing algorithm termed SEBAL (Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land). New geomatic approaches were developed and tested that estimate the disaggregated canal water distribution in an irrigated basin, using discharge measurements at main canal offtakes and satellite imagery. The accuracy of the computed canal water distribution was highest when Landsat image (with a resolution of 30 m) was used to identify the shape of the irrigated areas. This implies that high-resolution satellite images can be used to discern canal water use from groundwater use.Net groundwater use was computed for the entire Rechna Doab using the derived maps of spatially distributed water balance components. On an annual basis, an average net groundwater use of 82 mm yr -1was estimated, which coincides with groundwater inflows of 53 mm yr -1that conserve the water balance of the saturated zone. Using the technique presented in this thesis, the computed net groundwater use, based on an unsaturated zone water balance, deviates from classical method estimates, using specific yield and fluctuation of the phreatic surface, by 65%. The deviation from estimates using tubewell withdrawal related data is even higher (several hundred percent).

Design and management of irrigation infrastructure in farmer managed irrigation systems (FMISs) are strongly influenced by social and agro-ecological conditions of an area. This thesis analyzes the elements of social and agro-ecological conditions in FMISs in the mid-hills of Nepal and examines their relationships with irrigation infrastructure, especially water division structures. Of the various types of water division structures, this thesis concentrates mainly on the proportioning weir, which is a fixed control type of structure.This thesis suggests that in an irrigation system, hydraulic, agro-ecological and socio-cultural conditions determine the choice of water division structures, which in turn shape the irrigation management functions and local organization's primary objective. As the current approach to irrigation development and management considers farmers as the major actor in both turnover of agency-built irrigation system and rehabilitation of FMISs, understanding of these conditions shaping irrigation infrastructure is vital for further developing them in close partnership with local community. Failure to recognize these conditions, while further developing them, can erode the existing management practices and the current and potential contribution of irrigation to local livelihoods.

Design and management of irrigation infrastructure in farmer managed irrigation systems (FMISs) are strongly influenced by social and agro-ecological conditions of an area. This thesis analyzes the elements of social and agro-ecological conditions in FMISs in the mid-hills of Nepal and examines their relationships with irrigation infrastructure, especially water division structures. Of the various types of water division structures, this thesis concentrates mainly on the proportioning weir, which is a fixed control type of structure.This thesis suggests that in an irrigation system, hydraulic, agro-ecological and socio-cultural conditions determine the choice of water division structures, which in turn shape the irrigation management functions and local organization's primary objective. As the current approach to irrigation development and management considers farmers as the major actor in both turnover of agency-built irrigation system and rehabilitation of FMISs, understanding of these conditions shaping irrigation infrastructure is vital for further developing them in close partnership with local community. Failure to recognize these conditions, while further developing them, can erode the existing management practices and the current and potential contribution of irrigation to local livelihoods.