Water goes further in supplementary irrigation

Supplementing rainfall with small amounts of water is a more efficient way of using scarce irrigation water than full-blown irrigation schemes. Such supplementarg irrigation can more than double crop yields. Researchers at the international Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) have carried out several trials on this topic. In 1986 the wheat crop at ICARDA received about 320 mm of rain, and yielded slightly more than two tonnes of gram per hectare. However, some of that wheat crop was given just 60 mm of water at a crucial tune, and yields increased to more than five tonnes per hectare. It is important that the right quantity of water is applied at the correct time, which is when the plants are stressed, and ICARDA researchers are developing methods that will help farmers to assess the correct time. Such has been the success of ICARDA's work that the Syrian government has altered a proposed irrigation scheme: they had planned a full irrigation scheme for summer crops covering 5000 hectares, but have now decided to change the scheme so that the water will be used as supplementary irrigation for winter crops. This will mean that the scheme can be expanded to cover 20,000 hectares. For more details, contact: The International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) PO Box 5466 - Aleppo - SYRIA

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
Format:	News Item biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation 1989
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/10568/45017
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!