RATIONALIZATION OF IRRIGATION WATER IN AGRICULTURAL SECTOR THROUGH INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Abstract

The limited water and land resource in Egypt is faced with thechallenge of currently feeding more than 85 million people and about100 million by the year 2025. As there are no new water resourcesexpected in the near future and that more water is diverted todomestic and industrial purposes. There is an urgent need to increasewater productivity to meet the increasing demand for food and foodsecurity. In this respect, National Agricultural Research System(NARS) in Egypt, had joined hands with the International Center forAgricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) to initiate acommunity-based participatory approach for identifying anddisseminating interventions for increasing water productivity. Basedon the socio economic and technical criteria four farms at MonofiaGovernorate (Nile Delta) were selected to research options forimproving water productivity (WP) at the farm and communityscheme levels. New interventions included:1- Planting wheat, berseem and maize crops on wide furrows (raised-seed bed).2- Irrigating wheat, berseem clover and maize under deficitirrigation. The field trials were executed in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009seasons. The most important findings could be as follows :-* Planting wheat, berseem and maize crops on raised - seed bedsaved water, increased yield and improved WP as compared tofarmer practice.* Under irrigation regime at 1.2 ETc and deficit irrigation at 0.70ETc, the reductions in water applied for wheat and berseem cropsreached 6.90 and 39.85% and 5.77 and 26.69%, respectively,comparable with the farmer practice. Similar trend was noticedwith maize crop where the reductions in water applied, due toirrigating at 1.2 and .075 ETc, ranged from 5.89 to 25.54%,compared with farmer practice. In 2007/2008 season full anddeficit irrigation(0.70 ETc) regimes slightly reduced wheat grainyield by 0.83 and 2.65%, whereas in 2008/2009 season, full anddeficit irrigation (0.70 ETc) regimes increased wheat grain yield by6.78 and 1.95%, respectively, in comparison with farmer practice.In 2008 season, maize yield was reduced by 8.01 and 12.49% dueto full and deficit (0.75 full irrigation) irrigation regimes,respectively, as compared with farmer practice. In 2009 season, thetrend was differed where full irrigation exhibited higher maizegrain yield value (7.34%) and deficit irrigation still reducing themaize grain yield by 28.85%, in comparison with farmer practice. Water productivity value for wheat under fulll irrigationregime(1.2ETc) ranged from 6.25 to 19.88% and, while underdeficit irrigation (0.70 ETc), the figures ranged from 46.05 to61.25%, comparable with farmer practice. Water productivityvalues for berseem were increased by12.40 and 25.16% higher thanthose under farmer practice, respectively, due to irrigating at 1.2and 0.70 ETc regimes. Full and deficit irrigation (0.75 fullirrigation) regimes still improving WP for maize to be 24.36 and43.13% in 2008 season and 13.79 and 21.41% in 2009 one,respectively, as compared with farmer practice.