Session 5 "Rainfed Agriculture: Financing Smart Agriculture Projects“, ICARDA, , Land and Water Days in Near East & North Africa, 15-18 December 2013, Amman, Jordan

1. Lead Convener
International Center for Agricultural
Research in the Dry Areas.
http://www.icarda.org
Co- Conveners
DRC, WFP, FAO

3. Water Harvesting and Supplemental Irrigation.
Climate Smart and Efficient Practices

4. Location: Muaqqar, Jordan (Typical Badia site)
Precipitation: 200 mm/a; evaporation: ~ 2000 mm/a
Evaporation of 4 winter months = 1 summer month
Floods: 4 – 5 times / season
CASE STUDY 1A:
FARM RESERVOIRS
IN JORDANIAN
BADIA
Field & tree
crops
Reservoir 2
Wadi
Reservoir 1
Inflow
Questions
Reservoir 3
 Is the eficiency of water used for supplemental
irrigation of winter crops higher than that used for
full irrigation in (early) summer?
 Is the emptying of a reservoir as soon as it is filled
more efficient than leaving it filled for later use?
Farm reservoirs of 25,000 to
40,000 m3 volume.
Dam

5. Results
• Best yields and highest water use efficiency were obtained, when the
stored water was used in winter (and not saved for the summer season)
and the reservoirs emptied as often as possible.
The water was pumped to fields and stored in the soil matrix.
• Risk: There is the risk of not having runoff water to prolong the growing
season after an emptying of the reservoir at the end of the winter
season. The risk could me minimized by doing risk analysis based on longterm hydrological data.
• Sedimentation was a problem, but sediment removal every 3 years did
extend the lifetime of the reservoirs. The extracted sediments even
contributed to an improved soil fertility.
Financing: by CGIAR* Funds
*CGIAR = Consultive Group on International Agricultural Research

6. CASE STUDY 1B:
GROUNDWATER DAMS FOR SUBTERRANEAN
WATER STORAGE
 A trench is dug into the wadi sediment
across a wadi bed, down to the bedrock
 The dam is built from stone or concrete
 The aquifer lasts for several months;
water extraction by dug or tube wells
Subsurface Dam
Example :
120 m long and 2 meters high.
1 flood: ~ 25,000 m3 of water had been
accumulated (over a wadi length of 300
m) and were ready to be used for
supplemental irrigation.
Financing: Material costs covered by an
NGO, beneficiaries contribute labour

7. Distribution
Pond
Distribution
Pond
Pumps
Bedrock
Subsurface Dam
High-tech example from the Negev
Financing: By Government
Sand Dams are constructed in
wadis with a thin sediment layer.
They are built in steps to retain
only the coarser parts of the
sediments carried by the wadi
flood.
Coarse sand can have a water content of
35 %,
fine sand of 5% water only.
A Sand Dam

8. CASE STUDY 1C:
GREENHOUSE WATER
HARVESTING IN
LEBANON
 Location: 350 m a.s.l.
Precipitation:~ 1000 mm/a
There are no springs in
the area. Option to harvest
rainwater from plastic
greenhouses.
The water is stored in a
lined pond.
 The pond water is
flowing by gravity into
other greenhouses.
 It is used there for drip
irrigation of ornamental
plants.
Pond Size: 1700 m2

9. Financing
The ‘Green Plan’ agency is an autochthonous development authority under
the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture, partially financed by international
donors.
Green Plan experts develop together with interested farmers technical and
financial development plans for their enterprises.
Farmers receive soft loans for their share (18 to 39% of the total costs)
 The rest is given as subsidies.

10. SUMMARY
CASE STUDY 1A: FARM RESERVOIRS IN JORDANIAN BADIA
CASE STUDY 1B: GROUNDWATER DAMS FOR
SUBTERRANEAN WATER STORAGE (Subsurface Dams and
Sand Dams)
CASE STUDY 1C: GREENHOUSE WATER HARVESTING IN
LEBANON
Thanks for Your Attention!