This document summarizes a case study on deploying integrated crop-irrigation technology packages in Egypt and Sudan. The interventions resulted in wheat yield increases of up to 24% in Egypt with 25% less water, and 144% higher yields in Sudan with the same water. Farmers' adoption of the recommended wheat production packages in Egypt increased from 5,000 acres in 2010 to over 55,000 acres in 2013 - a 1000% rise in three years. If widely adopted, the water saving technology could save 1.4 billion cubic meters of irrigation water in Egypt annually, enough to irrigate an additional 200,000 acres and meet the water needs of 3.4 million people.

1. Technical Session (TS) 6: Making research and science reach farmers and end users
Name of Authors: Fawzi Karajeh and Atef Swelam, ICARDA
Corresponding Author: Fawzi Karajeh, f.karajeh@cgiar.org
Occupation: Principal Scientist, Integrated Water and Land Management
Title: Integrated crop-irrigation technology packages scaled out and
widely adopted in Egypt and Sudan
No. of Words: 533
It is widely accepted that the climate variability and change impacts will be felt greatly in dryareas. The
first impacts are already being felt: scarce natural resources are further depleted; temperature extremes are
affecting crop and livestock productivities; and periodic and more frequent droughts have become more
common. Crop varieties grown today may not produce sufficient yields in the changed climate of
tomorrow. Better adapted, more stress-tolerant varieties, and new crops and cropping patterns are
critically needed to cope with the forecasted increase in temperature, which is predicted to increase
between 1.5 to 5 o
C by the end of this century. In the Nile Valley, Egypt and Sudan, the absolute change
of mean annual temperature 1980/1999 to 22080/2099; based on an average of 21 Global Circulation
Models is predicted to increase for up to 3 o
C in Egypt and up to 4 o
C in north-east of Sudan (ICARDA
2011). Therefore, enhancing the resilience of small farmers to climate change impact through improving
food and feed availability; water and land productivities, and in return, the livelihoods by deploying the
science advancement to farmers becomes a necessity. ICARDA, Egypt, and Sudan in 2009 with fund
from IFAD started to find ways to convert their crop improvements and irrigation management’s research
findings among others development in the past few years into practical integrated irrigation technology
packages ready for farmers’ uptake.
This case study covers the processes and some of the outcomes resulted from the deployment of a
recommended integrated crop-irrigation technology production packages at farmers’ fields. Selected
improved wheat cultivars on mechanized wide-furrow raisedbed technology as an intervention in Assiut
Governorate. Later in El Sharqia Governorate (through the Food Security Project managed by ICARDA);
improved wheat cultivars and early sowing date were selected and deployed as an intervention in lower
Atbara area of Sudan. The interventions at the farmers’ wheat field in Egypt resulted in water saving by
average 25% and increased the yield for up to 24% compared to the farmers’ traditional practices. On the
other hand, in Sudan, farmers obtained an increase in wheat yield by 144% with the same amount of
applied irrigation water at the reference site. Some economic outcomes resulted from these interventions
suggested a triple gains; (i) cope with climate change, (ii) improve food security, and (iii) improve the
poor-resources’ farmers livelihood in dry areas.
The farmers’ uptake for the recommended technology was increasing exponentially in the last three years.
In El Sharkia governorate of Egypt, for example, farmers increased the wheat area cultivated with wide-
furrow raisedbed production package from 5,000 acres in 2010/2011 crop season to more than 55,000
acres 2012/2013 crop season. This equals an increase of about 1000% in three years only. On base of that
the applied water saving due to this technology application on wheat is about 550 m3
per acre, and
assuming that 85% of the 3 million acres wheat grown area in Egypt will use the recommended
production package, it could be estimated that about 1.4 billion m3
of the applied water could be saved.
This saved amount of applied water can be used to irrigate an additional 200,000 acres, which is enough
to meet the annual water demand of 3.4 million people.