The limited water and land resource in Egypt is faced with the
challenge of currently feeding more than 85 million people and about
100 million by the year 2025. As there are no new water resources
expected in the near future and that more water is diverted to
domestic and industrial purposes. There is an urgent need to increase
water productivity to meet the increasing demand for food and food
security. In this respect, National Agricultural Research System
(NARS) in Egypt, had joined hands with the International Center for
Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) to initiate a
community-based participatory approach for identifying and
disseminating interventions for increasing water productivity. Based
on the socio economic and technical criteria four farms at Monofia
Governorate (Nile Delta) were selected to research options for
improving water productivity (WP) at the farm and community
scheme 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 deficit
irrigation. The field trials were executed in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009
seasons. The most important findings could be as follows :-
* Planting wheat, berseem and maize crops on raised - seed bed
saved water, increased yield and improved WP as compared to
farmer practice.
* Under irrigation regime at 1.2 ETc and deficit irrigation at 0.70
ETc, the reductions in water applied for wheat and berseem crops
reached 6.90 and 39.85% and 5.77 and 26.69%, respectively,
comparable with the farmer practice. Similar trend was noticed
with maize crop where the reductions in water applied, due to
irrigating at 1.2 and .075 ETc, ranged from 5.89 to 25.54%,
compared with farmer practice. In 2007/2008 season full and
deficit irrigation(0.70 ETc) regimes slightly reduced wheat grain
yield by 0.83 and 2.65%, whereas in 2008/2009 season, full and
deficit irrigation (0.70 ETc) regimes increased wheat grain yield by
6.78 and 1.95%, respectively, in comparison with farmer practice.
In 2008 season, maize yield was reduced by 8.01 and 12.49% due
to full and deficit (0.75 full irrigation) irrigation regimes,
respectively, as compared with farmer practice. In 2009 season, the
trend was differed where full irrigation exhibited higher maize
grain yield value (7.34%) and deficit irrigation still reducing the
maize grain yield by 28.85%, in comparison with farmer practice.
Water productivity value for wheat under fulll irrigation
regime(1.2ETc) ranged from 6.25 to 19.88% and, while under
deficit irrigation (0.70 ETc), the figures ranged from 46.05 to
61.25%, comparable with farmer practice. Water productivity
values for berseem were increased by12.40 and 25.16% higher than
those under farmer practice, respectively, due to irrigating at 1.2
and 0.70 ETc regimes. Full and deficit irrigation (0.75 full
irrigation) regimes still improving WP for maize to be 24.36 and
43.13% in 2008 season and 13.79 and 21.41% in 2009 one,
respectively, as compared with farmer practice.