NARC’s international workshop on promoting sustainable irrigation water management concludes

AMMAN — The project to promote sustainable management of irrigation water and the use of non-conventional water in the Mediterranean basin, funded by the European Union, has held its closing workshop.

During the closing ceremony, Director General of the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Nizar Haddad stressed the importance of this project in building genuine partnerships and exchanging experiences with the countries participating in the project, said a NARC statement.

He pointed out that the project contributed to maximising the interest of farmers in the optimal use of unconventional water and the efficiency of water use in irrigation and the use of technology and energy in improving the use of irrigation systems and modern irrigation.

Haddad noted Jordan’s adoption of technology since ancient times, as the Jawa region witnessed the first dam in history and the Petra region the first irrigation canal in history. 

He emphasised on the fact that Jordan is one of the most water-scarce regions, and the per capita share decreased from 100 cubic metres to 61 cubic metres after the arrival of refugees.

The Director of the Institute of University Cooperation, Daniele Bonnetti, appreciated the pioneering role of NARC in disseminating modern irrigation techniques and networking with project countries.

Daniel added that the project to promote sustainable management highlighted the use of modern irrigation practices and technologies, their expansion among partners, and the exchange of experiences between partners.

Esmat Karadsheh, Coordinator of the Regional Office in the Middle East for the Cross-Border Cooperation Programme, indicated that the project constitutes an international platform for exchanging experiences between partners with European Union countries, developing international project proposals, and facing common challenges facing the agricultural sector.

The regional coordinator of the project, Rodrigo Alvarez Nunez, said that the project has achieved success in the participating countries, namely, Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Italy, and Morocco, and it has a clear impact on achieving sustainable development.

The project coordinator in Jordan, Luna Al Hadidi, stated that the project targeted the Jordan Valley region, benefiting 105 farmers in order to adopt modern irrigation technologies through the installation of several water desalination plants using nanotechnology and electro-ionisation, and the installation of weather monitoring stations, evaporation basins, filters, sensors to measure soil moisture and subsurface irrigation networks in farmers' fields.

Within the framework of the sustainability of transferring the outputs of the project and disseminating them to farmers and cooperative societies, NARC signed a memorandum of understanding with the University Cooperation Institute represented by Daniele, a memorandum of understanding with the Agricultural Credit Corporation represented by Director General Muhammed Dojan, a memorandum of understanding with the Jordanian Cooperative Corporation represented by Director General Abdulfattah Alshalabi, and a memorandum of understanding with the Baladna Association, one of the water users’ associations, represented by Nidal Abada.