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Focus
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| Protected
Agriculture: A Different Greenhouse Effect |
Ahmed
Moustafa
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| Farmers take notes during a training program on integrated production and protection management (IPPM). |
Crops are grown in a “protected” environment such as a greenhouse where environmental conditions are largely controlled. This gives not only substantially higher yields, but also allows farmers to plan cropping cycles to take advantage of seasonal price fluctuations. ICARDA has developed a technology ‘package’ that enables growers to produce high-value crops even from marginal land. For poor, subsistence farmers, the package offers an excellent option to improve livelihoods and family nutrition. For better-off, more market-oriented farmers, it provides an opportunity to substantially increase profits with only limited investment.
Protected agriculture is best suited for high-value crops such as vegetables and fruits, but can also be used to grow high-quality seedlings that are later transplanted to open fields, leading to better crop stands and earlier harvests. Protected agriculture offers a number of advantages over traditional field production:
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Better protection against unfavorable weather conditions, pests and diseases, leading to high-quality produce that fetches premium prices |
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Yields increase five-fold (or even more), higher productivity per unit of land, water, energy and labor |
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Crops can be grown year-round: opportunities to grow multiple crops per year and/or produce out of season, when prices are high |
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Requires only a small area; suitable for smallholders who depend on family labor |
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The system is women-friendly, as it does not require heavy labor, and provides an enclosed environment in which women can work, even in conservative communities |
Less pesticide, more profits
Traditional greenhouse production relies on heavy use of pesticides and other external inputs. ICARDA offers a cheaper, more environment-friendly alternative known as Integrated Production and Protection Management (IPPM). IPPM combines several components: climate management (temperature, ventilation), irrigation, fertilizer, management practices (appropriate cultivars, growth media, nursery, plant density, etc).
Pest and disease management is through a combination of biological control, limited chemical control and mechanical protection (insect-proof netting, plastic mulching, insect traps, etc).
Drip irrigation methods, designed specifically for small-scale protected agriculture, not only increase water-use efficiency, but also allow farmers to use ‘fertigation’, i.e. adding nutrients into irrigation water, so that nutrients are delivered more accurately and efficiently, with less wastage and minimal damage to the environment.
The integrated approach provides huge benefits. For example, studies on greenhouse tomatoes showed that water productivity (kilograms of tomatoes per cubic meter of water) can be increased at least fifteen-fold, compared to conventional field production.
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| Greenhouse production of cash crops in Afghanistan: profitable enough to compete even with poppy cultivation. |
In a pilot project in Afghanistan, 35 growers in six provinces set up greenhouse cucumber production with help from ICARDA and its partners. Farm incomes increased by up to 135%. Greenhouse production gave four times the output, five times the net income per unit of land, and nine times the net return per unit of water, compared to field production. Neighboring farmers are now clamoring to participate. In Kunduz province, for example, 30 new growers have signed up, paying half the investment costs.
The project has trained 364 participants: growers, extension agents, NGO staff and others. Eight training manuals have been produced in the local language, describing greenhouse installation and management, drip irrigation, crop nutrient/management requirements, and vegetable production methods.
ICARDA has also helped set up an institutional framework to support these efforts. A Protected Agriculture Center was established in Kabul for research, training, demonstrations, and provision of technical support and advisory services. The demonstration greenhouses at the center are generating widespread interest. The first harvest (1.7 tons of cucumber from a single greenhouse) took only 75 days, and was sold for U$1200. The Center also has a fully equipped workshop to fabricate greenhouse structures. Greenhouse costs have been reduced by 40% by using locally available materials. Fifteen Afghan technicians have been trained in fabrication methods.
Protecting mountain terraces in Yemen
Much of the food production in Yemen comes from rainfed agriculture in traditional terraces in mountainous areas. These terraces have sustained the country for centuries, but are now falling into disuse. Farming offers poor returns, so men migrate to urban areas looking for employment. Rural labor becomes scarce, affecting the maintenance of terraces. Productivity declines and farm incomes fall further, driving still more migration.
Attempts to encourage farmers to remain on the land have been successful only where irrigation water is available and cash crops can be grown. ICARDA is leading a 2-year project funded by the French food aid program, to arrest this decline by promoting protected agriculture. Greenhouses have been installed at 35 pilot farms, with ICARDA providing technical backstopping to farmers. Local capacity has been built through a train-the-trainer approach targeted at extension agents, agricultural engineers and technicians, as well as practical training programs for farmers.
Poor farmers are now producing greenhouse cucumbers on mountain terraces. Incomes have increased substantially, reducing the necessity to migrate, and increasing the available labor pool to maintain the terraces. Better maintenance in turn is helping to improve resource-use efficiency and conserve the environment.
The impact of protected agriculture on the livelihoods of terrace farmers in Yemen was presented as a poster at the 2nd Triennial Conference of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), held in Dakar, Senegal, in May 2007. The poster was selected for an award, as one of the top five displayed at the meeting.
Improving livelihoods in Pakistan
Balochistan is the largest – and poorest – province in Pakistan. Two-thirds of the population depends on agriculture – but with severe water scarcity, only 1.5 million ha of Balochistan’s 35 million ha are under cultivation.
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| Protected agriculture is creating employment and income opportunities in Yemen, helping to preserve centuries-old mountain terraces. |
ARI staff and farmers were trained on greenhouse installation and maintenance as well as IPPM methods. Production was monitored by ARI, with backstopping from ICARDA. Project researchers have developed a low-cost technology package that allows resource-poor growers to use the greenhouses effectively to produce high-quality, high-value cash crops.
Farmers are achieving high returns from cucumber production. With more training, they could further increase production levels and diversify into other cash crops. For example, vegetables offer significant opportunities: Balochistan exports vegetables for 4 months a year; and imports from other provinces for the rest of the year. Consumers also readily pay premium prices for extra quality of greenhouse products – creating further incentives to increase production.
The future
ICARDA’s work in three countries has shown how protected agriculture can transform livelihoods in dry marginal areas, while simultaneously improving the use-efficiency of scarce water resources. The projects have used an integrated, participatory approach combining technology development with training, backstopping support, and technology transfer. The results have been encouraging.
The efforts to date have been pilot projects, on a small scale. Expanding to cover more farmers in more areas will require more work, and bigger budgets. Adaptive, problem-solving research will help enhance and further simplify the technology to encourage adoption by the poorest farmers. Training for all stakeholders – growers, extension agents and researchers – will be equally important, because few farmers in marginal areas are familiar with the technology.
Protected agriculture will remain an important part of ICARDA’s research for development portfolio. The Center is working with national research and extension agencies to ensure that the huge potential benefits are translated into actual improvements in incomes, livelihoods and environmental conservation.
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| Ahmed
Moustafa (a.moustafa@cgiar.org) is Coordinator of ICARDA's Arabian
Peninsula Regional Program, based in Dubai, UAE. ICARDA's Protected Agriculture team includes: Dr Ahmed Moustafa of ICARDA; Dr Magdy Wadid of CLAC, Egypt; Dr Samir Al Abd of NRC, Egypt; Dr Zaki El-Sawi Lashine of Ain Shams University, Egypt; Dr Koffi Amegbeto and Dr Farouk Shomo of ICARDA; Dr Issam Abdul Razaq of MMAA, Bahrain; Eng. Tarek Ouda of CLAC, Egypt; and Eng. Abdul Fattah Tarsha and Eng. Arash Nejatian of ICARDA. |
© 2008 International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
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