Agriculture Water Management Training in Syria
A key focus in ICARDA's work in Syria is on building up the country's research capacity as a prerequisite for implementing a sound and effective research program for increasing the productivity of dry-farming crops.
As part of the research activities through "Data Collection Survey on Efficient Agriculture Water Management," conducted in the Orontes river basin in Hama-Syria, ICARDA held a Modern Irrigation Management Training Course and Data Collection on the effective management of agricultural water in October 2022 in the city of Aleppo.
The training course identified future capacity development activities and included a field tour of the Orontes Basin in Hama. The participants included fifteen researchers from different governorates from the Modern Irrigation Directorate at the Ministry of Agriculture and the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), nine of which were women. Experts from ICARDA offices in Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and GCSAR also participated in the sessions.
The research activities included demonstrations at several farmer fields to showcase a variety of modern irrigation technologies, such as:
- Gated pipes water delivery to furrow irrigation
- Solar pumping with drip irrigation
- Raised bed machine
- Tank irrigation for kitchen garden
In 2023, we will continue monitoring the implementation site to identify the benefits of each technology. Also, we will organize additional training sessions in Syria and other countries to specify the capacity development needs of future agricultural engineers.
