ICARDACRP1.1

Dryland Systems: Integrated and Sustainable Agricultural Production

Systems for Improved Food Security and Livelihoods in Dry Areas

Regional Inception Workshop for North Africa & West Asia

July 2-4, 2012 - Golden Tulip Farah Hotel -Rabat, Morocco.

Working group 1

Sustainable Intensification/High potential areas

1. Characterization of the action sites

Meknes Saïs

Nile DeltaKarkheh

river Basin

Morocco Egypt Iran

Target research intervention zones

In Morocco, two intervention zones were selected based on the cropping system:

- Zone of Aïn Jamaa (Wheat Intensification)

- Zone of Nzalt Beni Ammar (Reconversion of wheat by Olive)

In Iran and Egypt the selected zones are already identified

2. Problem statements in the action sites

Constraints in Moroccan site

-Low soil fertility- Lack of diversification- Low input use- Post harvest loss- Low rate of agronomic packages adoption- market- Socio-economic constraints- Lack of economic scale-Land fragmentation

- Low input/technical use- Lack of technical

package- Market (value

chain)- Product quality- Lack of labor- - Water quality

Wheat based system Fruit tree systemVegetable based

system

In Moroccan siteData on land use/land cover will

be updated (p.92):

- 5.1.2- 5.1.3- 5.1.4- 5.1.7- 5.2.1- 5.2.2

Constraints in Iranian site

-Lack of proper agricultural machinery for all soil types and small farms

- Low institutional capacity of farmers associations/aggregation- Lack of information on water productivity for no-tillage system in crop rotation- Lack of proper Water harvesting systems

Recommendations of Iranian team (p.130 and 133)

3.2 Soil problems posing serious management challenges3.2.1 Salinity (severity, soil types and % of area affected)[common in SRT2 areas,rare in SRT3 areas]

SRT2: non-salineSRT3 (fresh area: non-saline)SRT3 (saline area: Azadegan plain: 90% saline)

3.2.2 Sodicity (severity, soil types and % of area affected)

SRT2: 5%SRT3:about 90% of Azadegan plain is saline sodic

4.2 Quality issues (e.g. waste water reuse)

SRT2: Not issueSRT3: 1.0-6.4 dS/m, highly saline shallow water table in Azadegan plain

6. Land degradation6.1 Type and current severity of particular types of land degradation6.1.1 Salinization (severity, % of area affected)

4-8 dS/m 15 %, 8-16 dS/m 27%, 16-32 dS/m 30% , above 32 dS/m 24%

6.2 Degradation trends6.2.1 Reclamation of salinized lands (% of area treated)

None

3. Research hypotheses

Hyp 1: Some form of farm aggregation (association/organized farmers groups) will lead to the realization of economies of size, thereby leading to increased access to input innovations, improved market efficiencies, competitiveness and value addition

Hyp 2: retained

Hyp 3: Water and land productivities in irrigated agriculture can sustainibly be increased through modified cropping patterns, salinity control, policy and institutionnal setups

Hyp 4: retained Hyp 5: retained Hyp 6: System analysis of production, landscape and market

system performance will allow optimal intensification of the production and market systems and the assessment of potential impact of innovations both in socio-economic and ecological terms

Divesification of cropping systemAggreggation

4. Major research outcomes