NARC concludes international workshop on promoting sustainable irrigation water management

Jordan Daily – The Director General of NARC, Dr. Nizar Haddad, patronized the closing workshop of 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.

Dr. Haddad stressed the importance of this project in building genuine partnerships and exchanging experiences with the countries participating in the project, pointing out that the project contributed to maximizing 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.

During the closing ceremony, Dr. Haddad pointed out that Jordan is a contemporary civilized country of modern technology since ancient times, as the Jawa region witnessed the first dam in history and the Petra region the first irrigation canal in history, emphasizing on the fact that Jordan is one of the most water-scarce regions, and the per capita share decreased from 100 cubic meters to 61 cubic meters after the entry of refugees.

The Director of the Institute of University Cooperation, Dr. Daniele Bonnetti, appreciated the pioneering role of the National Agricultural Research Center in disseminating modern irrigation techniques and networking with project countries to exchange information, knowledge and the scientific status that the center enjoyed in technology transfer.

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.

Dr. Esmat Karadsheh, Coordinator of the Regional Office in the Middle East for the Cross-Border Cooperation Program, 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, Dr. 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-ionization, 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 Dr. Daniele, a memorandum of understanding with the Agricultural Credit Corporation “ACC” represented by the Director General, Eng. Muhammed Dojan, a memorandum of understanding with the Jordanian Cooperative Corporation “JCC” represented by the Director General, Eng. Abdulfattah alshalabi, and a memorandum of understanding with the Baladna Association, one of the water users’ associations, represented by Mr. Nidal Abada.