Progress 02/01/05 to 01/31/10
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) The objective of this cooperative research project is to develop technology and methodology for efficient use of water in agricultural systems suited to dry land climates, by employing Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS) technology. Approach (from AD-416) 1. Conduct research and cooperate on the Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS) project, which is part of a cooperative research project bringing together participants from Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and the United States to Improve water management by providing data for scheduling irrigation and other crop management decisions to increase irrigation efficiency in the Middle East and the United States. 2. Establish an IMIS research sites to represent important agricultural production systems in Palestine. Evapotranspiration (ET) models for several conventional and specialized crops will be evaluated for the designated sites and prioritized according to applicability criteria. Soil and plant water-status measurement instrumentation will be evaluated, adapted and integrated into the system according to the same applicability criteria. 3. Conduct collaborative research on measurement of crop water use and calculation of crop coefficients for key crops, such as peppers and cucumbers and stone fruit tress. No activities were carried out during this reporting period due to change in the Principal Investigator of this project and thus the agreement was closed. The Statement of Work and the remaining funds were transferred to the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC) project number: 0210-22310-003-38.
Impacts
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Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) The objective of this cooperative research project is to develop technology and methodology for efficient use of water in agricultural systems suited to dry land climates, by employing Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS) technology. Approach (from AD-416) 1. Conduct research and cooperate on the Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS) project, which is part of a cooperative research project bringing together participants from Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and the United States to Improve water management by providing data for scheduling irrigation and other crop management decisions to increase irrigation efficiency in the Middle East and the United States. 2. Establish an IMIS research sites to represent important agricultural production systems in Palestine. Evapotranspiration (ET) models for several conventional and specialized crops will be evaluated for the designated sites and prioritized according to applicability criteria. Soil and plant water-status measurement instrumentation will be evaluated, adapted and integrated into the system according to the same applicability criteria. 3. Conduct collaborative research on measurement of crop water use and calculation of crop coefficients for key crops, such as peppers and cucumbers and stone fruit tress. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations This report serves to document research conducted under a specific cooperative agreement between ARS and the Arab Agronomist Association (AAA), Palestinian Authority. The ADODR provided oversight on this activity by meeting with AAA counterparts during travels in the region and through email exchanges and by telephone. As of now, there are four active metrological stations located in the West Bank: Zababdy in the north; Qalqilia in the center; Hebron in the south; and Jericho in the Jordan Valley. The rain fall during the 2008-2009 rainy season was as follow: Zababdy, 350.4mm; Hebron, 430.5mm; Qalqilia, 450.4mm; and the lowest was registered at Jericho station at 76.7mm. During this period, AAA project cooperators traveled to Israel and Jordan for IMIS related training and network maintenance. The training covered meteorological station installation, connection of the climatic sensors, data acquisition and maintenance. The Palestinian cooperators worked closely with U.S., Israeli, and Jordanian cooperators to build and maintain a network of agricultural meteorological stations with an Internet site to improve knowledge of crop water use for several crops in the region, and to attain a positive outlook for future collaboration on the pressing water issues in the region. AAA provides the technical support for the MERIMIS Web site. The website is constantly updated and utilized by both, farmers and researchers in the MERIMIS cooperating countries: www.merimis.org.
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Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/07
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) The objective of this cooperative research project is to develop technology and methodology for efficient use of water in agricultural systems suited to dry land climates, by employing Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS) technology. Approach (from AD-416) 1. Conduct research and cooperate on the Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS) project, which is part of a cooperative research project bringing together participants from Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and the United States to Improve water management by providing data for scheduling irrigation and other crop management decisions to increase irrigation efficiency in the Middle East and the United States. 2. Establish an IMIS research sites to represent important agricultural production systems in Palestine. Evapotranspiration (ET) models for several conventional and specialized crops will be evaluated for the designated sites and prioritized according to applicability criteria. Soil and plant water-status measurement instrumentation will be evaluated, adapted and integrated into the system according to the same applicability criteria. 3. Conduct collaborative research on measurement of crop water use and calculation of crop coefficients for key crops, such as peppers and cucumbers and stone fruit tress. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations The Palestinian cooperators are working closely with U.S., Israeli, and Jordanian cooperators to build a network of agricultural meteorological stations with an Internet site (www.merimis.org), to improve knowledge of crop water use for several crops in the region, and to attain a positive outlook for future collaboration on the pressing water issues in the region. The second year experiment conducted in the Jenin region on pickling cucumbers concluded and the Palestinians are cooperating with the Israeli researchers on the data analysis and research outcomes. The results of the research will serve as the basis for developing irrigation recommendations for Jenin within three years. The Palestinian cooperators are currently conducting research on date palm irrigation scheduling and on greenhouse agricultural production systems in Jericho. Research is conducted in cooperation with Al-Quds University. Al-Quds provides the scientific support and the laboratories to conduct analysis. AAA and Al-Quds University sent five engineers to attend the training course entitled Irrigation Water Management and Scientific Writing which held at INCART during the period from 10-14 December 2006. AAA provides the technical support for the MERIMIS Web site. The website is constantly updated and utilized by both, farmers and researchers in the MERIMIS cooperating countries.
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Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/06
Outputs
Progress Report 4d Progress report. This report serves to document research conducted under a specific cooperative agreement between ARS and the Arab Agronomist Association (AAA), West Bank. Starting October 1, 2005, AAA became the cooperating institution with ARS as a replacement of Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees for CRIS 0210-22310-002-48S. Funding is provided under a reimbursable agreement with the Department of State (CRIS 4001-22310-002-44R) and work is in partnership with Jordan's Ministry of Agriculture (CRIS 4001-22310- 002-46S) and Israel (CRIS 4001-22310-002-47S). Water scarcity and competing demands for water have become one of the key barriers to sustainable agriculture production in the Middle East and the West Bank. Under the direction of Dr. James Ayars, ARS Water Management Research Laboratory, Parlier, CA, and Dr. Steven Evett, ARS Soil and Water Management Research Unit, Bushland, TX, the co-operators are working to establish the
technological and human infrastructure required to achieve long-term sustained water conservation in the U.S. and Middle East. As part of the Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS) project, Mr. Nedal Katbeh-Bader a Palestinian researcher visited ARS for a one- year training program. The Palestinian visiting researcher is a Theme Leader for the Watershed Management-Regional Initiative for Dryland Management for the West Bank/Gaza. Mr. Katbeh worked at the USDA-ARS Water Management Research Lab in Parlier, California with ARS scientists and Visiting Researchers (VRs) from Israel and Jordan on the multilateral US-Middle East IMIS project, from the November 15, 2004 through November 15, 2005. The VRs finalized their U.S. field research on irrigation experiments located at ARS laboratory, Parlier, California. In advance of their departure, the VRs met with their ARS mentors to discuss the next steps and plan for the research activities in the VRs respective countries. Research
results are currently under review and analysis in order to process and utilize collected data from their studies. A cooperative agreement between Al-Quds University and AAA was finalized and signed. The objective is to establish a formal agreement between the two parties whereby Al-Quds University provides the technical and scientific support for AAA and the regional IMIS project cooperators. The second year experiment conducted in the Jenin region on pickling cucumbers concluded and the Palestinians are cooperating with the Israeli researchers on the data analysis and research outcomes. The results of the research will serve as the basis for developing irrigation recommendations for Jenin within three years. The fourth weather station was installed in Qabalan in Nabulus region and a fifth station will be purchased and installed in Gaza during 2006/2007 season. In Qbabalan region farmers are encouraged to irrigate with recycled water from a nearby water treatment plant. The
meteorological station will provide data to farmers and researchers conducting research for developing a formula for crop water requirement for olive. The Palestinians cooperators are currently conducting research on date palm irrigation scheduling in Jericho. Research is conducted in cooperation with Al-Quds University. Al-Quds provides the scientific support and the facilities to conduct analysis. Eng. Iyad Mashal, IMIS Web Master, finalized the IMIS database to give quick useful up-to-date meteorological information. In addition, the Arabic website is also in operation. Eng. Mashal travels to Jordan and Israel to coordinate activities between all parties, especially in regard to field research and data collection management. The Palestinian cooperators are working closely with U.S., Israeli, and Jordanian cooperators to build a network of agricultural meteorological stations with an Internet site (www.merimis.org), to improve knowledge of crop water use for several crops in the
region, and to attain a positive outlook for future collaboration on the pressing water issues in the region.
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