A new research issue: water resources
It is closely linked to the European WADEMED project, a knowledge base on water demand management in the Maghreb that set out to develop integrated tools for managing water savings, and to facilitate dialogue between the various stakeholders, in terms of both production and promotion of resources in the Mediterranean Basin and revenue redistribution.
Under the WADEMED project, a seminar co-organized by CEMAGREF, CIRAD and the Ecole Nationale d'Agriculture in Meknes, in conjunction with the Lot Chamber of Agriculture, was held in Cahors (Lot) in November. It enabled an analysis, from one shore of the Mediterranean to the other, of current changes in irrigated agriculture, how agricultural professionals are coping with those changes, and the degree of State support. Plans were also made for twinning operations and exchanges between irrigation structures and cooperatives in Lot and in Morocco.
As Jean-Yves Jamin, Head of the CIRAD Water Management Research Unit, explains, “in France, Africa and Asia, we are facing the same difficulties managing water distribution between agricultural and urban areas”. He adds “We have to cope with drought, water salinity, disputes between users, and State withdrawal. Field research needs to combine hydraulics, agronomy and sociology”.
New water use practices are emerging in Mediterranean countries, notably the development of underground water drawing systems. Marcel Kuper and Nicolas Faysse, CIRAD researchers on postings in Morocco, and Serge Marlet in Tunisia, are working both to reduce water table salinity and to foster talks between farmers, professional organizations and the authorities. To optimize the future of family agriculture, new agricultural policies need to be drawn up for irrigation schemes.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.cirad.fr/en/presse/communique.php?id=236All latest news from the category: Ecology, The Environment and Conservation
This complex theme deals primarily with interactions between organisms and the environmental factors that impact them, but to a greater extent between individual inanimate environmental factors.
innovations-report offers informative reports and articles on topics such as climate protection, landscape conservation, ecological systems, wildlife and nature parks and ecosystem efficiency and balance.
Newest articles
Sea slugs inspire highly stretchable biomedical sensor
USC Viterbi School of Engineering researcher Hangbo Zhao presents findings on highly stretchable and customizable microneedles for application in fields including neuroscience, tissue engineering, and wearable bioelectronics. The revolution in…
Twisting and binding matter waves with photons in a cavity
Precisely measuring the energy states of individual atoms has been a historical challenge for physicists due to atomic recoil. When an atom interacts with a photon, the atom “recoils” in…
Nanotubes, nanoparticles, and antibodies detect tiny amounts of fentanyl
New sensor is six orders of magnitude more sensitive than the next best thing. A research team at Pitt led by Alexander Star, a chemistry professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich…