WaPOR training in Iraq on data collection for crop mapping
From Sunday 15 Jan 2023 in Baghdad, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Iraq (FAO) in collaboration with Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) conducted a 5-day training on the collection of reference data for crop mapping for the West Gharraf Irrigation Project area (Wasit & Thi_Qa Governorates), one of the subnational areas in Iraq with 30 m resolution data. This activity is part of the technical support provided by the FAO to the Ministry of Water Resources according to a letter of agreement between the two entities. The MoWR will subsequently collect data for the winter season crops of the year 2023.
The five days training (15-19 January) was facilitated by Dr. Hesham Aboelsoud , a geospatial expert at the FAO. The training included lectures and field training to consolidate understanding of the mapping process, of methods for collecting reference data and of the main components of survey.
“This Project is very essential, especially when countering water challenges and climate change in the region, as the crop maps to be developed will improve water use, improve crop yields, and protect land and water health, also Water accounting, assessment of functioning and performance of irrigation systems are main pillars in achieving sustainable food security and better nutrition in Iraq “said FAO Representative Dr Salah Elhajj Hassan.
The Director general of the planning and follow-Up department at the MoWR, Engineer Zaid Hamoody added that "for ensuring the sustainability of natural resources, especially water, requires a change in management patterns and a reduction in excessive consumption. It is necessary to find alternative ways to reduce the process of water evaporation and calculate water productivity based on satellite information with the adoption of field data using the ODK as an open source application for data collection in order to classify satellite images and use electronic forms instead of paper forms based on field survey”.