Crop yield estimation in Qazvin Irrigation Network, Iran

The SIDA funded project on “2030 agenda for water efficiency/productivity and water sustainability in NENA countries” seeks to contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDG) in the fields of water, land and energy. In this regard, in Iran, this project is being implemented in Qazvin Irrigation Network (QIN) as the pilot site. Crop water productivity monitoring based on evapotranspiration and yield maps is one of the main components of this project. Accordingly, the crop yield estimation for 2019-2020 crop year of the QIN has been done by a team from Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU) of Qazvin in collaboration with FAO and Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad (MAJ). Crop yield maps have been prepared for three main crops of the region including wheat, barley and maize through the combination of AquaCrop and AquaCrop-GIS models with remote sensing technology. At the end of the project, a webinar will be conducted on Monday 5 July 2021 by IKIU and FAO to present the methodology and the outputs of the project to audience interested in water accounting and water productivity monitoring, especially using satellite imagery.

Speaker:

• Peyman Daneshkar Arasteh, Associate Professor in Water Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU)

• Hadi Ramezani Etedali, Associate Professor in Water Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU)

• Ali Shahnian, Project Operations Officer, FAO Iran

• Peyman Jafary, GIS and Remote Sensing Expert, FAO Iran

Actions on sustainable soil management in the Near East and North Africa

In the sixth Water Productivity Talks Webinar session we are focused on the topic Soil Management. The event aims to introduce participants to Sustainable Soil Management (SSM) and to its practice in the NENA region. The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) of FAO will open the event by recalling what SSM is and what legal and technical tools they developed to evaluate and promote SSM practices. Then, soil experts from Syria ( General Commission for Scientific Agriculture Research), Tunisia (Director of Soil Resources (DGACTA) at the Ministry of Agriculture) and Morocco ( Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) will share their experience by presenting national and sub-regional case studies on the topic that will open the discussion on how SSM can be achieved in the region.

Models for assessment of WP: use and applications of AquaCrop and CropWat

Determining the surface to be cultivated in areas with limited water is a key decision. Agricultural water management is a complex activity, so we need more accuracy for assessing crop yield response to water.

In this webinar, an overview is given of which models we are using to determine WP in the SIDA project, how they have been developed and how we can use and apply to the goals of the project.

A model is defined as a simplified representation of reality. The interaction of the 3 components of the agricultural system (soil, plant and atmosphere) is simulated along the time with these models which are further explained in the webinar. 

Speaker: Elias Fereres