Speaker
Description
A significant share of global crop production is limited by the availability and quality of water resources. At the same time, global freshwater resources from rivers, lakes and groundwater ("blue water") are today widely used for irrigation. The countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are considered to be the region with the largest proportion of used to available surface freshwater in the world. Negative effects of global climate change are already evident today and will further exacerbate the distribution problem of the scarce resource water in the future. The characteristics of the MENA countries, with high population growth, fast-growing food deficits and limited natural resources - especially arable land and water - make it essential to use water resources in the agricultural production as efficiently as possible through innovative technologies and adapted cropping systems. While surface Dripline Irrigation (DI) is established worldwide and a system widespread all over Morocco, burying driplines underground as so-called Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) systems is still rare. That is the case despite the fact that the high potential of enhancing plant water use efficiency of these systems is known from field research as well as practical applications in (semi)arid regions due to the possibility to apply water and fertilizer directly in the plant root zone. Nevertheless, for a successful implementation, the system design and management must be adapted to local conditions and agricultural practices. The BMBF Client II funded project SuLaMo addresses these questions for arid and semiarid regions in Morocco. Field studies are carried out at four trial sites covering different climatic areas in Morocco. During the installation phases, a wide range of valuable experience was gained regarding the establishment of the SDI system under local conditions. In the Meknès region, potatoes were grown in 2023 while in the Ouarzazate region maize was tested, providing first test results regarding the performance of SDI partly in combination with mulching under Moroccan conditions.
