Supplemental irrigation: Case of Tadla region in Morocco

Mohammed Karrou Background Water scarcity in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) is a well-known and alarming problem. Increasing water scarcity is threatening the economic development and the stability of many parts of the region. At present, agriculture accounts for over 75% of the total consumption of water in the region. However, with rapidly growing demand, it is certain that water will increasingly be reallocated away from agriculture to other sectors. Moreover, opportunities for the significant capture of new water are now limited. Most river systems suitable for large-scale irrigation have already been developed. Few major resources of renewable groundwater remain untapped and current resources are subject to overexploitation, with extraction exceeding recharge rate in many cases. While gains in efficiency are potentially available from improved distribution and use of water in fully irrigated agriculture, a great proportion of the region’s agricultural livelihoods are based on rainfed farming systems where production is dependent on low and extremely variable rainfall. The challenge in rainfed areas is to enhance productivity through improving on-farm water use efficiency and supplementing rainfall either through water harvesting or the strategic use of sources of renewable water to augment essentially rainfed production. However, conventional practices, which have been developed for managing water under normal water supply conditions, are not suitable under conditions of water scarcity. The need for special management of water under conditions of scarcity, based on maximizing the return from each unit of water available for agriculture, now applies to almost all the countries of WANA. Technologies for improved management of scarce water resources are available. However, many of these technologies are not widely implemented or are not seen as feasible by farmers. This can be attributed to a number of constraints, including technical, socioeconomic and policy factors; but most importantly the lack of community participation in the development and implementation of improved technologies. The immediate purpose of the ICARDA Water Benchmark Project, funded by AFESD, IFAD and OFID and implemented in Tadla region of Morocco, in collaboration with INRA-Morocco, is to develop and test, with the full participation of rural communities, water and crop management options that will increase water productivity, optimize water use and that are economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound. The emphasis was on supplemental irrigation system.

Approach

The project approach is based on five principles:

a) Community participation

The project uses an approach, based on community participation. The local communities are the full

partner in planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

b) Integrating technologies with policy and institutions

The project addressed problems from a technical, socioeconomic, cultural, and institutional and policy

perspective, with the full participation of the intended beneficiaries and other stakeholders.

c) Benchmark and satellites sites (complementarities)

A benchmark site was established in the Tadla area of Morocco. This site represents the majority of the

conditions in the rainfed agro-ecologies. However, some conditions and issues in the region related to the

natural resources, the environment and/or the socioeconomics may not be apparent in the benchmark site

and thus are addressed in the satellite sites in Algeria and Tunisia.

d) Multidisciplinary, multi-institutions

The project approach is based on the involvement of many different research disciplines and development

institutions.

e) Socioeconomic analysis and community participation

Socioeconomic surveys that characterize the communities involved in the project sites have been

conducted in order to identify the main technical, social, economic and environmental problems that

constraint the community livelihood improvement. The surveys’ results established the base line

information for the project target areas and communities and for evaluation of the impacts.

Impacts of the project

The adoption of improved deficit supplemental irrigation and agronomic package by farmers involved in

the project in Tadla region of Morocco allowed, in average, an increase of wheat yield from 5.5 to 6.6 t/ha

(17%) and a saving of 30% (1,140 m3/ha) of irrigation water. The net benefit was also increased by 34%

(445 USD/ha) and the economic irrigation water productivity was doubled (1.0 vs 2.0 USD/m3 of

irrigation water). A farm survey on deficit supplemental irrigation in the region on a sample of 100 farms

showed that, in the case of farmers who participated in field days, the adoption rate was 21% and the

degree of adoption was 86%. In the case of farmers who participated in the demonstration trials, the

adoption indices were, respectively, 100% and 96%.

Taking into consideration the results described above and if we assume that the improved package of

deficit supplemental irrigation is disseminated at a large scale in the region, significant amounts of

irrigation water can be saved and wheat production can be increased. In fact, the adoption of the package

in only 10% of irrigated area of Tadla perimeter (5,220 ha) can allow a saving of 5,950,800 m3 of water

and an extra production of wheat of 5742 tons. If 50% of the irrigated area (26,200 ha) receives deficit

supplemental irrigation, water saving will be 29,754,000 m3 and the gain of production will be 28,710

tons. The saved water can be used to irrigate more cash crops and improve significantly the total net

returns of the farmers.