Farmers save water, increase productivity and improve crop quality

Agriculture is the largest user of water resources in Jordan. Recent studies and surveys by the USAID-funded Water Innovation Technologies (WIT) project have shown that the performance of irrigation practices and equipment is still poor, resulting in inefficient water usage. In addition to wasting water, this inefficiency also reduces crop yields and wastes production inputs such as energy and fertilizers. 

The WIT project supports private irrigation supply companies to educate farmers on technologies that not only save water and money, but improve agricultural productivity. The project team worked with irrigation suppliers to establish demonstration sites illustrating the considerable impact such practices and technologies have on water savings. The companies' staff also participated in a series of project-led trainings on irrigation water efficiency and marketing to support their sales efforts.

The irrigation suppliers have been active in reaching out to farmers and promoting water-saving technologies. Influenced by the sales efforts of these companies, Bassam Al-Hamaideh, a farmer in Mafraq, installed low flow water-saving drippers throughout 420 dunums (4.2 hectares) of his farm to provide the exact required amount of water to his stone fruit trees. The newly installed drippers at Al-Hamaideh's farm have significantly improved fruit quality compared to the previous season by uniformly distributing water and fertilizer to all trees. As a result, the ratio of lower-quality (or class B) fruits has decreased compared to that of higher-quality (or class A) fruits, which in turn significantly increases the farm's profits. 

Seeing this, additional irrigation equipment suppliers have become aware of this increased demand generated by the USAID-funded Water Innovation Technologies' partnership with private sector companies and started providing similar water-saving irrigation services and equipment, independent of project support.

This project, funded by USAID, seeks to increase water conservation by focusing on water efficiency in the agricultural sector as well as at the community and household levels.