Integrated farming on irrigated lands for adaptation to changing climate
Full Solution
Water tower for drip irrigation
GIZ
Irrigated cultivation of onion, potatoes, corn and other crops is hampered by poor agricultural practice and these challenges are increasingly exacerbated by the impact of climate change. The impacts of already visible trends and predictions cause a reduction of available irrigation water, while higher temperatures and expansion of irrigated agriculture lead to higher irrigation water demand. Current irrigated agriculture has low irrigation water use efficiency.
The solution addresses these problems in an integrated way, combining several elements through an agricultural extension service:
- Agricultural extension service provides tailored advise;
- Adapted agricultural inputs are provided at part loan basis through the extension services to ease the application of technical advice and reduce transaction costs for the farmers;
- Technological assistance in form of seeding machines, cultivation and irrigation technologies;
- Crop diversification considers climate change and market demand.
Last update: 25 Sep 2020
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Contexto
Défis à relever
The high costs of inputs are for most farmers not affordable at the time, when they are needed. Commercial loans are either not available or not affordable. Therefore loans at better conditions than typical commercial loans are needed. The involved agricultural extension service provides this loan.
Ubicación
Sughd Province, Tajikistan
North and Central Asia
Procesar
Summary of the process
The building blocks are integrated at each farm in a specific way. The agricultural extenstion service is instrumental for bringing the building blocks together and providing each farmer with the solution, which is suitable for his side conditions, impact of ongoing and predicted climate change, the economic situation at farm level as well as the market situation for the produced crops.
Building Blocks
Consultation on agricultural practices and inputs
The agricultural service provides farm-specific advice on choice of crop and the best combination of seeds (varieties), fertilizer, pesticides, cultivation and irrigation technology. The purpose of this building block is to provide the farmers with the best available knowledge to guide their decisions and practice.
Sometimes it may happen that the agronomist advises the farmers to apply a needed input at a certain time, but the farmers do not follow this advice, since at that time they either do not have the financial means for purchasing the recommended inputs or lack access to it. Thus, the provision of advice would not be effective.
Enabling factors
The local agricultural extension service combines long-year experience in the specific region with knowledge on internationally available best practices. Further, the extension service collaborates closely with the agricultural departments in the respective districts and it is trusted by the farmers. The collaboration with the GIZ project allowed for the integration of additional state-of-the art technologies.
Lesson learned
Agricultural extension needs to be tailored to the specific conditions of the local farmers and all advise has to take into consideration their needs and opportunities, while providing new knowledge and directly applicable suggestions.
Input packages
The farmers together with receiving the technical advice by the agricultural extension service get the opportunity to purchase directly the appropriate packages of seeds, fertilizer, pesticides and other agrochemicals. As these purchases are needed at the begin of the growth season, when financial means are scarce, they are partly (50% of their costs) provided on loan basis under affordable conditions (interest rate below normal market rates).
Enabling factors
Enabling factors are:
- Packages of seeds and agrochemicals are adapted to local growth conditions and all components are complementary;
- Inputs are made affordable during the time when they are needed, but typically farmers cannot afford them;
- Loans can be returned when farmers have income from the harvest.
Lesson learned
The combination of agricultural extension providing side-specific advice with tailored packages of agricultural inputs and the financial mechanism (part loan at affordable conditions) are key for the adoption of new and adapted agricultural technologies and practices. If one or two of these elements would be missing the rate of adoption and succesful application would massively drop. Without specific technical advice farmers do not have the awareness and capacity to purchase suitable combinations of complementary inputs. Advice without the opportunity of direct purchase of inputs leaves too much a barrier in terms of the farmers having to find suppliers on their own and having high opportunity costs, and possibly sometimes purchasing suboptimum combinations or insufficient quality and quantity of inputs. And only the availability of a timely and affordable loan enables the farmers to purchase the full quantity of inputs and to apply the adapted technologies.
Efficient irrigation
Efficiency of irrigation can be improved in terms of sourcing of irrigation water, distribution and field level use. Site-specific improvements have been introduced, which can serve as models. They include:
1. Sourcing of irrigation water:
- Use of of subsurface water flow in dry riverbeds;
- Use of rainwater harvest from house roofing for small vegetable fields;
- Use of wells with low water discharge in combination with water tower and reservoir to allow for drip irrigation of small orchards and melone fields.
2. Water distribution:
- Lining of irrigation canals with high seepage losses;
- Improved water diversion structures for allocation of optimum water quantities.
3. Efficient irrigation of crops:
- Drip irrigation of various crops, e.g. onion, potato, corn, melon, apple;
- Sprinker irrigation of potato.
Enabling factors
The major enabling factors are the collaboration of various actors - water management departments and agricultural departments at district level, village administrations, extension service, communities and farmers.
Lesson learned
Drip and sprinkler irrigation have been successfully tested in various crops, but the economic viability of these efficient irrigation technologies varies. Drip irrigation is only economically viable where limited irrigation equipment can allow for production of high yield of expensively sold crops, e.g. fruits and melons. For mass crops, like onion and potato, the investment required is too high compared to the prices achieved for the harvest. However, if irrigation water becomes more scarce, irrigation equipment becomes more affordable and/or prices of agricultural products increase, this situation may change and drip irrigation may become affordable for such crops as well.
Sprinkler irrigation already nowadays can be efficient where increasing temperatures challenge the productivity and quality of potato crop.
Impacts
Environmental impacts:
- Reduced consumption of irrigation water;
- Maintained and improved soil fertility.
Social impacts:
- Improved awareness about climate change impact and the direct link between the quality of agricultural input and practices and resulting yield and crop quality;
- Increase in the confidence, capacity and status of farmers;
- Involved extension service and agricultural departments gained knowledge;
- The collaboration between farmers, extension services and agricultural departments was consolidated;
- Potential of conflicts about irrigation water within and between villages is reduced.
Economic impacts:
- The farmers were enabled to apply technical advice from the extension service as agricultural inputs were made easier available and affordable;
- The improved irrigation efficiency leads to "more crop per drop" and thus to reduced costs for irrigation water;
- Increase in yields and crop quality stabilized food security;
- More reliable quantities and quality of crop allow improved market access;
- Higher yields and better marketability increased incomes of farmers;
- The demand for inputs improved business and employment opportunities of provider of inputs.
Beneficiaries
- Farmers involved in irrigated agriculture;
- Villagers using irrigation water for home garden plots and also for household needs;
- Agricultural extension service
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 1 – No poverty
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
SDG 13 – Climate action
SDG 15 – Life on land
Story
Onions ready for harvest
GIZ
The farmers in Sughd region heavily depend on income from irrigated cultivation of onions. They used locally available seeds and sowed them directly by hand into the fields. Farmers would not get credits for purchase of seeds, fertilizer and persticides. So fertilizer and pesticides were hardly affordable and farmers had limited knowledge of their application. In the result the fertility of lend dropped, yields were low and unreliable and the quality of the harvested onions was diverse with a low percentage of onions marketable at optimum prices.
The agricultural extension service of the OJC Neksigol helped the farms with a package of seeds of locally adapted and very productive onion varieties, the necessary fertilizer and pesticides for which detailed instructions were given on application, dosages and safety. For all these inputs the farm would pay half of the price at the time of purchase and half after collection of harvest. The interest rate would be in the range of the difference between bulk price, at which the extension service purchased the inputs, and typical retail prices. This is much below typical commercial interest rates. A special hand seeding machine was provided to use the suitable amount of the expensive seeds. By propagating the onion seedlings under a sheet greenhouse much less seeds, irrigation water and agrochemicals are needed than with the conventional method of direct sowing in the field. And most important - the transplanted onion seedlings grow faster and more evenly.
So the farm can now with much reduced costs produce better and more onions. This provides a more secure and higher income to the farm staff.
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Other contributors
Negmatjon Negmatov
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
