Amman, Sept. 28 (Petra) – A UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) workshop on Monday reviewed the results of the second phase of a project using remote sensing to monitor land and water productivity in Jordan, including new tools for irrigation assessment, groundwater monitoring, and crop mapping.
According to an FAO statement, the project trained 43 technical staff from five institutions over the past two years, 45 percent of them women, and established the National Knowledge Hub for Land and Water Productivity at the University of Jordan’s Faculty of Agriculture.
The workshop also examined the future use of satellite-based technologies to support sustainable agricultural water management in Jordan.
It marked the conclusion of the second phase of the Water Productivity through Open-access of Remotely Sensed Derived Data (WaPOR) project, implemented in partnership with the University of Jordan and the International Water Management Institute, with support from the Government of the Netherlands and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Representatives from the ministries of Agriculture and Water and Irrigation, the Jordan Valley Authority, and the Water Authority took part in the workshop.
Jordan’s water challenges require improved planning, management, and decision-making tools, with greater reliance on accurate data and information provided by the WaPOR platform, said Ministry of Agriculture Secretary-General Mohammad Hyari.
He added that the agricultural sector’s role in food security, economic development, and rural livelihoods is closely linked to improving water-use efficiency and maximizing the value generated from available water resources.
FAO Representative in Jordan Thaer Yaseen said the organization’s priority at the conclusion of the project’s second phase is to ensure that the knowledge and tools developed are integrated into national planning and decision-making processes.
The workshop also presented findings from a joint FAO-EBRD study on the economic productivity of irrigation water in citrus production systems in the northern Jordan Valley. The study identified opportunities to improve water-use efficiency while increasing farm profitability.
//Petra// AO
