This new online service introduced by ICID is developed to help various stakeholders in locating required business information through a few clicks. The online directory enlists all the services and products being provided by consultants, manufacturing companies, dealers, and other professional institutions dealing in irrigation, drainage and flood management. This online service is totally FREE and can be availed of by any service provider by submitting the required information on ICID website <http://www.icid.org/ypaddform2.php>. To view this new service, please visit http://www.icid.org/ypsearch.php

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

2nd World Irrigation Forum on the theme: Water management in a changing world: Role of irrigation for sustainable food production, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 6-8 November 2016.

www.worldirrigationforum.net

National Water Research Center (Egypt) International Conference on “Research and Technology Development for Sustainable Water Resources Management”  on the theme “Geo-Measurement, Field Investigation, and Monitoring” Special Sessions, Workshops and Exhibition, Cairo, Egypt, 4-6 December 2016.
E-mail: eng.mirmokhtar@gmail.com, website: www.redwarm2016-eg.org

13th International Drainage Workshop (IDW), Ahwaz City, Iran, 4-7 March 2017, Theme: Drainage and Environmental Sustainability. 
E-mail:13idw2017@gmail.com, website:http://idw13.org

68th IEC and 23rd ICID Congress on Irrigation and Drainage, 8-14 October 2017, on the theme: Modernizing Irrigation and Drainage for a new Green Revolution, Mexico City, Mexico, 8-14 October 2017.
Website: http://www.icid2017.org/ E-mail: cnm@mxcid.org, brobles@tlaloc.imta.mx, luis.rendon@cna.gob.mx, luis.rendon@conagua.gob.mx

World Bank continues to support agriculture sector in Montenegro
World Bank, 9 September 2016
The World Bank Groups’ Board of Executive Directors today approved an additional financing loan in the amount of EUR 3.0 million (US$ 3,343,800 equivalent) for the Montenegro Institutional Development and Agriculture Strengthening Project (MIDAS). Building on the successes of the original project, the additional financing will provide further resources to strengthen rural areas and increase the country’s preparedness for European Union accession requirements. It would allow for the expansion of the institutional capacity building achieved to date to manage public funds dedicated to agricultural support. The original MIDAS project has so far assisted in establishing the capacity of Montenegro to implement an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in Rural Development (IPARD) compatible system, a paying agency, farm registry, and pilot IPARD-like grant scheme supporting investments in agriculture holdings and the introduction of agri-environmental measures through five rounds of grants.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/09/09/world-bank-continues-to-support-agriculture-sector-in-montenegro

Africa: CAADP enables African countries increase agriculture productivity
AllAfrica.com, 9 September 2016
African Countries that implemented Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) have posted higher agriculture productivity and stronger GDP growth, as well as sharper decline in malnutrition compared to countries that have not adopted it, the African Agriculture Status Report said. The report finds that "after decades of stagnation, much of Africa has enjoyed sustained agriculture productivity growth since 2005, and as a result, poverty rates have declined in places like Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso." CAADP, which was endorsed by AU Heads of State and Government in 2003, among other requirements calls for African governments to allocate ten per cent of their national budget to agriculture and to aim for six per cent annual growth in the sector.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201609090847.html

USDA announces $26 million investment to spur agricultural innovation
USDA.gov (press release), 8 September 2016
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the investment of $26.6 million by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) into 45 projects that will spur innovative conservation initiatives on both rural and urban farms across the country. Public and private grantees will provide matching investments, bringing the total value of support to $59 million. The investment is made through USDA's Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program, which fosters innovation in conservation tools and strategies to improve things like on-farm energy and fertilizer use as well as market-based strategies to improve water quality or mitigate climate change. The 2016 projects focus on water quality, conservation finance and assistance to historically underserved USDA customers. Approximately 25 percent of the funding announced today will go to projects that benefit historically underserved producers, military veterans, and new and beginning farmers.
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2016/09/0192.xml&contentidonly=true

Rwanda: FAO closes training to foster agriculture innovation
AllAfrica.com, 8 September 2016
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) yesterday closed a week-long training for Rwanda national innovation facilitators as a step to enhance agriculture in Rwanda. The Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) is being undertaken in partnership with AGRINATURA, a grouping of European universities and research organizations that support agricultural development. Trainees were drawn from ministries and institutions affiliated to agriculture development and institutional capacity building. They will conduct capacity needs assessment on five areas that include cassava, fruit tree and horticulture, dairy community processing centre, nutrition and intensive agricultural production catchments in specific areas of Nyagatare district.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201609090249.html

AfDB President offers roadmap towards agriculture transformation at TICAD Summit
African Development Bank, 26 August 2016
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has outlined a roadmap towards the transformation of agriculture in Africa. The President laid emphasis on combating malnutrition in children, turning African farmlands into major suppliers of food for export and putting funds at the disposal of local banks to create a stable source of funding for farm investments. Addressing prominent players in the world of agriculture at the Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD) VI underway in Nairobi on Friday, President Adesina emphasised that the Bank’s US $24-billion capital investment in promoting Africa’s agriculture was one such initiatives. “It will take more than one person to transform agriculture. It is time to get agriculture right as a business.
http://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/article/afdb-president-offers-roadmap-towards-agriculture-transformation-at-ticad-summit-16032/

Why do farmers care about climate change? Rising sea levels
National Farmers Union, 29 August 2016
It is no surprise that rising sea levels are caused and accelerated by a changing planet and climate. But, an increase in sea levels can affect more than just the coastal lands. For example, according to USDA’s Regional Vulnerability Assessments, “Threats from sea level rise also include the loss of agricultural land in coastal zones, as well as the deterioration of wetlands, marshes, and estuaries, which provide ecosystem services in the form of aquaculture production, water filtration, and flood protection.” Depending on where you live and what you produce, rising sea levels may have many implications for your farm. For example, the USDA Northeast and Northern Forest Regional Climate Hub report: Northeast and Northern forests regional climate hub assessment of climate change vulnerability and adaptation and mitigation strategies explain how aquaculture can become affected by rising sea levels, stating, “Shellfish such as oysters require a proper mix of fresh and salt water, so their habitats in low-lying coastal areas may be threatened as the salinity of water increases due to sea level rise.”
http://nfu.org/why-do-farmers-care-about-climate-change-rising-sea-levels/5195

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Stalagmite record reveals the causes of decadal-scale drought in Southwest China
Chinese Academy of Sciences, 9 September 2016
Frequent occurrences of droughts in southwest China in recent years have raised increasing concerns among public and scientific communities. Meteorologists had done a lot of work to study the causes of the droughts. However, these analyses were based on short-term observations for the past 60 years and mainly focused on synoptic scale drought events. Was the recent decadal drought unprecedented? What’s the driving force of the decadal-scale precipitation variations in southwest China? Will the reduced precipitation trend continue in the future? Answers to these questions are crucial for water and resource management in southwest China. Dr. TAN Liangcheng, from Institute of Earth Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with his colleagues reconstructed monsoon precipitation variations in southwest China since 1760 AD by using an absolutely-dated stalagmite from Yunnan Province.
http://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/201609/t20160908_167550.shtml

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Floods kill 60, displace 44,000 in N. Korea: UN
Yahoo News, 6 September 2016
Flooding following heavy rain has killed 60 people and left over 44,000 homeless in North Korea, the United Nations said, after the country reported that a northeaster river suffered its worst-ever flood. Pyongyang said Friday the Tumen River, which partially marks the border with China and Russia, experienced the biggest flood ever recorded due to a rainstorm that began four days earlier. Nearby areas including Musan and Hoeryong were hard hit, with 60 dead and five percent of the population homeless, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement. It cited data from the North's government. "Communication with and access to affected areas remains a challenge... immediate needs have been identified as emergency shelter, food, medication, water and sanitary items," it said. Nearly 9,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged with 10,000 hectares (24,711 acres) of farmland flooded, it said, adding joint relief efforts involving the UN and the North were underway.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/floods-kill-60-displace-44-000-n-korea-082407465.html

Floods displace hundreds of thousands in Ethiopia: UN
Press TV, 24 August 2016
The United Nations says more than 600,000 people have been displaced in Ethiopia since March, largely because of flooding. The African country was struggling with its worst drought in decades in 2015, but it ended when spring rains arrived in March. On 24 August, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said nearly 300,000 people were forced to flee their homes between March and June due to flooding. The report further said that others were stranded due to the inter-communal conflict in Ethiopia's southern Oromia and Somali regions. Many of the people displaced by flooding have since returned home, the UN said, noting that more than 10,000 families are still stranded and in need of basic household items and emergency shelter.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/08/24/481531/Ethiopia-floods-UN

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Africa Urged to Invest to Ensure Food Security
AllAfrica.com, 10 September 2016
Africa will require more than $400 billion in the next decade to be food secure, a feat it will have to work hard to achieve. A report by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) says that African countries that have embraced agriculture have seen growth in food production, nutrition and GDP. The report launched during the Agra 2016 Food Forum in Nairobi and titled Progress towards an Agriculture Transformation of sub-Saharan Africa shows that annual public investments in the sector have risen significantly across Africa, from an average per country of $186.4 million in 2003 to $219.6 million in 2014. Agra president Agnes Kalibata said that despite the slow growth in public and private investment in the continent's agricultural sector, the past 10 years have made a strong case for agriculture as the surest path to producing sustainable economic growth that is felt among poor Africans.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201609100438.html

Sudan: Two UN agencies team up to help smallholder farmers, promote food security
UN News Centre, 29 August 2016
Two United Nations agencies – the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) – today agreed to strengthen their cooperation in Sudan to help smallholder farmers improve their production and thus promote food security. While the two agencies, both headquartered in Italy, have been promoting food security in the African country for decades, this is the first time that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize their partnership there. “We fully expect that this collaboration will strengthen our ongoing efforts to promote resilience and self-reliance among the vulnerable communities that we support,” the Head of Programme for WFP’s Sudan operation, Marco Cavalcante, said in a joint press release.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54775#.V8ZvSFR97IU

Japan, Africa teaming up to boost food security, nutrition
Geeska Afrika, 28 August 2016
Boosting agricultural productivity and food security in Africa will require collective efforts by African countries and their partners. Japan already plays a significant role in boosting sustainable agricultural development on the continent. The country’s strong commitments, combined with the political will manifested by many African nations to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, will help to propel progress towards achieving zero hunger on the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa represents the greatest food security challenge in the world today with the highest prevalence of undernourishment at almost 25 per cent, or almost one in every four people. By 2050, the population in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to exceed two billion and even if food production grows as projected by about 170 per cent, this would still leave some 120 million people undernourished. Clearly, efforts to improve food security and malnutrition need to be stepped up.
http://www.geeskaafrika.com/23792/japan-africa-teaming-boost-food-security-nutrition/

UN says Dominican forests, food security improve
Dominican Today, 28 August 2016
Dominican Republic is among the 22 countries that maintained or increased their forest area and improved food security from 1990 to 2015, with only four other Latin American countries included, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN said Wednesday. In its report "The State of the World's Forests 2016" the FAO lists Chile, Costa Rica, Fiji, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Peru, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Iran, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Vietnam as the countries that advanced in forest cover. The document stresses that forests and trees lead to sustainable agriculture. Stable soils and climate, and regulated water flows provide shade and shelter and a habitat for pollinators and natural predators of agricultural pests.
http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2016/8/25/60420/UN-says-Dominican-forests-food-security-improve

Africa: Irrigation on rise as farmers face erratic weather
AllAfrica.com, 9 September 2016
Interest in irrigation is surging but better women's land rights, access to clean energy, loans and training are needed. Sub-Saharan Africa is seeing a surge of interest in irrigation among small-scale farmers as climate change brings more erratic weather and as rising populations in countries from Nigeria to Kenya mean demand for a reliable harvest is growing, agriculture and water experts say. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) estimates that more than a million hectares of small farms are now irrigated in the region, based on limited government data and satellite images. In Tanzania, the area of small farms with access to irrigation has risen from just 33,500 hectares in 2010 to about 150,000 today, institute figures show. But up to 29 million hectares in the East African nation alone potentially could be irrigated, said Ruth Meinzen-Dick, an IFPRI researcher.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201609100098.html

Jain Irrigation unit to supply €18.7 mn solar-powered irrigation system to Eritrea
Real Time News, India, 9 September 2016
NaanDanJain Irrigation Ltd., a producer and provider of tailor-made irrigation Solutions Company, said it entered into an agreement worth 18.7 million Euros with Ministry of Agriculture and National Development, Eritrea, for the supply and installation of solar-powered drip irrigation systems. NaanDanJain irrigation Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jain irrigation and is head quartered in Israel. The project, fully funded by European Union, is the largest agricultural development for small agricultural holders in Eritrea. It will bring relief to about 2000 farmers in 14 different locations spread over Eritrea. In each of the 14 project locations, water from reservoirs will be supplied to groups of farmers through the drip irrigation systems. The water from the reservoirs will be conveyed through underground pipeline into the drip systems using solar photovoltaic system, which makes the project sustainable for a long term energy requirements to run the drip systems.
http://rtn.asia/d-n/22592/jain-irrigation-unit-supply-e18-7-mn-solar-powered-irrigation-system-eritrea

World's largest drip irrigation project in Bagalkot (India)
Times of India, 30 August 2016
The government has given the green signal for work to start on the second stage of the Ramthal Marol Drip Irrigation project in Hungund taluk of Bagalkot district, from October this year. The scheme is being seen as a boon for farmers in the arid region, who depend almost exclusively on scanty rainfall for cultivation during the rabi* season. While the first stage of the scheme covered an area of 11,000 hectares, the project's second stage will bring a further 24,000 hectares of agricultural land under its ambit, making it the world's largest single drip irrigation project. Highlighting the advantages of the Rs 768-crore scheme, water resources minister MB Patil said, "Around 15,000 small and marginal farmers in 30 villages of the taluk will benefit from the scheme."
*Rabi is dry season winter crop (November to March) in India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Worlds-largest-drip-irrigation-project-in-Bagalkot/articleshow/53918296.cms

Ethiopia: Efforts to exploit irrigation potential
AllAfrica.com, 30 August 2016
Though the country has five million hectare irrigable land and abundant water resource, much has not been done in the sector. Sub-Saharan Africa is blessed with abundant water resources as well as diverse agro-ecosystem but agricultural produce is low. The practice of irrigation is not popular in the region and is the lowest in the world. Making effective use of available water helps improve productivity and reduce poverty as well. Cognizant of this, the government of Ethiopia has been aggressively working for the development of irrigation. The role and contribution of irrigation development is vital to attain target to harvest 300 million quintals this crop season. The Ministry of Farming and Natural Resources and stakeholders said that efforts are underway to attain the goal filling skill and knowledge gap among farmers, experts and the leadership.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201608300787.html

Global Greenhouse Irrigation Market 2016 Share Size, Forecast 2022
All About News, 29 August 2016
The market report, titled Greenhouse Irrigation Market 2016, is an analytical research done by QY Market Research study based on the Greenhouse Irrigation market, which analyzes the competitive framework of the Greenhouse Irrigation industry worldwide. This report “Worldwide Greenhouse Irrigation Market 2016” build by the usage of efficient methodical tools such as SWOT analysis, the Greenhouse Irrigation industrial 2016 study offers a comprehensive evaluation worldwide Greenhouse Irrigation market. Global Greenhouse Irrigation Market 2016 report has Forecasted Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in % value for particular period that will help user to take decision based on futuristic chart. Report also includes key players in global Greenhouse Irrigation market.
http://allaboutnews.net/16504/global-greenhouse-irrigation-market-2016-share-size-forecast-2022/

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE - The Journal of the ICID
Articles available via complimentary online access at: http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ird