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

Betting the farm: Modernizing China’s agriculture sector
China Briefing, 30 September 2016
China continues to build on what it hopes will be the path to a more efficient, modern agricultural industry. On September 18, the Chinese government announced plans to invest RMB three trillion into modernizing the country’s agriculture by the year 2020. A loan from the state-owned policy lender Agricultural Development Bank of China will be used to develop the industry, protect national food security, and support overseas business, as well as to increase efficiency with modern equipment and improve incomes in rural areas. The push for agricultural modernization in China is not a new phenomenon. The CPC Central Committee and State Council have made agriculture the main focus of the annual Number One Central Document for thirteen consecutive years. A proposal for the “professionalization and modernization” of China’s agriculture industry was also a key focal point of China’s 13th Five Year Plan, released earlier this year.
http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2016/09/30/modernizing-china-agriculture-sector.html

Ghana: USAID gives major boost to northern agriculture
AllAfrica.com, 30 September 2016
Northern Ghana, with a mainly agro-based economy, over the years has witnessed and continued to witness severe poverty levels associated with policy gaps that needed to be tackled to unleash the potential for increased agricultural production. The performance of key regional and district government actors was critical to an enabling environment for civil society and private sector actors to secure agricultural investments, improve governance and outcomes for the entire agricultural sector. In order to ensure more responsive governance for improved agriculture, increase food security and nutrition in northern Ghana, a five-year USAID-supported project known as the Northern Ghana Governance Activity has been launched in Bolgatanga, the capital of the Upper East Region.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201609301187.html

FAO supports Philippines in strengthening climate change adaptation in agriculture
Kagay An, 29 September 2016
In a bid to intensify its efforts to cushion the agriculture sector from climate change impacts, the Philippines has joined a multi-country initiative that seeks to strengthen the capacities of governments to plan, fund and operationalize climate response strategies. The “Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag) programme,” which is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), focuses on strategic climate risk management. It also aims to accelerate the uptake of medium- and long-term risk reduction practices across the policy level, the agriculture industry and down to farming and fishing communities.
http://www.kagay-an.com/fao-supports-philippines-strengthening-climate-change-adaptation-agriculture/

India to ratify Paris Agreement on climate change
New York Times, 25 September 2016
India's prime minister said that his country will ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change early next month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government will ratify the agreement Oct. 2, coinciding with the birth anniversary of India's independence leader Mohandas Gandhi, who believed in a minimum carbon footprint. Modi made the announcement at a meeting of his Bharatiya Janata Party's leaders in the southern Indian town of Kozhikode. India accounts for around 4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said this month that 60 countries accounting for about 48 percent of emissions had already joined the agreement. The Paris Agreement asks both rich and poor countries to take action to curb the rise in global temperatures that is melting glaciers, raising sea levels and shifting rainfall patterns. It requires governments to present national plans to reduce emissions to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/25/world/asia/ap-as-india-climate-change.html?_r=0

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Southern Africa: Female farmers suffer most in southern Africa drought
AllAfrica.com, 30 September 2016
Southern Africa has suffered through one of the worst droughts in decades and now small farmers face a long hungry season with growing food aid needs until the next harvest. Given the growing uncertainty of rainfall in this region, many are turning to irrigation as a key strategy for securing future harvests. The problem, however, is that male and female farmers have deeply unequal rights to critical resources, including water. Uneven access to water also complicates assumptions about the ability of commercial farming to deliver household food security in the African context. The 2015-16 droughts was the worst to hit Southern Africa in 35 years, leaving an estimated 32 million people in the region food insecure. This hunger will only deepen until March, 2017 when new harvests normally arrive.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201610010005.html

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India's most flood-prone state aided by new satellite mapping
Voice of America, 29 September 2016
Every year India's north-eastern state of Bihar is deluged by floods that submerge roads, destroy homes and wash away crops, leaving the disaster management authority struggling to monitor and assess the damage, and to distribute aid effectively. But new satellite mapping of flood-prone areas should transform disaster response by equipping authorities with near real-time information about inundated villages, officials said. Bihar, which borders the Himalayan nation of Nepal, is India's most flood-prone state. More than 70 percent of its total geographical area is at risk of annual floods, which put lives at risk and lead to heavy financial losses. A major challenge for the Bihar state disaster management authority (BSDMA) has been mapping and monitoring flood-hit areas, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), which works to promote development across the Hindu Kush Himalayas.
http://www.voanews.com/a/indias-most-flood-prone-state-aided-new-satellite-mapping/3530550.html

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Africa's large rice imports is serious food security concern - Tijani
GhanaWeb, 29 September 2016
Despite the clear potential to boost rice production at the regional level in Africa, most countries on the Continent continue to rely heavily on imports for meeting their rice consumption needs, costing the Continent USD 5 billion annually. Rice is a primary staple for food consumption, particularly in West Africa, where its growing cities depend on rice as a cornerstone of the daily diet and consumption is increasing by 5.5 per cent annually. “Such a heavy reliance of most African countries on rice imports for their consumption continues to pose a serious food security concern, as rice consumption will jump to 130 per cent by 2035,” Mr Bukar Tijani, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, has said.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Africa-s-large-rice-imports-is-serious-food-security-concern-Tijani-473497

USDA funds effort to curb food insecurity for Maine Somalis
Washington Times, 29 September 2016
The United States Department of Agriculture is committing nearly $400,000 to increase food access for the Somali community in Lewiston. Members of the Somali Bantu community in the city are partnering with the Cumberland County Food Security Council on the project. The funding is expected to support Somalis’ agriculture and help them reconnect with their cultural heritage. The USDA says the objectives of the project include building the capacity of the Somali Bantu community and its farmers to produce food and address the problem of limited food access. The agency describes the Somali Bantu community as the poorest community in the city, which is the second largest city in the state. Cumberland County Food Security Council will recruit people in the community to help increase access to healthy food.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/29/usda-funds-effort-to-curb-food-insecurity-for-main/

Shareholders approve completing $400m Central Plains irrigation scheme in 2018
New Zealand Herald, 28 September 2016
The second stage of a major South Canterbury irrigation scheme, Central Plains Water, will be finished by September 2018 after unanimous support from shareholders. The first stage of the project began last August and, when completed, the scheme will irrigate 50,000 hectares of dairy, horticulture and stock land between the Rakaia and Waimakariri Rivers. However, a third stage has effectively been covered off in the second stage, with plans also to extract water from the Waimakariri River shelved and underground pipes favoured over the extension of the scheme's canal system. Central Plains Water (CPW) shareholders buy rights to the amount of water they want from the project, and at a special meeting for CPW, the second stage, which will cover development of 20,000 hectares, got the unanimous support of over 200 shareholders, CPW said in a statement. The total project is estimated to cost $400 million, with $250m to be spent on the second stage.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11718474

Israeli drip irrigation giant says 'hola' to Costa Rica
Jerusalem Post Israel News, 25 September 2016
In a move aimed at strengthening operations in Central America, Israeli micro-irrigation giant Netafim has acquired a 60% share of the Costa Rican firm Regulación y Manejo de Fluidos (R&M), the companies announced on 25th September. As a result of the acquisition, Netafim will be establishing a new subsidiary called “Netafim Central America,” joining the Tel Aviv-based company’s 28 existing subsidiaries around the world. By investing in local irrigation firm R&M, which has up until now served as Netafim’s distributor for Central America, the Israel company expressed hopes of strengthening its position as an industry leader in the region. Moving forward, one major focus of Netafim Central America’s activities will be on the world’s large-scale, key crops that are increasing in demand, the firm said. In addition, the company stressed the importance of helping local farmers grow more crops using fewer resources, thereby significantly increasing profitability.
http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Israeli-drip-irrigation-giant-says-hola-to-Costa-Rica-468651

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