IN THIS ISSUE 

Forthcoming Events

Agriculture

Climate Change

Droughts

Floods

Food Security

Irrigation

Water Resources Management

Latest Publication


 
Visit us at: http://www.icid.org  24 October 2016
International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), established in 1950 as a scientific, technical and voluntary not-for-profit non-governmental international organization has the Mission to Work together towards sustainable agriculture water management through inter-disciplinary approaches to economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound irrigation, drainage and flood management. ICID e-Bulletin is a compilation of news items of importance during the preceding week in respect of Agriculture, Climate Change, Drainage, Droughts, Floods, Food Security, Irrigation and Water Resources Management that might be of interest to the ICID fraternity. Feedbacks on the usefulness of the bulletin are solicited vikram@icid.org
Welcome to Chiang Mai, Thailand
 
 Directory on Irrigation and Drainage - Products and Services (Yellow Pages)

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

 

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AGRICULTURE

China’s plan to promote modern agriculture
The State Council of the People's Republic of China, 20 October 2016
The Chinese government will take more measures to develop modern agriculture in the next five years, according to a plan released by the State Council on October 20. The objective is to build an efficient, environment-friendly and resource-saving agriculture, improve farmers’ income and maintain the supply of agricultural products. According to the plan, the national output of grain in 2020 is expected to reach 550 million tons, 50 million tons more than that in 2015. The personal productivity is expected to get to over 47,000 yuan, compared with just 30,000 yuan in 2015. In order to achieve the goals, the State Council has called for the promotion of the agriculture restructure by upgrading plantation structure, improving the quality of animal husbandry and upgrading fishery industry. It also plans to improve agricultural technology and the integration with information industry.
http://english.gov.cn/policies/latest_releases/2016/10/20/content_281475470945910.htm


Agriculture must adopt climate-smart practices to better help poverty reduction – UN report
UN News Centre, 17 October 2016
The rapid transformation of farming and food systems to cope with a warmer world, such as adopting climate-smart practices, particularly to curb greenhouse gas emissions, is critical for hunger and poverty reduction, the United Nations agriculture agency said today in a new report. “There is no doubt climate change affects food security,” said the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, as he presented The State of Food and Agriculture 2016 report at the agency’s headquarters in Rome. “What climate change does is to bring back uncertainties from the time we were all hunter gatherers. We cannot assure any more that we will have the harvest we have planted,” headded. That uncertainty also translates into volatile food prices, he noted. “Everybody is paying for that, not only those suffering from droughts,” Mr. Graziano da Silva said.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55316#.WAb0dFR97IU


Agriculture must transform to feed a hotter, more crowded planet, UN says on World Food Day
UN News Centre, 16 October 2016
To mark World Food Day 2016, the United Nations is highlighting the close links between climate change, sustainable agriculture, and food and nutrition security, with the message: “The climate is changing. Food and agriculture must, too.” “As the global population expands, we will need to satisfy an increasing demand for food,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message commemorating the Day. “Yet, around the world, record-breaking temperatures, rising sea levels and more frequent and severe droughts and floods caused by climate change are already affecting ecosystems, agriculture and society's ability to produce the food we need,” he added. Mr. Ban pointed out that the most vulnerable people are world's poorest, 70 per cent of whom depend on subsistence farming, fishing or pastoralism for income and food.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55312#.WAXs2lR97IU

 

 

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CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change killing East Africa’s water resources, UN warns
Daily Nation, 20 October 2016
One of East Africa's (EA) most important sources of water is drying up due to the impact of climate change on Mt Kilimanjaro, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned on 19 October. Populations and property near Mount Elgon on the Kenya-Uganda border are also being threatened by the impact of climate change, UNEP said in a report on the status of mountain environments in East Africa. The UN agency's findings are being discussed at a three-day-long World Mountain Forum in Mbale, Uganda, that concludes on Thursday. UNEP urges the government of Tanzania to initiate large-scale reforestation of Kilimanjaro in an attempt to protect the mountain's water catchment area. The Nairobi-based environmental body also calls on Kenya to adopt a “comprehensive climate-change policy.”
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Climate-change-killing-water-resources/1056-3423570-uj0mob/


6 startling facts that show how climate change and hunger are interconnected

Mashable, 16 October 2016
Climate change could have a devastating impact on food security around the world. Eliminating hunger and curbing the effects of climate change are both U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which world leaders are committed to achieving by 2030. And, like many SDGs, these two pressing issues are interconnected. Research shows that a combination of more frequent and intense climate disasters, decreases in crop yields and production, and a lack of natural resources will worsen food insecurity — and threaten the livelihoods of millions of people. For this year's World Food Day on Oct. 16, advocates are turning their attention to the climate to help address this issue. To show why it's essential to include global warming in conversations about food insecurity, here are six facts about the intersection of hunger and climate — and what experts say we need to do going forward.
http://mashable.com/2016/10/16/climate-change-food-insecurity/#XIo6ahWky5qX


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DROUGHTS

USA: Scientists in Colorado work on predicting 'flash droughts'
9NEWS.com, 18 October 2016
Those were the stark images out on the Eastern Plains several years ago, when drought gripped parts of Colorado. This wasn’t just any drought, though. It was a phenomenon which scientists call a "flash drought." "This is the sort of drought, which doesn't have any large-scale condition," said Debasish PaiMazumder, an NCAR Associate Scientist. Flash droughts, much like flash floods, are sudden. It happens when dry conditions seemingly coming on without warning. However, a new study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder found that there may be a way to better predict this kind of drought. "In terms of when you look at drought forecast, you also should look towards the ground, in addition to the sky," PaiMazumder said.
http://www.9news.com/weather/scientists-in-colorado-work-on-predicting-flash-droughts/337589447

 

 

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FLOODS

The latest disaster risk from climate change - Huge glacial floods
NDTV, 22 October 2016
We all hear about how the glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica are losing ice, and so threatening to raise our sea levels -- perhaps quite dramatically. But mountain ranges across the globe are also strewn with far smaller glaciers that are suffering perhaps an even bigger wallop from rising temperatures -- and now, new research suggests their retreat could, quite literally, be deadly in some cases to communities living below. In a new study in the journal The Cryosphere, Simon Cook of Manchester Metropolitan University in the U.K. and British and Bolivian colleagues examine the mountain glaciers of the Bolivian Andes in particular, which are typically classified as "tropical glaciers." That's no oxymoron -- the Andes feature such high elevations that even tropical or equatorial countries can have glaciers. The average elevation in the Andes is around 13,000 feet, and according to Cook, Bolivia alone contains about a fifth of the world's tropical glaciers.
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/the-latest-disaster-risk-from-climate-change-huge-glacial-floods-1477558

 

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FOOD SECURITY

Sierra Leone:'Climate change is a fundamental threat to food security
AllAfrica.com, 17 October 2016
While addressing the press on this year's World Food Day, Country Representative of the Food and Agricultural Organization, Madam Nyabenyi Tipo observed that climate change has become a threat to global food security and that it was undermining crop yield in many parts of the world including Sierra Leone. "Rising temperatures, change in rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events are affecting our ability to produce the food we need. The world's poorest people and countries are particularly hard hit. They depend on smallholder agriculture to provide income and food," she said. Each year, the FAO celebrates the world Food Day on October 16 in commemoration of the founding of the organization in 1945. The theme for this year's celebration was "Climate is changing, food and agriculture must too."
http://allafrica.com/stories/201610171439.html


Botswana: Food security essential

AllAfrica.com, 16 October 2016
The ever changing climatic conditions call for enhanced farming methods. Speaking during the commemoration of World Food Day at Adam's Apple Farm in Mochudi on October 13, Vice President Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi said since the agricultural sector was reliant on climate conditions, there was need to accommodate changes in weather patterns. He said the population increase in the country and around the world also called for effective farming methods that would produce crops that were enough to feed people. Vice President Masisi said the government has made efforts to support the agricultural sector, but that there was need for an analysis of the support to establish if progress has been made to achieve what was envisaged. Mr Masisi, who is also the Member of Parliament for Moshupa-Manyana, noted that a lot still has to be done to improve food security in the country.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201610170180.html

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IRRIGATION

India: NABARD sanctions Rs 19,702 crore for 50 irrigation projects
Financial Express, 21 October 2016
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) today said it has sanctioned Rs 19,702 crore loan to National Water Development Agency (NWDA) for 50 irrigation projects. The loan is sanctioned under Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF), announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the Budget 2016-17. This would help create additional irrigation potential of 39.14 lakh hectares under these projects in 11 states, NABARD said in a statement. NABARD today gave the first instalment of Rs 1,500 crore to NWDA, which is an agency of Ministry of Water Resources. Loan released by NABARD to NWDA would be disbursed to the respective state governments as central share in the projects sanctioned. “Besides supporting the central share component, NABARD would also be extending 15-year loan support to the willing state governments at reasonable rate of interest to meet their share in the identified irrigation projects,” NABARD chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala said.
http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/nabard-sanctions-rs-19702-crore-for-50-irrigation-projects/426186/


International NGO to recognize S. Korean reservoir as heritage irrigation structure
Yonhap News, 21 October 2016
An international non-governmental organization on water management technology has decided to recognize the Byeokgol Reservoir, the oldest and largest reservoir on the Korean Peninsula located in the southwestern city of Gimje, as a heritage irrigation structure, the Gimje municipality said. According to Gimje officials, the New International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) has informed the South Korean city government of the decision to enter the reservoir into the list of ICID heritage irrigation structures along with Seoho Lake, also known as the Chukman Reservoir, in the city of Suwon, just south of Seoul. The New Delhi-based NGO plans to announce the new entries on November 18 when it holds a plenary meeting of the ICID executive committee in Bangkok, Thailand. It will mark the first time for South Korean irrigation structures to be recognized as its heritage irrigation structures. Established in 1950, the ICID is a leading scientific and technical NGO that has facilitated the sharing of experiences and transfer of water management technology through its network of professionals spread throughout more than a hundred countries.
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2016/10/21/19/0301000000AEN20161021006300315F.html

 

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WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Government urged to work with Cambodia on solutions to water resources
VietNamNet Bridge, 17 October 2016
Phnom Penh Post on September 26 cited a report of scientists from the London-based School of Oriental & African Studies on the Kamchay hydropower dam in Kampot province of Cambodia. It is being built by the Chinese Synohydro Company. The report cited the damages to be caused by the hydropower dam to Cambodian tourism and bamboo exploitation, which has raised strong protest from the public. Vu Trong Hong, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, now chair of the Vietnam Water Resources Association, warned that if lacking water, Cambodia may divert Tonle Sap’s water to serve agriculture production. If this happens, it would be dangerous because Mekong River water goes through Tonle Sap before reaching Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region. Cambodia’s hydropower development strategy may be reconsidered.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/165357/government-urged-to-work-with-cambodia-on-solutions-to-water-resources.html

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LATEST PUBLICATION(S)
Amarasinghe, U. A.; et al., 2016. Reviving the Ganges water machine: Potential and challenges to meet increasing water demand in the Ganges River Basin. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 42p. (IWMI Research Report 167).
This report assesses the potential of the Ganges Water Machine (GWM), a concept proposed 40 years ago, to meet the increasing water demand through groundwater, and mitigate the impacts of floods and droughts. The GWM provides additional subsurface storage (SSS) through the accelerated use of groundwater prior to the onset of the monsoon season, and subsequent recharging of this SSS through monsoon surface runoff. It was identified that there is potential to enhance SSS through managed aquifer recharge during the monsoon season, and to use solar energy for groundwater pumping, which is financially more viable than using diesel as practiced in many areas at present. The report further explores the limitations associated with water quality issues for pumping and recharge in the GRB, and discusses other related challenges, including availability of land for recharge structures and people’s willingness to increase the cropping intensity beyond the present level.
http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/pub167/rr167.pdf

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ICID e-Bulletin is a weekly compilation providing a snapshot of international media coverage of and commentary on ICID-related issues that does not purport to be exhaustive. The information contained in the compilationis taken as is from sources external to the ICID Central Office and freely available on the Internet. No evaluation on the part of the ICID Central Office has been made in terms of the authenticity of the information that they contain. The ICID Central Office makes no warranty, either express or implied, as to the accuracy.


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

 

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2nd World Irrigation Forum and 67th IEC, 6-12 November 2016, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Website: http://www.worldirrigationforum.net
13th International Drainage Workshop (IDW), 4-7 March 2017, Ahwaz, Iran, Website: http://idw13.org/English/