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

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

India: Food grain output may scale peak next year, agriculture growth at 5.5%
The Indian Express, 21 December 2016
The agriculture sector is all set to bounce back leaving two years of drought behind and may well pull off record food grain output of 270 million tonnes in 2016-17 on good rains, but farmers’ woes may continue due to adverse impact of notes ban and low sales realisation. The farm growth is estimated to rise at over 5 per cent this fiscal, from 1.2 per cent in the previous year, on the back of record kharif food grain production at 135 million tonnes (mt) and likely bumper output in the ongoing rabi season, helped by good monsoon in most parts of the country. “The agriculture sector has done well during the year. We received good monsoon after facing the drought year. Kharif in general was very good and rabi sowing has been brisk. We are hopeful of bumper production this year,” Agriculture Secretary Shobhana Pattanayak told PTI in an interview.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/foodgrain-output-may-scale-peak-next-year-agri-growth-at-5-5-4438619/

China to promote public-private partnerships in agriculture
Daily Mail, 19 December 2016
China's government said on Monday it will promote public-private partnerships in its agricultural industry, the latest step to open up and modernise the nation's vast farming sector. Two key government bodies said in a joint statement they would support private capital being injected into areas of the sector such as crop and livestock protection, infrastructure development and improving the quality of farmland. China has used the PPP financing model to boost other sectors as growth in the world's second-largest economy slows and the government aims to clamp down on traditional off-balance sheet borrowing methods used by local authorities. Finding new ways to fund rural economic growth would help develop one of the nation's largest industries, which has been reliant on government cash until now.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-4047270/China-promote-public-private-partnerships-agriculture.html

World Bank tasks farmers on how to boost agriculture
Guardian, 18 December 2016
A World Bank assisted programme in Africa, West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), has revealed that farmers do not need huge capital to be successful and maximise profit in agriculture. This was stated during the last World Bank Support Mission visit to the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure (FECA) adopted communities and schools, where it lauded the various projects embarked upon by WAAPP-FECA. Leader of the delegation, Prof. Victoria Ayuba, said the level of projects going on was a pointer to the fact that people can start making profit in agriculture if they start with little capital. Ayuba, who is the current Dean, College of Forestry and Fishery, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, encouraged the people, especially the youth, that they could utilise the opportunities in the sector to be employers of labour.
http://guardian.ng/features/world-bank-tasks-farmers-on-how-to-boost-agriculture/

African Development Bank gives $93.5 million loan to support Tanzania's agriculture
Daily Mail, 15 December 2016
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $93.51 million loan for Tanzania aimed at supporting the agriculture sector. An AfDB statement said the board of Africa Development Fund, a unit of the bank, approved the loan to be advanced to Tanzania's state-run Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB). "The funding will contribute to supporting Tanzania's agriculture sector and achieving the country's development goals," the statement said. Agriculture employs more than two-thirds of Tanzania's population of about 50 million people, according to official estimates. The bank said the sector had big potential given the country's "abundance of arable land and the availability of inland water resources". Despite its potential, though, the sector has been one of the slowest growing, which officials have attributed to limited access to cheap and long-term funding.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-4036336/African-Development-Bank-gives-93-5-mln-loan-support-Tanzanias-agriculture.html

Russia key player on global agriculture market - FAO director
RT, 14 December 2016
Russia has made considerable progress in developing its agricultural sector and is a major player in the world agricultural market, according to the head of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Jose Graziano da Silva. “Russia is poised to become the biggest wheat exporter in the world in the 2016/17 season. Furthermore, according to our estimates, total Russian cereal production in 2016 will be a record,” he said in an interview with RIA Novosti. According to da Silva, Russia has made considerable progress in dairy and meat production, and food quality has improved significantly. He also praised Russian efforts as one of the FAO's most significant contributors to global nutrition security. “Russia-FAO cooperation envisages knowledge exchange and the provision of technical assistance to developing countries to ensure food security and food safety, nutrition, tackling transboundary animal and plant diseases. The FAO is also very interested in attracting Russian expertise in forestry, fisheries, land and water management and soil programs,” da Silva said.
https://www.rt.com/business/370143-russia-wheat-fao-head/

African farmers hit hard by climate change
FreshPlaza, 16 December 2016
As countries around the globe prepare for the future implications and challenges climate change may cause, some African countries are already dealing with the results. Smallholder farmers have been seeing rising temperatures and experiencing mass crop failure in Malawi. A few years ago, a leader and an example to follow in agriculture, Malawi is now suffering through the worst drought in thirty years. Malawi has experienced widespread crop failures due to a devastatingly strong El Niño. The country witnessed a late onset of rains, erratic rainfall, floods and prolonged dry spells. As a result, the production of maize - the country's main staple crop - is estimated at just over 2.5 million tonnes in 2016. This is 16 per cent lower than the reduced harvest in 2015 and 34 per cent below the previous five year average. It has left 39 per cent of the population dependent on national and international food aid to survive.
http://www.freshplaza.com/article/168351/African-farmers-hit-hard-by-climate-change

How climate change is hurting ecosystems across the globe
AccuWeather.com, 14 December 2016
Climate change doesn’t affect only global temperatures; it changes life itself. The majority of plants and animals live in habitats with specific climate conditions, so any change in the atmosphere can affect the plants and animals living there, as well as the makeup of the entire ecosystem. Climate change has been shown to affect animals and plants in a variety of different ways. The rise in global temperatures is affecting everything from animal metabolism to productivity, behavior and habitats. Climate change has impacted plant growth as well, forcing changes like altering dates for wine grape harvesting. Global warming is expected to cause an irreversible change and alteration in the ecosystem. “One of the most dramatic ways we have observed species responding to climate is through their phenology, the timing of different events in nature,” research scientist at Columbia University Ben Cook said.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/how-climate-change-is-hurting-ecosystems-across-the-globe/70000138

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UN warns of hunger season in Horn of Africa
Coastweek, 26 December 2016
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday warned of rise in hunger and further decline of local livelihoods in 2017 due to severe drought in the Horn of Africa region. FAO said growing numbers of refugees in East Africa are also expected to place even more burden on already strained food and nutrition security as farming communities struggle with knock-on effects of multiple droughts that hit the region this year. “We are dealing with a cyclical phenomenon in the Horn of Africa,” Dominique Burgeon, Director of FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division said in a statement. “But we also know from experience that timely support to farming families can significantly boost their ability to withstand the impacts of these droughts and soften the blow to their livelihoods,” said Burgeon. According to FAO, about 12 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are currently in need of food assistance, as families in the region face limited access to food and income, together with rising debt, low cereal and seed stocks, and low milk and meat production.
http://www.coastweek.com/3952-agriculture-03.htm

India: Declare Madurai drought-affected, say farmers
The Hindu, 16 December 2016
Pointing out the failure in rainfall and the consequent loss in cultivation, farmers here made a fervent appeal to the district administration to take adequate steps to declare Madurai as a drought region at the monthly farmers’ grievance meeting at the Collectorate on 16th December. They also demanded waiver of crop loans taken by farmers and to compensate them for their losses. Pointing out the abysmal level of water available in the combined Periyar credit in the Vaigai dam, N. Palanichamy, president of Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers’ Association, said that the present harvest season was going to be an almost total failure. K. Devaraj, district vice-president of Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association, urged the government to ensure that each of the farmer, who incurred loss, would get at least Rs. 20,000 as compensation per acre. The farmers also highlighted difficulties faced in insuring their crops under Prime Minister Fasal Bheema Yojana (PMFBY), which could have helped in covering up their losses.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/Declare-Madurai-drought-affected-say-farmers/article16866440.ece

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Thousands in North Korea at risk months after devastating floods: IFRC
The Indian Express, 13 December 2016
Thousands of survivors of floods that hit a remote corner of North Korea in August are in need of urgent aid as winter sets in, a senior international aid official said on Tuesday. The floods, the worst in North Korea for 70 years, hit near its northeast borders with China and Russia and affected 600,000 people and left 70,000 homeless, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said. “There is still much to do. Many people lost everything,” IFRC president Tadateru Konoé said in a news release following a 10-day visit to the isolated country. Thousands of survivors of floods that hit a remote corner of North Korea in August are in need of urgent aid as winter sets in, a senior international aid official said.
http://indianexpress.com/article/world/thousands-in-north-korea-at-risk-months-after-devastating-floods-ifrc-4424892/

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Zambia: Government receives $31.1 million from the GLobal Agricultural and Food Security programme
Lusaka Times, 24 December 2016
Government has received $31.1 million grant from the GLobal Agricultural and Food Security programme aimed at promoting productivity and market enhancement, among small scale farmers. The seven year programme, under the Agricultural Productivity and market Enhancement Project – APMEP- is being supervised by the African Development Bank – ADB. Fisheries and livestock permanent secretary David Shamulenge says government has done well in infrastructure development and will next year start value addition, market linkages and empowerment programmes for the farmers. Dr Shamulenge who is touring Chongwe and Rufunsa districts says President Edgar Lungu remains determined to grow the economy through fisheries and livestock development, as can be seen by his pronouncements to prioitize the two sectors. And Dr. Shamulenge has revealed that the country is poised to offset the 80 thousand metric tons fish deficit in the next two years.
https://www.lusakatimes.com/2016/12/24/government-receives-31-1-million-global-agricultural-food-security-programme/

Uganda: Govt to divert money from roads to mitigate drought, hunger
AllAfrica.com, 12 December 2016
President Museveni opens war on environmental degradation. 'It's causing death and destruction' President Yoweri Museveni has said government will suspend some road projects and divert money to help mitigate the current drought and hunger situation in the country. "People can't die of hunger and we focus on roads," Museveni said before handing over relief items of 600 bags of maize flour (Posho) and 300 bags of beans to the district leadership in Namutumba. He emphasized that the elderly and less able people be the priority to get food aid. According to reports, drought has plunged East Africa into the worst food security crisis Africa has faced in 20 years. More than 11.5 million people are currently in need of food aid. According to finance Minister Matia Kasaija, the ongoing drought in several parts of the country is the largest threat to the projected growth in the economy of five percent.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201612120246.html

Ethiopia: Nation working to exploit irrigation potential
AllAfrica.com, 14 December 2016
Paradoxically with the name 'the water tower of Africa', Ethiopia had been for centuries predominantly relying on rain-fed agricultural practices through traditional mode of production. In fact, the country is endowed with tremendous water bodies ranging from long rivers up to many small tributaries, besides the regular rain in summer season. However, the development of irrigation sector had been rated at imminent level as compared to other sectors in the country's most recent fast and green development trajectory as well. According to the Ministry of Farming and Natural Resources, the government prioritizes agricultural development as a key to accelerate growth, overcome poverty and ensure food security. To this end, the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-II) aims at maintaining at least 8 per cent annual growth to achieve the natural ambition of eradicating food and nutrition insecurity on the short run and reaching middle income country by 2025. The irrigation sector is set to contribute its share for the national ambition of moving towards middle income status.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201612140944.html

FAO upgrades irrigation to fight hunger in Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwean, 14 December 2016
In Zimbabwe, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has embarked on a $6-million program to rehabilitate irrigation schemes that President Robert Mugabe's government abandoned, leaving several communities exposed to drought. A tractor at Jalukange Irrigation Scheme — near Zimbabwe’s border with Botswana, about 700 kilometers south of Harare — is tilling the land for farmers to plant crops. A 57-hectare plot last had activity almost a decade ago before the irrigation scheme collapsed and left communities in this drought prone area with no source of food but to depend on handouts. Teclar Muzamiri is one of the farmers who have moved back to her plot at Jalukange since the FAO provided funds to rehabilitate irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe. She left her plot in 2004. Now, she thinks this new project will change her fortunes.
http://thezimbabwean.co/2016/12/fao-upgrades-irrigation-fight-hunger-zimbabwe/

How drip irrigation can save the world
Treehugger, 13 December 2016
From water conservation to less pollution to women's empowerment, a founder of Netafim explains why drip irrigation is the future of agriculture. Naty Barak likes to tell the story of people coming to his community in the Negev Desert, in southern Israel, and admiring the majestic palms and lush, flowering undergrowth. They tell him, “I can see why you would choose to live here.” Barak laughs and points to a black-and-white picture on the wall: “That is what it looked like when this community started. We made it this way.” All I can see is barren desert sand, not a tree in sight. It looks desolate.
http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/how-drip-irrigation-can-save-world.html

Tanzania: Sh210 million irrigation scheme to benefit 4,000 farmers
AllAfrica.com, 12 December 2016
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has lauded World Vision, a non-governmental organisation, for successfully implementing an irrigation project in the district. The project that costs Sh210 million is expected to benefit at least 4,000 small-scale farmers in the semi-arid covering 1,200 hectares along the shores of Lake Eyasi. The Premier, who was on an official visit to Arusha last week, inaugurated the water project that will also benefit over 18,000 villagers. World Vision project manager Devocatus Kamara said the cost of the project would increase up to Sh500 million upon completion in 2019. The project focuses on supporting onion farmers in Mang'ola. World Vision aims at improving the lives of people in Eyasi and Endabash divisions, semi-arid lowlands around Lake Eyasi. Water supply and irrigation projects are being executed at Jobaj, Qang'dend and Antsa villages.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201612120624.html

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