Sustainable agriculture in a changing climate

The digital revolution enters the field to improve the performance of agricultural communities

A suburb of the Jordanian capital Amman, specifically in Dabouq, hosts a local market where fresh organic vegetables and fruits and municipal food products are sold daily.

Customers choose what they need from organic food daily in the market (Yanbut), vegetables, fruits, leafy vegetables, dried vegetables, all kinds of meat, as well as dairy and cheese.

In parallel, educational sessions are held in the market's outer courtyard, every Saturday, on the relationship of society with nature by eating breakfast and lunch, without destroying nature, polluting it and depleting its resources.

It is a story that starts from the farm of the late d. Muhammad Humaid, which started years ago in Jordan.

Green spaces, shared by citrus trees and vegetable houses, established by d. Sorrel in the north of the «Kingdom» for organic farming in 2014 with the aim of producing healthy local foods on a land that extends to 40 dunums of vegetables and fruits, according to ecological agricultural standards that guarantee nature and ecosystems.

After his departure, his three sons ensured to work on perpetuating the project according to the same standards that their father had started with, through a company called “Yanbut”, in reference to a perennial spiny, many-branched shrubby plant that may reach 150 cm or more in height, making the project among the promising opportunities in Jordan in agriculture, food production and health food industries.

Bashar Humeid, one of the founders of Yanbut, points out that organic farming does not depend on government instructions and procedures, but rather requires a constant search for solutions to problems and pest control in ways that go beyond the prevailing use of pesticides.

According to his experience, it requires an additional effort from the supervisors and workers in this type of agriculture, and to provide comfortable working conditions in terms of income, psychological factors, housing and others to enable workers to carry out this delicate task.

Humaid, who was an environmental journalist, says: "The organic product does not compete with the traditional product in prices, due to the high production costs and the high waste in organic agriculture, and most of the production of vegetables, fruits and weeds is marketed in the local market," pointing out that the highest production in The farm is made of citrus trees, especially lemon, as its production rises to about 9 tons annually. It is marketed to the Yanbut market, and part of it is converted into juices, in a special workshop on the farm, including the center and the local one with honey, and the local market is contracted from restaurants and shops business to sell it.

However, this does not mean storing high-yield varieties of vegetables and other weeds as a way to preserve them and sustain production, as the storage specifications and conditions are very high and not capable of them, especially when approximately one and a half tons of leafy greens such as spinach and watercress are produced. and others.

Next, the losses in organic agriculture are large, according to what he told us, because the cultivation is carried out according to a program and prior plans, and they increase production in most varieties according to quality and sustainability standards.

The farm is supplied with irrigation water from a spring whose water comes from the mountains through solar-powered pumps. The water is pumped to ponds at the top of the farm for storage. Rainwater is also collected through canals inside the farm and stored in the soil or in special basins for that.

The Yanbut farm, which Humeid describes as "a family and not just a place to work", provides seasonal work opportunities for local residents, both male and female.

Since organic farming does not depend on chemicals, the organizers resort to some types of natural fertilizers to combat agricultural pests, using natural mixtures consisting of diluted apple cider vinegar, onions, red peppers, garlic and agricultural soap - which is made naturally - and mixed with irrigation water.

In addition to this, the use of natural methods to control insects and keep them away.

As for the challenges, he says, “The challenges relate to production inputs from unmodified seeds or treated with chemical sterilization, and we are forced in cases to use the production of seeds from the crop on the farm by storing them for cultivation in other seasons, or they are imported from abroad, and in this case there is a very high control from the expert. Liaison officer who supervises the farm.

It is noteworthy that the interest in organic agriculture in Jordan began about 20 years ago, when the Organic Agriculture Division was established in the Horticulture and Plants Department within the Plant Production Directorate, and the Jordanian Society for Organic Agriculture was established in 2005. The Royal Court in the country launched the initiative of the Organic Agriculture Development Program in Jordan in 2009 and for a period of three years, 50 farmers benefited from obtaining the certificate for organic farming.

According to the agricultural researcher at the National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension, a specialist in organic agriculture, Eng. Punishment of Al-Awaleh, “Organic agriculture allows obtaining a safe and healthy agricultural product, reducing the use of chemicals, preserving the soil and increasing its fertility.” Agricultural cycles in the use of organic fertilizers, crop residues, green fertilizers and organic waste and avoiding the use of chemical inputs and hormones.

Figures from the Ministry of Agriculture show that the total area of ​​organic farms in the Kingdom is 24,000 dunams, distributed in all 27 governorates of the Kingdom. Sustainability and public health.

The network is preparing to launch a vision of (climate-smart agriculture) in Jordan in coordination with the National Center for Agricultural Research, in partnership with multiple international organizations and pilot projects such as the Innovative Water Technologies Project supported by the US Agency for International Development and the Smart Desert Project supported by the French Agency for Development.

Dr. Marwan adds: "We will soon launch one of the largest smart agro-climate networks in the Middle East and North Africa region, and the first of its kind in Jordan."

The network will contribute to sensing weather factors: wind, humidity and temperature, not to mention sensing soil moisture and temperature continuously and automatically.

The network data will be processed in the data management center and then messages and advice will be sent to farmers through a free smart phone application. These signals include the time and quantity of irrigation for each farm or crop, the spread of agricultural pests and locust waves, and early warning messages to reduce the risks of floods, heat waves, frost and winds.

This project also helps farmers to raise irrigation efficiency and reduce losses, as a result of the lack of necessary irrigation information, and poor management of irrigation networks, which leads to the loss of more than 50 million cubic meters of groundwater in the Jordanian highlands.

He states: “The long-term participatory work will enable the doubling of the agricultural areas with the same available amounts of water or the sustainability of the current agricultural areas, with half the amounts of water currently used. and extending since 2020.

According to Dr. Marwan, climate-smart agriculture alone will not be able to fix the imbalance caused by climate change and misuse of natural resources, but this concept must be supported by other sustainable solutions.

Therefore, the network is preparing to launch a new initiative to implement water harvesting for flash floods to support agricultural production, in addition to other initiatives aimed at economic empowerment of farmers and finding marketing solutions and maximizing benefit, along the agricultural production chain by deepening the concept of food processing at the farm level, which also contributes to improving income and reducing unemployment rates. .

*This report was prepared within the MediaLab Environment Initiative, a project of the French Agency for Media Development (CFI .).

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