Smart Water Management for Agriculture Netherlands Water Partnership Smart Water Management for Agriculture Name: Peter Prins Date: January 2017

Impact of climate change on farming Challenges for the agricultural community: How to cope with extreme weather events (drought, flooding, salinization) How to increase awareness among the farmers Which measures will trigger the farmer to change his behavior? Water issues from the perspective of farmers. Role Farmers’ Organisations. This presentation is based on long track record working with FO’s in NL, Cambodia, Uganda, and more recently Colombia, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia. The challenge for the agricultural community is to collaborate and to bridge the gap between the farmers and research. Collaboration between farmers / their organisations, government and research can be the key for succes. This presentation is about practical steps to include water, soil and other relevant measures into one coherent climate smart approach.

CSA: water and soil management intertwined Need for: Practical and effective solutions Fitting with daily operations of farmer Focus on adaptation Presentation is based on several pilots all over the world

Role Netherlands Water Partnership Public Private Partnership, 200 members Gateway to Dutch Water & Agri sector (PPP) Water & Agrofood program since 2013 Agro-network of 400 companies and experts Netherlands Water Partnership is a public private partnership: joining forces of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, of Infrastructure and Enviromment and of Economic Affairs and other public organisations and companies, active in the water sector. In total 200 members. In the field of agri and water approximately 400 companies are active and part of NWP’s network.

Vietnam: rice and fruit Request Viet Nam Farmers’ Union Emphasis on relation soil fertility and sensitivity drought Smart information systems can contribute to solutions, e.g. extended shelf life (better quality) Showcase bottom up approach, local farmers’ leaders play crucial role

Colombia: oil palm Based on market study NWP Targeting on producers organisations and leading companies value chain Pilots under preparation Smart irrigation management (soil, nutrients, soil moisture) Setting a standard: best practice

Saudi-Arabia: date palm Request date sector Long term goal: reduce water use by 70% Dutch consortium offers an integrated solution, complementary measures Aiming at introduction good agricultural practice

Lessons learned (1) Farmers lack information (soil, irrigation, fertilization) Farm management mostly based on tradition and gut feeling Hard to determine most effective measures, lack of knowledge Weak infrastructure extension services hampers improvement of agriculture Farmers’ networks rarely linked to research Lack of information with regard to: soil fertility, effectiveness irrigation, nutrient uptake, water availability and recharge of water in the soil

Lessons Learned (2) Focus primarily on quick wins on farm level Reducing costs of inputs (fertilization, water, fuel) will direct benefit the farmer Innovative tools offer new kind of services (fertility, soil moisture sensors, internet of things) Limited impact of certification schemes Driving force of certification schemes on water and soil issues is limited. Support of farmers of certification schemes is reducing. The costs are high (yearly assessments, membership fee), while the price for product is not or little higher.. The challenge will be to develop alternatives which will have more direct benefits

Way forward: no single solution! Improving water efficiency in agriculture means: Optimizing farm management: Lot of available measures => prevent tunnel vision Don’t focus on irrigation only! Optimizing integrated water management at river basin level Public partners needed => governance Coherent approach needed: smart, based on the right information, will be climate friendly (more efficient use of inputs) But WHERE TO START? Farmers have a lot of choices to change their management to be less vulnerable to drought: can choose drought tolerant crops, varieties, improve the soil, adjust fertilization, introduce advanced irrigation systems, install sensors, invest in water storage. But what is most effective?

Soil: the key to water and climate smart agriculture General problems in agriculture Land degradation (compaction, hard layers) Low content organic matter Limited water buffering Solutions Improve soil quality: physical, biological and chemical Innovative soil test (NIRS) can give much more farmers access to soil information Application right amount of nutrients to optimize root development

Start simple: seeing and feeling…..... Water issues from the perspective of farmers. Role Farmers’ Organisations. Based in long track record working with FO’s in NL, Cambodia, Uganda, and more recently Colombia, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

And use technical innovation: soil test based on NIRS…. Water issues from the perspective of farmers. Role Farmers’ Organisations. Based in long track record working with FO’s in NL, Cambodia, Uganda, and more recently Colombia, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.

Water use efficiency requires an integrated approach Embedded in suitable policy Based on a river basin approach Involving stakeholders at grass root level, like Farmers’ Organisations Wide array of adaptation measures IFPRI (2017): positive impact investment irrigation on food security Infographic shows available options (next slide) Embedded in suitable policy incl. the right incentives and law enforcement Wide array of adaptation measures: farm management, changing farming systems or transition to other spatial functions Recent study IFPRI (Claudia Ringler, 2017): positive impact investment irrigation and increased water efficiency on food security

A short video will be shown at the end of the meeting.

Netherlands Water Partnership Fosters to arrange complementary consortia / partnerships to achieve integrated solutions for sustainable food production In close collaboration with local partners Survey 2016: interest Dutch partners in collaboration with partners South and East Europe Searching for new partnerships …..

Portugal/ NL Opportunities for collaboration: Integrated smart soil and water management Water governance Revitalisation degraded landscapes (Commonland, Land Life Company) Exchange of good practices (innovation partnerships EU) ….................

www.dutchwatersector.com/agrifood Thanks for your attention!