Natural resources management requires a broad perspective and a willingness to take a long-term view. So-called anticipatory long-term research is yielding answers in Egypt that might help ensure the sustainabilty of the country's agricultural systems.

griculture in Egypt relies heavily on irrigation water from the Nile. Compared to a century ago, the annual per capita share of fresh water resources has declined about 80%, to 930 m3, and this amount is expected to drop to 350m3 by the year 2025.
     Land use intensification is reducing the capital of the natural resource base and its productive potential. Research is needed that will quickly lead to impact at the farm level to generate income and relieve poverty. The need to anticipate natural resource problems has never been greater. To reconcile the immediate need for increased productivity with the need for sustained production, the research community is adopting an 'anticipatory' research paradigm based on: (a) long-term trials (LTT), (b) long-term monitoring (LTM) of resource management at the farm level, and (c) strategic research for sustainable productivity.

A case study from Egypt

Agriculture in Egypt is, for the most part, intensive and highly productive. Sustainability of the agricultural system is endangered, however, by loss of agricultural land, increasing soil salinity, fertilizer abuse, soil pollution from chemical fertilizers and drainage water, and low on-farm irrigation efficiency.
    Most of these problems are at the edge of farmers' awareness. Most smallholders proceed from season to season planting crops to match substistence needs and likely market opportunities according to local constraints on water and availability of other inputs. In many cases, good advice is unavailable, or action is needed at the community or higher level.

    The Egyptian national agricultural research system and ICARDA have developed a long-term resource management approach, funded by the European Union, aimed at sustainable high productivity through sound management that protects the resource base (land and water). The approach combines long-term, on-station cropping systems and management research with extensive on-farm monitoring of resources and their management, and an analysis of farmer decision making. Information from preparatory studies, such as inventories, rapid rural appraisal, and multi-disciplinary surveys, was used to plan long-term research activities at five locations on old land (middle and northern Delta), newly reclaimed land (sandy and calcareous soils), and rainfed areas (Rafah-El Barth). High priority researchable resource management problems were identified, in the context of realistic cropping sequences and farm level economics. The main experimental variables are crop rotation, water quality and/or quantity, and use of mineral fertilizer and organic manure.
    Eighty-seven farmers are participating in the monitoring aspect of the project, which hopes to glean information about farmer practices and management and their effect on productivity, profitability, and soil and water resources. Farmers were selected to represent the range of social, economic, and natural-resource conditions at each location. The program should lead to better understanding of the resource base and its management, and more efficient ways of using resources, to maintain high productivity while minimizing adverse effects on the environment.

Achievements

   • Eighteen reports summarizing and interpreting information gained in the Preparatory Phase were published.
   • Long-term trials were established and local resource management teams (agronomist, and soil, water and crop nutrition specialists) were formed to manage the trials and to take measurements of crop yields and parameters of soil and water condition.
   • Farmers to take part in long-term monitoring were identified and were surveyed twice a year by a local team consisting of a socioeconomist and soil and water specialists. Data on socioeconomics, production, and soil and water conditions were collected. Cross-membership of the LTT and LTM teams, and joint focus on the same biophysical and technical issues provided coherence of purpose between the farm-level and research station activities.
   • A database management system was established for LTT and LTM data, facilitating interpretation, information generation, and reporting.

Salient results after five years of trials

   • The recommended irrigation regime resulted in higher yields and 25-30% water savings in trials in Sids and Nubaria, compared to farmer practice.
   • In trials in rainfed areas, application of organic manure produced cereal yields equal to those produced by NP fertilization. A wheat-legume rotation reduced weed infestation in wheat compared to the continuous wheat system. It also increased water-use efficiency (WUE). Mean WUE values for barley in barley-barley rotation (0.38 kg grain/m3 water) were low compared with those for barley in rotation with fallow, lentil, or forage pea (0.81, 0.73, and 0.72 kg grain/m3 water, respectively).
   • A mole drain system (at 1.5 m depth filled with woody cotton plant residue, perpendicular to lateral field drains) decreased the water table at El-Serw research station (salt affected soils) from 61 cm to 100 cm, resulting in increased crop productivity, particularly for rice.
   • In the El-Bustan area (sandy soil), stable yield was maintained with the new crop rotation (groundnut once in three years). The prevailing practice (groundnut every year) reduced yields considerably. Moreover, the new rotation was more effective in reducing root-knot nematode.
   • In all locations, most participating farmers overused nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrogen-use efficiency values for wheat in farmers' fields in Sids and Nubaria were about half those recorded in LTT research plots; but values improved where manure was applied.
   • WUE values for wheat in farmers' fields at Sids and Nubaria were low (0.6 and 0.7 kg grain/m3) compared with those in LTT plots (1.5 and 1.3 kg grain/m3, respectively), attributed to differences in overall management.
   • Monitoring inlet water (canal or well) and field drain water in farmers' fields at Sids, El-Serw, and Nubaria revealed increased nitrate content in drain water. The team recorded mean inlet and outlet values of 1.6 and 12.1 mg NO3/liter, respectively, in Nubaria, indicating considerable leaching loss of nitrogen fertilizer and water pollution.
   • The team found that farmers on the newly reclaimed land have started to introduce new crops into their summer rotations. These include vegetables, in addition to groundnut in sandy soils, and cotton in addition to maize and tomato in the calcareous soils. On the old land, medicinal plants have replaced some faba bean. Farmers close to the coast in north Sinai have expanded their fruit tree plantations and vegetable production using underground water. Manuring, subsoiling, and the planting of legume crops were the soil fertility enhancing methods preferred by most of the farmers sampled in the newly reclaimed land, whereas manure and residue incorporation were preferred by the old land farmers. However, on the old land of Sids, where alkalinity is a problem, subsoiling and gypsum application are practiced. It was found that most farmers on the old land were not sensitive to price increase of chemical fertilizers.

Results from strategic research

   • A shallow water table (<50cm depth) at El-Serw significantly reduced wheat yield and N uptake. However, findings also suggest that the water table contribution to crop water consumption should be considered in relation to irrigation quantity and frequency in the management of salt-affected soils of the northern Delta.
   • At Nubaria, under flood (basin) irrigation, planting wheat in short strips (30 or 50 m long instead of 80 m) resulted in more uniform distribution of water, greater application efficiency, greater water and nitrogen use efficiencies, and higher yield.
   • Losses (mainly leaching) from applied nitrogen fertilizer, estimated by nitrogen isotope dilution methodology, ranged from 31% to 58% for a sandy soil (at Ismailieh, conditions comparable to El-Bustan) and 17% to 41% for a heavy clay soil, at Sids.
   • Applications of the biofertilizer Azospirillum parazilinse or the commercial seed inoculant Sirialine maintained maize yields with lower N fertilizer inputs, lowering cost and reducing the water pollution hazard at Sids.

Tests in farmers' fields

The following practices were tested on farmers' fields:
   • Producing and applying composite manure (fermented) at LTT sites and farmers' fields, especially in the newly reclaimed area to:
- utilize farm residues,
- increase soil fertility and crop productivity,
- reduce salinity and alkalinity hazards,
- minimize nematode problems,
- control weeds,
   • Planting wheat in furrows followed by maize and/or sunflower to test/achieve:
- better control of irrigation
- save water by applying recommended levels,
   •  Zero-tillage application for:
- optimum planting dates for summer crops,
- more intensive cropping system,
- reduced operating costs,
   • Mole drains in salt-affected clay soils to:
- increase drainage efficiency.

Immediate impact

The project has resulted in increased awareness about the hazards to natural resources. This increased awareness is due mostly to the dissemination of information and technologies meant to encourage improved management of soil and water resources. Data from LTT and LTM indicate the merit of conducting on-farm activities, and taking into account the yearly cropping patterns instead of only commodities. The activities have resulted in a methodology for studying resource management from a holistic approach. The project should lead to the institutionalization of natural resources management research within national agricultural research system programs, adopting a multidisciplinary approach to ensure long-term sustainability of agricultural systems. Next, the data collected will be used in developing decision support systems.