ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF IRRIGATION
IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS ON WATER SAVING,
CROPS YIELD AND ENERGY COST - CASE STUDY:
AL-ATF CANAL, EGYPT
Talaat El Gamal1 and Hanan Farag2
1 Associate Professor, Water Management Research Institute (WMRI), National Water
Research Center (NWRI), Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI), EMail:
elgamalt@gmail.com
2 Associate Professor, National Water Research Center (NWRI), Ministry of Water
Resources and Irrigation (MWRI); E-Mail: hananfarag71@gmail.com
Key Words: Water Saving, Energy Cost, Irrigation Improvement
Projects, Water Management, Water Use Efficiency
ABSTRACT
Egypt is an arid country with limited water resources. There were
also some problems regarding energy resources during last years. In
Egypt, both water and energy are tightly connected to food production, as
agricultural depends totally on irrigation, and the Egyptian irrigation
system imposes lifting water from watercourses to the surrounding fields.
With the rapid population growth in Egypt, there is a necessity to
produce more food, and this requires optimizing the use of limited water
and energy resources. Irrigation Improvement Projects (IIPs) were among
the solutions to improve water and energy use and increase water
productivity. The projects should improve water productivity by
improving water use efficiency and crops yield. Another important
objective for IIPs was to decrease the irrigation cost through the optimal
use of the energy. After the actual implementation, the evaluation of IIPs
referred to difficulties in the achievement of some objectives, while other
objectives were achieved successfully. The current study presented the
current situation of water, energy, and food in traditional situation in
Egypt and the expected impact from IIPs on these elements, and then it
investigated the actual impact of IIPs after the implementation. An
improved canal in the Middle Delta (Al-Atf canal) was selected for such
investigation. The measurements were conducted in the first reach of the
canal. Measurements on the canal did not refer to real change in water
use efficiency, mainly due to the unsuitable operation of the irrigation
system and the lack of coordination between farmers. Regarding the
energy, the single-point lifting and the dependence on the electric power
had a significant impact on reducing the irrigation cost. The study
discussed the reason for low water use efficiency, and it suggested
Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020 140-155
developing an operation model that calculates actual water requirements
based on remote sensing information to propose the optimal operation
scenario for the improved Mesqas. Such model could improve water
management, which should have positive impact on water use efficiency,
and in consequence on irrigation cost.
INTRODUCTION
The connection between water, energy and food production
(agriculture) is obvious. Water is the basis for food production, and it is
also used for energy production (hydropower) and even it share in
thermoelectric power plants through cooling of these plants. Energy is
another main element in food production, starting from cultivation
(irrigation and agricultural machinery) to food industry and food
distribution. Energy is also used for water abstraction, processing and
distribution (pumping and extracting water for different purposes,
treating wastewater, and the desalination of seawater). Such
interconnected relationship has other dimensions with the limitation of
the resources. Such limitation requires optimal use of different elements
and therefore the integrated approach became more important.
In Egypt, water and energy resources were not only limited, but also
they are threatened by the rapid population growth that requires more
resources, and therefore the situation became more critical. Tackling such
problem could have many axes, and one of the introduced solutions for
better use of water and energy for agricultural purposes was the Irrigation
Improvement Projects (IIPs). Some previous studies were conducted to
evaluate the impact on improving food production and saving water and
energy. The evaluation programme that was conducted by Water
Management Research Institute between 2002 and 2018 developed many
evaluation reports. Different methodologies were used to evaluate the
three elements [13 & 14 & 15 & 16]. El-Gamal, T. discussed the impact
of IIP on water saving [1 & 2]. Nour El-Den and Kotb discussed the
impact of IIP and change in electrification on saving the energy in Egypt
[12]. The current study provides an integrated approach that to assess
water and energy use and their impact on food production in the
improved areas.
Objective
The objective of the current study is to evaluate the impact of IIPs on
the rational use of water and energy in the agricultural field, and their
impact on food production to define the next steps for this approach, and
if it should be continued, adapted or stopped.
141 Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020
Methodology
The current followed the following approach:
First, the study discussed the situations of water, energy and food in
Egypt. It discussed their availability, the change in their consumption
trends, and the interrelation between them
Second, the study discussed the impact of Irrigation Improvement
Projects (IIPs). The discussion included the expected impact as was
presented in literature review, and the actual impacts as presented in
previous evaluation programmes.
Then, the study investigated the impact of IIPs on the study area (El-
Atf canal). The investigation included the impact of IIPs on crop
yields, water use and irrigation cost. The investigations of these
items were as follows:
Regarding the impact of IIP on crop yields, the results were
collected from framers through questionnaires samples.
Regarding the impact of IIP on water use, the discharges were
measured at the head and the tail end of the study area. The
measurements at the head were used to check the validity of weir
equations. Measurements at the tail end of the study area were
used to develop a new stage-flow relationship. Weir equation at
the head and the developed relationship at the tail end were used
to calculate water use in the study area. Water consumption was
calculated using remote sensing technique.
Regarding the impact of IIP on the irrigation cost, questionnaire
samples were used to define average irrigation cost for different
crops before and after irrigation improvement. In addition,
detailed information for some Mesqas were used for precise
calculation of the irrigation cost.
The Current Situations of Water, Energy and Food in Egypt
The availability of Water, Energy and Food in Egypt
Food Gap in Egypt
Along the history, Egypt was known as “World’s bread basket”.
However, and with the rapid population growth in the modern history,
food production began to be insufficient, and Egypt began to depend on
external imports to fill the food gap. According to Gamal Hemdan
(1984), “Throughout the 1960s, the food gap was relatively moderate, but
it exploded in the 1970s, nearly tenfold in just 10 years, and it included
all crops except rice, vegetables and fruits". He described the situation
for the wheat as follows, “Self-sufficiency of wheat continued until 1945.
From 1950 to 1970, local production covered the rural residents, while
urban residents relied on external imports. Since 1975, the stage of
national inefficiency has begun. Since then, both rural and urban areas
began to depend on external imports.” Mady (2014) illustrated that there
Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020 142
was a food gap in meat, wheat, and legumes, and the gap was increasing.
From 2000 to 2010, the food gap for meat, wheat and legumes increased
by 53.1%, 35.6% and 1.7% respectively. For sugar, vegetables and oil,
the production was exceeding the consumption. However, the production
surplus of these goods decreased during the same period by 2.8%, 17.4%
and 44.8% respectively. Only for fruits, the production surplus increased
during this period (2000-2010) by 44.3%.
Water Resources & Water Use
There was a rapid reduction in per capita share of water in Egypt.
The values, which were exceeding 2000 m3/capita at the middle of the
previous century, dropped to less than 700 m3/capita in last years. Based
on MWRI (2017), total water supply in Egypt in 2015 was 59.25 BCM.
From this amount, municipal sector used 10.75 BCM, and 5.4 BCM was
used by the industry sector. Total consumption from both municipal and
industry sectors was around 3.78 BCM and around 12.37 BCM return to
the system as polluted losses. Considering that there was around 2.4
BCM evaporated from the water surfaces, the share of the agricultural
sector was around 40.7 BCM, which is very close to the required
consumption (40.0 BCM as estimated in the report). However, the actual
water use of the agricultural sector is 61.1 BCM thanks to the intensive
reuse of water losses.
Energy Resource
The energy sector in Egypt is now improving after a period of
suffering. The main improvement was in the production of the natural
gas. Based on Hussein and El Baz (2018), “Egypt’s natural gas
production was almost stable between FY 2010/11 and FY 2011/12, with
a slight decrease from approximately 46.3 million tons equivalent per
year (mtoe/y) to 46.07 mtoe/y. Since FY 2012/13, the level of production
has been declining steadily. Annual production reached its lowest level of
31.3 mtoe/y in FY 2015/16, before recovering slightly to 31.9 mtoe/y in
FY 2016/17”. It is expected that Egypt will return to exporting the natural
gas from 2019-2020.
For the electricity, the production increased annually to face the
gradual increase in the demand regardless the source of the fuel
(nationally or imported). From figure (1), generated electricity increased
gradually from 110,299 GWh in 2004/2005 to 189,550 GWh in 2016-
2017. The highest annual increase ratio was 8.4% in 2006/2007. The
lowest increase ratios were 1.7% in 2016-2017 and 2.4% in 2012-2013
[9].
The change in the consumption trends of Water, Energy and Food in
Egypt
There was a fast change in life standard in Egypt during last decades.
This affected the consumption trends, and it increased the difficulty of
143 Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020
optimizing water and energy use. Based on Mady (2014), “The situation
of agriculture and food in the current period (2001-2012) has reached a
critical stage that was represented in the growing demand for agricultural
products due to the population increase in addition to the general trend of
consumption increase despite the increase in the prices”. Consumption
increase resulted in the increase of food waste despite the food gap in
Egypt. Some international organizations stated that Food Losses and
Waste (FLW) in Egypt are high, especially for perishable products [4].
Regarding water use, municipal water increased from 3.1 BCM in
1990 (~170 liter/capita) to 10.75 BCM in 2015 (327 liter/capita). Based
on MWRI (2017), the last value (for 2015) is much higher than the
normal per capita consumption. For irrigation, the inability to control the
system in last decades resulted in misuse of water. Irrigation
Development Plan in Egypt stated that water duty increased during
1970’s from 16429 m3/ha to 19047 m3/ha due to the misuse of water
[10]. However, and as the system is considered as a closed system, the
problem is in wasting the water and reusing water losses. The water
losses is polluted, after mixing with sewage and industrial wastes, and
therefore it has negative impact on crop production besides the health
risk. Moreover, using the water more than one time is associated with
more energy consumption.
For the electricity use, average energy used per capita increased from
1650 KWh in 2006/2007 to 1910 KWh in 2011/2012 [9].
The Relation between Water, Energy and Food in the Traditional
Situations in Egypt
The relation between agricultural and water is obvious as agriculture
depends principally on water. In Egypt, there is almost a complete
dependence on the irrigation, as the rain is rare. Some investigations
reported the Egyptian irrigation system as the third for land productivity
among 56 investigated irrigation systems, but it was the tenth among
these investigated irrigation systems for water productivity, which refer
to low irrigation efficiency compared to the other irrigation networks [3].
Regarding the future relation between water and agricultural, the gradual
increase in municipal and industrial water use will have a vital impact on
the agriculture sector as the current share of agriculture of the fresh water
is close to total crop consumption. The future scenarios to improve the
relation between water and agricultural contains treating the wastes of
these sectors to make use of these big amounts of water, and decreasing
the dependence on the reuse by improving water use efficiency. The last
scenario was one of the main objectives of IIPs. Another scenario is to
produce more crops with the same amount of water through producing
new crop varieties.
Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020 144
Agricultural (producing food) has a tight relationship with the energy
as well. Besides agricultural machinery and food industry, there is a high
dependence on the energy in irrigation sector, after diesel pumps have
replaced animal-driven wells (Saqias) for lifting the irrigation water in
the end of 1970’s. The huge volume of water is currently lifted by
farmers’ diesel pump, consuming an estimated amount of about 700,000
tons of diesel fuel annually [12]. The irrigation cost, based on the
statistics for 2016, constituted between 4% and 10.3% of the agricultural
inputs, coming after the agricultural machinery that constituted between
5.9% and 15.9% of these inputs [8]. For the future relationship between
agricultural and energy, there is a trend to use the electricity in
agricultural, and this is likely connected to irrigation and the
implementation of the new phases of IIPs that relied on the electric
power. Total electricity sold for agricultural purposes increased from
2967 GWh in 2006/2007 to 6033 GWh in 2016/2017 [9]. This
constituted between 2.6% in 2006/2008 and 3.8% in 2013-2014 (figure
1).
0.0%
1.5%
3.0%
4.5%
6.0%
7.5%
9.0%
10.5%
12.0%
13.5%
15.0%
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
160000
180000
200000
Hydro Energy & Agricultural consumption (%)
Gross Energy Generated (GWh)
Gross energy generated & Energy generated from hydro
Gross Energy (GWh) Hydro Energy Agricultural Consumption
Figure (1): Total generated electricity, the share of Hydropower, and the ratio
of the electricity sold for agricultural purpose in Egypt (After MEE, Annual
electric reports)
For the relation between water and energy, the dependence on
hydropower started in Egypt before the middle of the previous century.
With the construction of High Dam, the ratio of the hydropower
exceeded 50% of total generated electricity in Egypt in 1970’s. This
affected the released water from High Dam, and therefore some fresh
water was dumping into the sea during this time. The importance of the
hydropower decreased gradually since 1970’s until now with the
construction of thermal power plants. From 2004-2005 to 2016-2017, the
145 Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020
annual electricity produced from the hydropower was between 12644 and
15510 GWh [9]. This constituted between 12.5% (in 2004-2005) and
6.8% (in 2016-2017) from total generated electricity during this period
(figure 1). It is expected that the relationship between water and energy
will be flipped in the future. Previously, water was the main source to
generate energy. In the future, the energy will be an essential source to
generate water, through the extraction of deep groundwater and the
treatment of the polluted and brackish water.
The Impact of IIPs on Water, Energy and Food Elements
The Expected Impact of IIPs on Water, Energy and Food Elements
The idea of Irrigation Improvement Projects (IIPs) were started in
Egypt in 1970’s through a research project in Water Management
Research Institute (Egyptian Water Use and management Project –
EWUP). With the execution of IIPs, there was an expectation that the
projects could contribute in considerable amount of water saving. For
example, the strategic plan (1997-2017) for Ministry of Water Resources
and Irrigation contained improving 1.5 million feddan until 2025, which
will result in saving 1070 million m3, and the appraisal document of
IIIMP expected that water savings from IIIMP would reach 22% [1].
There were other hopes to improve crop yields and reduce the irrigation
cost as well. IIPs planned to improve water use efficiency by improving
the conveyance efficiency through changing waterways in open Mesqas
to pipelines, and by enhancing farmers’ irrigation practices as the result
of operational and institutional activities. Improving water availability
should improve the crops yield, either through decreasing water crisis
events or through decreasing the dependence on the unconventional
water resources.
IIPs planned to reduce the irrigation cost as well. Aggregating scatter
farmers’ pumps in collective pumps at the head of the Mesqas was the
first step. The second main step was the replacement of the diesel pumps
by electric pumps. Regarding the change to electric power, Nour El-Din
and Kotb (2006) stated, “Electric pumps option provides 10% savings in
the cost of lifting each cubic meter of water when using financial prices.
It also provides more than 29% savings under economic prices”.
Previous evaluation results regarding the Impact of IIPs on Water,
Energy and Food Elements
Many evaluation programmes were conducted to evaluate the
achievement of IIPs targets. The main programme was the programme of
Water Management Research Institute (WMRI) between 2002 and 2018.
Evaluations results showed that the only positive impact on water
use was the improvement of the conveyance efficiency, which could save
around 3% of total water supply at the head of the command areas. This
amount contribute to improve water availability at the tail end of the
Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020 146
Mesqas [2]. There was an expectation that Marwas (on-farm ditches)
improvement will double this amount of water saving.
Regarding the crop yield, the evaluation reports by Water
Management Research Institute (WMRI) showed that the increase of the
yield is associated with changing from the dependence on the drainage
water to the dependence on fresh water. This happened at the tail ends of
many Mesqas after the implementation of IIPs. The change in the source
of the irrigation water in these areas increased the yield by 32% for wheat
crop and by 30% for rice crop [15 & 16].
In addition, WMRI evaluation results showed that the reduction in
the irrigation cost after the implementation of IIPs was between 39% &
75% for rice crop, between 40% & 65% for maize crop, ~65% for wheat
crop, and between 70% and 85% for sugar beet crop [15 & 16]. These
studies were conducted in improved areas that depend on the electric
power.
Studying Area
El-Atf canal is one of the main branches at the south of Middle Delta
(El-Monofiya and Zefta irrigation directorates). The canal is at the end of
Dalel El-Atf, which is a short entrance at km 28.96 on El-Monofy Rayah
(figure 2). El-Atf canal is 48.6 km length and it serves 13,860 ha in three
irrigation districts. The canal has twelve branches with served areas
between 168 and 840 ha. The first reach of the canal (in Quesina
irrigation district) is 15.0 km long and it has one branch (Mit El-Kosary).
The total served area of this reach including Mit El-Kosary is 2,801 ha.
As could be observed from figure (2), part of the served area of El-Atf
canal is outside Quesna irrigation district (in El-Bagour irrigation
district). Actual cross sections in the investigated reach were wider than
design cross-sections.
Regarding irrigation improvement, there was a previous pilot project
to improve the irrigation is a part of El-Atf canal in 1980s. The current
Irrigation Improvement Project (IIP) started in 2006. Two hundreds and
fifty-six Mesqas with total served area equals 6,504 ha were established
during this project. The project contained replacing open Mesqas or
scatter lifting points on the canal by single lifting points that are
connected to 12 inches PVC pipelines, and alfa-alfa valves at the heads
of different Marwas. IIP was implemented along the canal, but it faced
many problems in downstream reaches. In the first reach (study area), the
improved Mesqas were very steady, and in addition, farmers cooperated
to improve the situation. They replaced the diesel pumps, or one of them,
with electric pumps. Other farmers connected the improved Mesqas to
shallow groundwater besides the surface water to ensure water
availability during the whole year. Twelve improved Mesqas, between
km 2.7 to km 5.1, were selected for deep investigation. Selected
147 Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020
improved Mesqas serve areas between 18 and 50 hectare. Pumps’
capacities were between 60.0 & 90.0 l/sec. Some pumps are diesel pumps
and the other are electric pumps. The cultivated crops in this area are the
traditional crops, such as maize, wheat, Barseem (Alfalfa), taro besides
some vegetables and some orchards.
Figure (2): Schematic drawing for El-Atf canal with a photo for its head
regulator
RESULTS
Crop yield
Increasing the yield in the improved areas is normally associated
with the improvement of water supply, especially at the areas that had
water crises or that were depending on polluted water before the
improvement. This was not the case in the studying area, which located
at the head region of El-Atf canal. Despites little dependence on shallow
groundwater, surface water was sufficient and the main problem of the
studying area was low water use efficiency.
The collected questionnaires from the farmers did not refer to any
specific trend regarding crop yield improvement. Farmers’ opinions
indicated that the change in the crop yield is random, and it is related to
agricultural and irrigation practices of different farmers more than being
related to IIPs.
Water use & abstraction trends
Improving water use efficiency was the main objective of
implementing irrigation improvement projects. However, most of the
evaluation results referred to a problem in achieving such target. In the
studying area, which represent the head of the canal, water use was
considerably high. From figure (3A), and considering the period from the
beginning of April to the middle of August, irrigation efficiency was
around 35%. The big difference could be observed at the second half of
Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020 148
April and during May (harvest time). The results refer to the necessity to
calculate water requirements precisely and use it as the basis to operate
the canal.
Another reason for low water use efficiency was in the low
coordination between farmers. One of the objectives of IIPs was to
distribute water through the day, and stop concentrating the irrigation in
specific hours, which was the trend that started since using the diesel
pumps in 1970’s. Most of the evaluation results indicated that the
previous situations were not changed after the implementation of IIPs.
Figure (3B) presents an example about water abstraction by the selected
Mesqas during five days of June 2018. Irrigation was concentrated
between 9:00 AM and 12:00-13:00 PM, and the highest water abstraction
values were between 0.7 to 0.9 m3/sec. Average-water use during this
period was 114.3 m3/ha/day, which is high value compared to normal
irrigation water use during this time (April to Aug). The irrigation
stopped completely for few hours around the midnight.
Figure (3): Water consumption & water use in the first reach of EL-Atf (A) &
water abstraction by the investigated Mesqas (B)
Irrigation cost
The improvement project replaced farmers’ pumps with single-point
lifting at the head of the Mesqas. The original pumps in the improved
Mesqas in El-Atf canal were diesel pumps. In most of the improved
Mesqas in the studying area, farmers replaced the diesel pumps, or at
least one of them, with electric pump. The main reason was to have more
than one source to face the energy crises, which escalated during the
political instability period (after 2011). However, this had positive impact
on reducing the cost.
Most of the evaluation results at different improved areas confirmed
that IIPs had a positive impact of reducing the irrigation cost. For the
studying area, and based on collected questionnaire samples, the
reduction in the irrigation cost for maize crop was between 25% & 75%
149 Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020
with an average of 45.1%. For winter crops, the average reduction in the
irrigation costs were 13% for wheat and 35% for Barseem. The reduction
in the irrigation cost for wheat was little because the cost in the improved
Mesqas is shared based on the served areas regardless the crops. The
irrigation cost for crops with low water requirements (like wheat) is
normally low. While distributing the irrigation cost in the improved
Mesqas based on the served areas, the average irrigation cost between
low and high water consumption crops became close to the irrigation cost
of low consumption crops before the improvement.
Regarding the second step to reduce the irrigation cost, which is the
introduction of the electric pumps, an example (Mesqa 18/16) was used
to illustrate the difference between the operation costs for diesel pumps
and the electric pumps. All diesel pumps in this Mesqa were replaced by
electric pumps, and therefore, it was easier to compare the operation cost
between the two situations precisely. Table (1) presents the cost of both
situations. Due to the rapid change in the energy prices, and to make a
right comparison, the current prices of different items was used with the
average consumption of these items. Regarding previous operation cost
(diesel pumps), the average diesel consumption was 820 liter/month
during 5 months (summer season), and 205 liter/month during 6 months
(winter season), and the system was stopping for one month (closing
period). In addition, the system was consuming 40 liter/month of oil for
lubricant during summer months and 10 liter/month during winter
months. The pumps were maintaining twice annually and the average
cost for each maintenance was around 13000 L.E. The total cost for
operating the Mesqa during this time was 63,115 L.E. The served area of
the Mesqa was 50 hectare, and the annual share of each hectare was
1262.3 L.E. For the current operation cost (electric pumps), the average
cost of recharging the electricity card is 1500.0 L.E/month, and the
average lubricant cost is around 360.0 L.E/year. Almost, there is no
maintenance cost. The served area increased to 52.5 hectare, and the
annual share of each hectare was 349.7 L.E, which is around 28% of the
previous operation cost. Average irrigation cost for some farmers, who
were not connected to the improved Mesqas, and who were depending on
shallow groundwater, was ~ 6500 L.E./ha/year. The actual difference
between total costs of diesel and electric pumps might be less than this
example because there are common items that have the same costs in
both systems like operator wage, and the maintenance of other items (like
valves, etc.)
Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020 150
Table (1): The operation cost of Mesqa 18-16 for diesel and electric
pumps
Unit Amount Price (L.E) Total Unit Amount Price (L.E) Total
Diesel fuel Liter 5330.0 5.5 29,315.0
Recharging the
electricity card
Month 12.0 1500.0 18,000.0
Lubricant oil Liter 260.0 30.0 7,800.0 1.0 360.0 360.0
2.0 13000.0 26,000.0 0.0 0.0 -
63,115.0 18,360.0
50.0 52.5
1,262.3 349.7
Current operation cost (Electric Pumps)
Total
Served area (feddan)
Annual share /feddan (L.E)
Annual maintenance cost
Annual lubricant cost
Total
Previous operation cost (Diesel Pumps)
Served area (feddan)
Annual share /feddan (L.E)
Annual maintenance cost
Regardless the reduction in the cost with using the electric pumps in
comparison to diesel pumps; the dependence on the electric pumps was
limited in some Mesqas. As an example, in Mesqa (16/15), using the
electric pump was limited because it is a big pump, and it requires
opening four valves or more in the same time. Otherwise, water would
overflow from the water tower. Because the served area of the Mesqa is
relatively small (17.6 ha), opening many valves in the same time was not
happen frequently, and the diesel pump (the small one) is used during
most of the time. In the previous example (Mesqa 18/16), there are three
motors: 20.0 HP, which requires opening at least eight valves, 15.0 HP,
which requires opening at least three valves, and 7.5 HP, which could
work with only one valve, and therefore there is no any problem with the
number of the opened valves.
DISCUSSION
Considering the general situation in Egypt, the relation between
water and food production seems very critical, and it will be more critical
with rapid increase in water demand in the future. Energy came second as
a control element for food production. It will affect the food cost, but no
problem is expected regarding its availability.
Regarding the impact of irrigation improvement projects on water
saving and irrigation cost:
The project could improve the yield in some areas that depend on the
polluted drainage water at the tail end of the Mesqas with improving
of the equity of water distribution through these Mesqas. The impact
at the tail end of branch canals is limited. The results expected 6%
water saving from improving the conveyance efficiency in both
Mesqas and Marwas. With using this amount instead of the
dependence on the drainage water, crop yield would increase with an
average 30% as indicated in the previous results. This means that the
general increase in crop yield could be 1.8%
For the energy, there was a reduction in the energy cost after the
implementation of IIPs, but the irrigation cost constitutes a small
ratio of the agricultural inputs. Therefore, the reduction in the
151 Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020
irrigation cost has limited impact on the reduction of the food cost.
As mentioned before, irrigation cost constitute between 4% and 10%
of the agricultural inputs. Considering that IIPs could reduce the
irrigation cost by 50% in average, total agricultural inputs will be
decreased by 2% ~ 5%. The fluctuation in agricultural inputs and
food transportation and in crops yield might have higher impact than
this ratio. Through the evaluation of IIPs, farmers rejected the idea to
distribute the irrigation cost (in the improved Mesqas) based on the
operation hours instead of distributing it based on the cultivated area
[15 & 16]. In addition, the results showed that some improved
Mesqas in the studying area were still depending on the diesel pumps
although the electric pumps have good reduction in the irrigation
cost. This indicated that the irrigation cost is not a serious element
for the farmers
Enhancing the impact of IIPs will be through improving water
distribution in the improved areas. IIPs was conducted with an intention
to distribute the water between branch canals based on actual
requirements and with volumetric basis, while scheduling the operation
of the improved Mesqas. However, the real implementation was far from
this.
There is a research project going on in the studying area to calculate
the actual crop requirements for different improved Mesqas or served
areas based on remote sensing information, and distribute the water
between these Mesqas / areas with a model that will be designed for this
purpose. Such approach, if it could applied, should improve water
management in the study areas.
CONCLUSION
Producing food with the optimal use of water and energy became an
essential issue with the fast growing of population and the limitation of
water and energy resources. Irrigation improvement projects were a trail
to provide a solution for the limitation of water and energy resources.
IIPs had limited impact on improving water use efficiency and crop
yields, and although the impact on reducing the irrigation cost was
significant, the share of the irrigation cost for the agricultural inputs is
little, and this is reflected on its importance. More attention should be
given to improve water distribution to decrease the dependence on
reusing unconventional water resources, which have negative impact on
crop yield and it is associated with health risks.
Improving water distribution strategies could be the fast solution in
near future to decrease the dependence on the reuse. Enhancing the
treatment of sewage and industrial wastes is the second main step, for
safe use of these huge amounts. The country is currently taking care of
Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020 152
this topic seriously. The final step will be the desalination of the brackish
water, and the technologies to cultivate using this brackish water.
The relation between crop production and irrigation cost in Egypt
will be also changed by the current reclamation projects, which depend
on deep groundwater, and it is associated with high water-lifting cost. It
will be also affected by using the solar energy in irrigation that has
started, and will spread in the future, and this might require deep
investigations.
Acknowledgement: This research was supported by Science and
Technology Development Fund – Egypt (Project # 26318)
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تقييم تأثير مشاريع تطوير الري عمى توفير المياه
وانتاجية المحاصيل وتکمفة الطاقة
) د ا رسة حالة - ترعة العطف، مصر(
طمعت الجمل* و حنان فرج**
* أستاذ باحث مساعد – معيد بحوث إدارة المياه – المرکز القومي لبحوث المياه
** أستاذ باحث مساعد – المرکز القومي لبحوث المياه
تعاني مصر من محدودية الموارد المائية ، کما عانت مصر من بعض المشکلات المتعمقة
بموارد الطاقة خلال السنوات الماضية. وفي مصر، ترتبط المياه والطاقة ارتباطًا وثيقًا بإنتاج
الغذاء، حيث تعتمد الز ا رعة عمى الري بصورة شبو مطمقة نتيجة لعدم وجود أمطار في معظم
المناطق، کما ترتبط أعمال الري بالطاقة حيث يفرض نظام الري المصري رفع المياه من مجاري
المياه إلى الحقول المحيطة. ومع النمو السکاني السريع في مصر، فإن ىنالک ضرورة لإنتاج
المزيد من الغذاء، وىذا يتطمب الاستخدام الأمثل لموارد المياه والطاقة المحدودة.
وقد کانت کانت مشاريع تطوير الري في مصر من بين الحمول الرئيسية لتحسين استخدام
المياه والطاقة وزيادة إنتاجية وحدة المياه. فمن المفترض أن تحسن مشاريع تطوير الري من
إنتاجية وحدة المياه وذلک من خلال تحسين کفاءة استخدام المياه وزيادة إنتاجية المحاصيل.
کذلک فقد کانت أحد الأىداف الرئيسية لمشاريع تطوير الري تقميل تکمفة الري من خلال
الاستخدام الأمثل لمطاقة. وبعد التنفيذ الفعمي لمشاريع تطوير الري في عدة مناطق بمصر،
Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020 154
أشارت بعض ب ا رمج التقييم والمتابعة إلى وجود صعوبات في تحقيق بعض الأىداف، في حين
تحققت أىداف أخرى بنجاح.
تقوم الد ا رسة الحالية بعرض الوضع الحالي لممياه والطاقة والغذاء في مصر قبل تنفيذ
مشاريع تطوير الري کما تعرض لمتأثير المتوقع لمشروعات تطوير الري عمى المياه والطاقة
والغذاء، ثم تبحث الد ا رسة في التأثير الفعمي لمشاريع لمشاريع تطوير الري عمى عناصر المياه
والطاقة والغذاء في مصر من خلال د ا رسة إحدي المناطق المطورة. تم اختيار ترعة مطورة في
وسط الدلتا )قناة العطف( لتنفيذ ىذه الد ا رسة، وتم إج ا رء القياسات في الحبس الأول لمترعة.
لم تشر القياسات عمى القناة إلى تغيير حقيقي في کفاءة استخدام المياه ، ويرجع ذلک
أساسًا إلى عدم تغيير أسموب إدارة المياه بالمناطق المطورة وعدم التنسيق بين الم ا زرعين لجدولة
الري. فيما يتعمق بالطاقة، کان تجميع نقاط الرفع لمم ا زرعين في نقطة رفع واحدة والاعتماد عمى
الطاقة الکيربائية تأثير کبير عمى تقميل تکمفة الري.
ناقشت الد ا رسة سبب انخفاض کفاءة استخدام المياه ، واقترحت تطوير نموذج تشغيل يقوم
بحساب الاحتياجات المائية الفعمية بناءً عمى معمومات الاستشعار عن بعد لاقت ا رح سيناريو
التشغيل الأمثل لممساقي المطورة، وىو الأمر الذي يمکن أن يکون لو مردود إيجابي عمى کفاءة
استخدام المياه وعمى تکمفة الري.
155 Egypt. J. of Appl. Sci., 35 (11) 2020
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