Since there are no realistic opportunities for the introduction of lucrative cash crops, efforts have been directed towards getting the best results out of the crops traditionally grown such as maize, wheat, dry bean and lucerne through a combination of approaches. These include both the implementation of the latest equipment, effective irrigation systems, and the [...]
The Project involved real-time monitoring and control of flows, lining the main channel, installing sprinkler and drip irrigation system and a central data repository of irrigation system flows and abstractions. The water entitlement aspect of the project was developed to help transition from inefficient practices and low value crops to efficient practices and higher valued [...]
The main crops that grow in the area - lucerne, potato, groundnut, maize, oats and barley - are difficult to grow profitably, hence the negative perception. Changes needed to be made, to ensure the financial survival of the farmers in the Upper Orange River Catchment through increased productivity as well as reduce the amount of [...]
Kothapally village comprises 465ha of mainly cultivated undulating farmland with a population of 1,492 supported by semi-subsistence agriculture in the area. The level of resource degradation before project implementation was serious – characterized by low rainwater use efficiency, high soil erosion and a lack of soil stabilization or infiltration enhancement mechanisms. The project placed an [...]
?The project intervention focused on introducing improved water management practices to reduce water use, in parallel with improved crop practices to increase crop yield. The program started small but grew to encompass over 1,000 farmers. Specifically, the project implemented several irrigation-related interventions, including: replacing serpentine irrigation with furrow irrigation, making irrigation scheduling dependent on estimated [...]
?The Water Use Association (WUA) in the Lower Vaal area manages the distribution of irrigation water to hundreds of farmers over 1,120km of ageing canals and 1,873 abstraction points. The process needed to make it more efficient required difficult institutional reform combined with critical self-examination of operation and management practices. Coupled with a lack of [...]