Project Acronym: PIOUF

Project Summary

In the Jordan Valley water is scarce and limited to groundwater. The high abstraction rate of the aquifer is causing a continuous rising of salinity that negatively affects the yield. Over irrigation and high doses of fertilizers is a common practice among Palestinian farmer, this cause loss of water and fertilizers. The researchers developed a real-time SMART-software application that integrates precision irrigation model combined with fertilizer program depending on solid scientific knowledge about soil nutrients and crop water requirements. They looked into increasing the profitability of the date palm sector to be able to compete with the product of other regions. They have also invistigated improving the management of irrigated water and optimizing uses of chemical fertilizers, to improve the economical and efficient way of using natural resources water, and soil.

Research Objectives

• The overall objective of the project was to sustain and improve the feasibility of date palm tree cultivation to become capable of achieving food security.
• The specific objective was to integrate precision irrigation and optimize the use of chemical fertilizer to develop a real-time SMART software application.

Project Partners