Date Palm irrigated by recycled water - Jordan Environment Watch

The Jordan Times have reported on a very exciting and novel environmental-agricultural project in which a date palm nursery was established in Deir Alla (Jordan valley) irrigated with recucled water. The full story goes as follows:

AMMAN (JT) — US Ambassador David Hale inaugurated a date palm nursery and training centre at Deir Alla in the Jordan Valley earlier this week.

The nursery, which uses recycled water to grow crops for export, is part of the Knowledge and Action Fostering Advances in Agriculture (KAFA'A) project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The purpose of the nursery is to propagate date palm offshoots for sale to farmers at low prices and to provide technical support and training for farmers interested in date palm production, according to a US embassy statement.

The nursery will include a demonstration site where farmers can observe improved crop management techniques that involve the use of reclaimed water, and will expand their awareness of dates and other cash crop alternatives for export.

During the inauguration ceremony, attended by Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Mousa Dafi Jamani and USAID Mission Director Anne Aarnes, Hale noted that over a three-year period the US would invest $183,270 for this nursery and training facility.

He also said the US would provide additional funds to operate and maintain the nursery and training centre for two years, according to the statement.

The American ambassador toured the facility, which was established in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Jordan Farmers Union, and National Centre for Research and Technology Transfer. At the conclusion of the tour, Hale planted a date palm tree.

Date palms require less irrigation than other more water-intensive crops, and are appropriate for irrigation with treated wastewater-freshwater blends and brackish water.

Additionally, dates have a high rate of economic return. Even though Jordan has the capacity to produce dates, domestic production is severely limited by the lack of inexpensive planting materials and farmer familiarity with crop production and handling, the statement said.

Launched in 2003, the KAFA'A project seeks to improve the economic return per unit of irrigation water through improved crop management and economically viable methods of replacing the use of freshwater in irrigation with recycled and blended wastewater.