Fresh water for human consumption and agriculture has become an increasingly scarce but essential element for food production and rural development. A major part of the water is used for food production through irrigation and large quantities are inefficiently used with often detrimental effects on the environment by waterlogging and salinity. The effective planning and management of irrigated agriculture has therefore become a national and global priority.  

Within the framework of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change and Desertification Combat, the International Convention to Combat Desertification and the Rio declaration on Environment and Development, the roving seminar is a joint initiative of WMO, FAO and UNEP to promote national action plans to achieve efficient water use for sustainable agriculture, especially in areas experiencing frequent drought and dry spells. 

• Duration: two weeks 

• Location: suitable national training institute with facilities for computer demonstrations and practices, for audio-visual presentations and for board and lodging of the participants 

• Organizers: 
• national institute or agency engaged in irrigation development and planning 
• national meteorological organization 

• Participants: 25 staff from meteorological, irrigation, agricultural and hydrological services involved in planning and management of drought and irrigated agriculture 

• Sponsor: national agencies and projects to cover daily allowance, board, lodging and travel of participants 

• FAO/WMO/UNEP Inputs: 
• contribution to local expenditures 
• high level international or national consultant 
• training and reference materials 

Objectives:  

1. To train staff of the meteorological services in the application of climatic data for irrigation planning and management. 
2. To train staff of the irrigation and agricultural services in the procedures for meteorological data collection and processing and in the use of new methodologies for irrigation planning and management. 
3. To train staff in calculation procedures, using computer facilities and techniques for climatic data processing, crop water requirement, irrigation scheduling and rainfed production. 
4. To define practical applications contributing to national action programmes to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought and for effective water use for sustainable agriculture. 

• Introduction to techniques and methods in the development and management of water for sustainable agriculture. 
• Agrometeorology: 
• weather stations 
• measurements of climatic variables (temperature, humidity, wind, solar radiation, precipitation, evaporation) 
• refererence crop evapotranspiration and methodologies to determine ETo 
• rainfall, rain variability and effective rainfall estimates 
• data acquisition and processing 
• computerized data storage and processing (CLICOM) 
• drought and dry spells (definitions, causes, onset, cessation and prediction). 
• Crop water requirements: 
• water and plant growth 
• crop water requirements 
• effect of environmental factors, including drought 
• calculation of crop water requirements (CROPWAT). 
• Irrigation requirements: 
• crop irrigation requirements 
• scheme irrigation requirements 
• irrigation planning using computer models (CROPWAT). 
• Soil water budgeting: 
• concepts 
• water storage in the soil 
• actual evapotranspiration 
• yield response to water 
• soil water balance calculations 
• Irrigation scheduling: 
• irrigation scheduling techniques 
• soil water budget method 
• practical irrigation scheduling 
• irrigation scheduling by computer (CROPWAT). 
• Rainfed agricultural production: 
• effective rainfall 
• yield reductions and variability under rainfall 
• supplementary irrigation. 
• National programmes and action plans: 
• effective water use for sustainable irrigated and rainfed agriculture 
• combatting desertification and drought planning and management