Middle Eastern Agriculture

Agriculture in the Middle East

• Crops 
• Water Security
• Biodiversity & Sustainability
• Nomadic Tribes
• References

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Main Crops Found in Middle East 

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There are five main crops that are produced in the Middle East. 

(Reynolds)

• Wheat
• Barley
• Corn
• Cotton
• Rice

• -In the Middle East, agriculture is the largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product and foreign exchange, and is the second largest employer.(Saleman, 1990)
• - Agriculture in the Middle East focuses on new ways to improve food production, the challenges of a largely arid land with managing limited agricultural resources.
• -With the exception of Israel, agriculture in the region remains undeveloped. This results in an enormous cost. The region’s food import bill in 1984 came to $22.5 billion.(Saleman, 1990)
• -Dr. Edouard Saouma, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, states that the Middle East produces less than half of its food requirements(Saleman, 1990).
• This lack of production continues to keep local people to purchase expensive food, forcing a continued state of poverty for many.
• One large issue that people are facing in the Middle East is the issue of Animal Husbandry and rational land use. 
• Leontios Leontiades, Director of the Department of Forests of the Ministry of Agriculture in Nicosia, Cyprus, notes that, throughout the Middle East, “in the centuries-old competition for land, agriculture and animal husbandry have always had the upper hand with the result that big areas of land which had formerly carried a forest crop subsequently gave way to agriculture and grazing” (Saleman, 1990).
• Leontiades later adds that today we finally realize the dangers these practices pose to the environment. This realization gives hope to the future sustainable use of land in the Middle East.

Water Security 

• Scarcity of water has always been the dominant factor in agriculture throughout most of the arid Middle East, with its population relying on  insufficient and erratic seasonal rains or on rivers for their water supply.
• In Egypt, for example, the Nile was the only stable source of water in an otherwise desert landscape. "In ancient times, sustained agriculture was limited to narrow strips of land on either side of the river. Even today, farming in Egypt is localized mainly along the banks of the Nile" (Sitton, 2011)
• Rain falls only in the winter, mainly between November and March. Average annual rainfall ranges from 400 to 800 mm. in the northern and western parts of the country and declines sharply toward the south and east. A dry season with practically no rain prevails from about the beginning of April to the end of October.(Sitton, 2011)
• Until the beginning of the 20th century, agriculture was almost entirely rain-fed.

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Irrigation Begins

• The notion that agriculture requires a reliable water supply began to take hold only at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. "This revolutionary change in attitude was introduced to the area mainly by the Jewish settlers, who were ready to adopt advanced technologies and know-how. Such technologies were introduced by immigrants with specialized skills and professional training. Among them were people experienced in advanced methods of drilling through hard layers of rock and pumping large quantities of water from deep wells"(Sitton, 2011).

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Photo taken on the east side of the Sea of Galilee.

The use of irrigation in traditional farming is hampered by several constraints in the Middle East:

1. Sources of water, especially under arid and semi-arid conditions, are usually very limited in quantity and are not readily available.
2. Water is conveyed to the fields in canals by gravity, which means that the ground needs to be leveled. Hilly terrain and slopes, therefore, cannot be irrigated by this method.
3. The supply of water declines along the line of distribution, leading to unequal sharing of the limited resources.
4. The traditional practice of constructing dirt canals results in considerable loss of water due to percolation of water into the soil, thus the longer the canals, the larger the loss.

Older Style Irrigation

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Newer Style Irrigation

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-While technology is improving,  many do not have the resources or funds to update systems.

Sewage water

-As in many other regions, increasing quantities of sewage water have been finding their way into the environment, endangering groundwater and other sources of fresh water. Leading to the production of large scale treatment plants (Shafdan plant) as well as other small scale treatment plants.

Water Options

 Saline water and seawater

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• There are two categories of water available for desalination in the Middle Eastern region, saline (brackish) water and seawater. Desalting of seawater is costly, due to the high concentration of salts found in the water. Efforts to develop a cheaper process are currently being focused on saline water. In the long run, however, seawater will also most likely need to be used as a source of potable water.

• "Several methods for desalting saline water have been investigated in Israel since the early 1960s. Among these, reverse osmosis has been shown to be efficient and relatively inexpensive; however, today it costs about 25% more to produce potable water by reverse osmosis than to purify sewage water"(Sitton, 2011).
• "Desalination of saline water is preferred to desalination of seawater, since the energy required to produce drinkable water from saline water is 0.8 to 1.0 kWh per cubic meter, and 73% of the water input is recovered, while the energy required for desalination of seawater is about 3.85 kWh per cubic meter, and only 50% of the water input is recovered"(Sitton, 2011).

Drip Irrigation 

-One of the most important technological innovations is probably the invention in Israel of drip irrigation by Simcha Blass and his son (the father conceived the idea, the son developed the dripper).
http://www.millenniumland.com/images/LANDSCAPE%20SERVICES/Irrigation/Drip%20Irrigation%20Systems/Drip%20Irrigation.gif

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Drip irrigation has many advantages over other irrigation methods:

• Water is discharged uniformly from every dripper fitted onto the lateral pipe.
• Via the drippers, fertilizers can be supplied to the plant together with the water 
• Water and fertilizers are delivered directly to the root system rather than to the total area of the field.
• The quantity of water delivered can be optimized to fit different soil types, avoiding percolation of water beyond the root zone. 
• Between the planted rows the dry ground facilitates comfortable access in the field for workers and machines throughout the season. 
•    Exploitation of poor quality water (saline water or effluents) is made possible because:
• Drip irrigation, unlike sprinkler irrigation, makes it possible to utilize saline water. This is because direct contact between water and leaves is avoided, thus obviating burns.(Sitton, 2011)
•  Drip irrigation causes salts to be continuously washed away from the root system, avoiding salt accumulation in the immediate vicinity of the roots. This is important when irrigating salinized soils or irrigating with saline water.(Sitton, 2011
• Drip irrigation allows the use of minimally treated sewage water because the water is delivered directly to the ground, minimizing health risks.(Sitton, 2011)
• http://www.globalenvision.org/files/drip%20irrigation.jpg

The Fertile Crescent

-Excavations at more than 50 sites over the last half-century have established the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East as the homeland of the first farmers.(WILFORD, 1997)

-This crescent of land, extends from Israel through Lebanon and Syria, then through the plains and hills of Iraq and southern Turkey and all the way to the head of the Persian Gulf. 

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-This region is known for wheat, barley, grapes, melons, dates, pistachios and almonds.

-It is Mediterranean-type climate, dry summers and mild but wet winters

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-The Fertile Crescent is a high biodiversity region where a large number of agricultural species originated and were first domesticated.

Biodiversity and Sustainability (Fertile Crescent)

The Problem

-High amount of Biodiversity loss due to over-exploitation of natural pastures and grazing lands. 

-There is a grave risk that much of the inherent biodiversity of the Fertile Crescent will be lost unless a approach to sustainable agriculture and sustainable development is implemented.

The Solution

-Certain Middle Eastern groups are taking a holistic approach to sustainable agricultural development and biodiversity conservation in the Fertile Crescent.

-Sustainable Steps Include: 

1. Allow for sound management of natural resources, including biological, water, and soil resources, for present and future agricultural development.
2. Build and strengthen human resources to cope with agricultural and environmental challenges.
3. Promoting sustainable agriculture through diversification of crop production and broader diversity in crops in the Fertile Crescent.
4. Support of efforts to identify those activities used in plant breeding, plant research and farming systems that foster on farm diversity. 
5. Create public awareness in environmental and biodiversity issues, especially those influencing agricultural production and its sustainability.

*All sustainable steps information collected in Jarada, Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture in the Fertile Crescent

Nomadic Tribes 

+ In many areas under pressure there is a overwhelming belief that the native people must be removed to sustain the land.

-Native people have been living in their regions for centuries until recently when governments are removing them for land preservation. 

-i.e. A conservation in Oman has spent its time attempting to remove the nomadic tribes in the area for fear that they overgraze or that they practice unsustainable farming.(Chatty , 2001)

-Studies are beginning to show that they were in-fact helping the land and the land is less degraded then it is currently. 

-The most promising studies are showing that using native tribes to protect the land is far more powerful then any other means of sustainability or land conservation. (Chatty , 2001)

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References

Chatty , D. (2001). Pastoral Tribes in the Middle East & Pastoral Communities: The Endangered Species. Nomadic Peoples, 5(2), 104-124.

Jarada, A. (n.d.). Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture in the Fertile Crescent. Yale F&ES Bulletin,

Reynolds, C. (n.d.). Production estimates and crop assessment division foreign agricultural service. Retrieved from http://www.fas.usda.gov/remote/mideast_pecad/mideast_html/cropinfo.htm

Sitton, D. (2011). Development of limited water resources: historical and technological aspects. Jewish  Library 

Saleman, A. (1990). Agriculture in the middle east. (1 ed., Vol. 1). Saint Paul, MN: Paragon House Publishers.

WILFORD, J. (1997, November 18). New clues show where people made the great leap to agriculture.The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.spelt.com/origins.html