{"id":1090,"date":"2020-01-07T16:24:06","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T16:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/?page_id=1090"},"modified":"2020-11-04T10:40:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-04T10:40:10","slug":"water-for-food-production","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/research\/water-for-food-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Water for Food Production"},"content":{"rendered":"

Water for food production\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Can small-holder agriculture benefit from new approaches to irrigation based on understanding crop biology and access to new technologies?
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlthough many African countries have abundant water resources, much of the continent\u2019s crop production is rain-fed with low yields vulnerable to climate extremes. Effective sustainable water management for African communities depends on:Access to safe, sustainable water sources (whether from ground or surface water, rain-water capture and storage or \u201cre-cycled\u201d water)Irrigation that makes optimum use of those resources.Water-saving irrigation techniques, which Lancaster has played a major role in developing (Du et al., 2015), can greatly increase crop water use efficiency. However, despite increasing interest in development projects to assist smallholder farmers (such as the African Water Facility\u2019s Upscaling Smallholder Irrigation project (AfDB, 2016)), there is a major disconnect between the technological development of water-efficient techniques, and their adoption by smallholders (Burnham et al., 2015).The core research questions of this work-package are toIdentify what approaches to water-efficient irrigation are most appropriate to cultivate fresh produce, given the water resources available to (small-holder) communities, including \u201charvested\u201d and stored rain-water, and recycled water (e.g. digestate from anaerobic digestion -WP4).Investigate how these techniques can be developed and optimized for such communities.Understand the socio-economic barriers to the adoption of water-saving irrigation techniques in particular communities, such as those revealed by our research in Nepal (Howell et al., 2015).This will be answered by accomplishing the following objectives:To assess the feasibility of different water-saving irrigation techniques under West African conditions (Alternate Wetting & Drying in rice and Partial Rootzone Drying in tomato \u2013 a representative horticultural crop).To investigate the physiological mechanisms underlying the responses observed in AWD and PRD.To determine complementary technologies (eg. genotype, nutrient source & application rate) to maximise crop production and nutrient use efficiency in these West African cropping systems.In collaboration with Work Package 4, determine whether by-products of anaerobic energy generation from urban waste (digestate) can substitute (at a local scale) for synthetic fertilisers.<\/p>\n

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WP3 updates\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Bringing a little corner of Africa to Lancaster<\/a><\/p>\n

RECIRCULATE post-doc Ryan Edge shares the joys and challenges of growing rice at 55\u00b0N Have you been enjoying the blogs in The FLOW?\u00a0 I certainly hav…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t October 28, 2020 The Flow<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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Communicating Research – Part Two: It’s good to listen<\/a><\/p>\n

Working with local communities for wider adoption of agricultural technologies in rural Africa In the first part of this blog I described the challeng…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t October 8, 2020 The Flow<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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Communicating Research – Part One: It’s good to talk<\/a><\/p>\n

Working with local communities for wider adoption of agricultural technologies in rural Africa There is no doubt that having access to sufficient nutr…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t October 8, 2020 The Flow<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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2020 Annual Meeting goes virtual<\/a><\/p>\n

The RECIRCULATE 2020 Annual meeting, originally scheduled to be hosted by the University of Benin, Nigeria, was conducted as a series of online events…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t September 29, 2020 KE<\/a>,News<\/a>,WP1<\/a>,WP2<\/a>,WP3<\/a>,WP4<\/a>,WP5<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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RECIRCULATE Encourages Stakeholders to have their say on Water-Efficient Irrigation in Ghana<\/a><\/p>\n

Researchers and growers working together to co-design research for improved irrigation systems for sustainable food production For the GCRF-funded REC…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t September 23, 2020 The Flow<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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How can our research findings help farmers?<\/a><\/p>\n

The RECIRCULATE project, work package 3, is developing eco-innovative technologies for optimizing water usage in food production, but how can we ensur…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t March 13, 2020 The Flow<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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Disseminating new irrigation techniques to rice farmers in Ghana<\/a><\/p>\n

Inadequate water and nutrient supplies limit crop yields in Ghana. Farmers need to manage these resources wisely to ensure long-term agricultural sust…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t March 12, 2020 The Flow<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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Research study begins on effect of novel irrigation techniques & nutrient source on tomatoes<\/a><\/p>\n

The RECIRCULATE team is pleased to welcome Bright Mayinl Laboan to the project. Bright will be leading research at the CSIR Water Research Institute, …\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t March 9, 2020 News<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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Research study begins on the commercial potential of irrigation scheduling in Ghana<\/a><\/p>\n

The RECIRCULATE team is pleased to welcome Gilbert Osei to the project. Gilbert’s research at the CSIR Institute for Industrial Research will ex…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t March 9, 2020 News<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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Research study begins on effect of novel irrigation techniques on greenhouse gas emissions<\/a><\/p>\n

The RECIRCULATE team is pleased to welcome Dr Abdul-Rauf Malimanga Alhassan to the project. Abdul-Rauf will be leading the implementation of experimen…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t March 9, 2020 News<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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WP3 project meeting in Kumasi, Ghana<\/a><\/p>\n

The WP3 research teams from three CSIR Ghana research institutes (Crop Research Institute, Insititute for Industrial Research and Water Research Insti…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t February 7, 2019 News<\/a>,WP3<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead More<\/a><\/p>\n

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Water for food production Can small-holder agriculture benefit from new approaches to irrigation based on understanding crop biology and access to new technologies? Although many African countries have abundant water resources, much of the continent\u2019s crop production is rain-fed with low yields vulnerable to climate extremes. Effective sustainable water management for African communities depends on:Access […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1222,"featured_media":1176,"parent":472,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"builder.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1090","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9hFf1-hA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1090"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3589,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1090\/revisions\/3589"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/recirculate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}