Farmers in Tunisia now have the option of using a digital solution to help them optimise the irrigation of their crops and save water in the process.
Called “Mabia- Mobile”, this mobile application was developed by the Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie (INAT) as part of the “Innovation for Agriculture and the Agri-Food Industry” project, implemented by the Agricultural Investment Promotion Agency (APIA) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
The official launch of this solution was announced at a workshop held this week at the Culture City, says GIZ on its Facebook page.
Available free of charge on the Playstore, the solution enables irrigation to be controlled and the needs of agriculture for irrigation water to be calculated in real-time.
Its aim is to help farmers irrigate their crops using a soil water balance model covering the entire root zone.
This involves determining whether irrigation is necessary and calculating the amount required, taking into account crop species, crop growth stage, soil water properties, rainfall and evapotranspiration.
“Mabia- Mobile” will enable agricultural producers to increase water productivity and profitability.
It will also help to preserve water resources and deal with the water stress currently facing Tunisia, which is experiencing its fourth year of drought. The filling rate of dams nationwide reached 36.1% up to 12 June.
Water reserves in Tunisian dams are down by 320.52 m3 (-27.65%) compared with the average for the last three years. It stood at 838.59 m3 compared with 1,159.11 m3.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse