25 to 30 August. The World Water Week in Stockholm is an annual focal point for the globe’s water issues. Organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), and supported by the United Nations water programs. Wednesday 28 August “Big data for all”, can it help improve agricultural productivity?

1. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
icarda.org cgiar.org
A CGIAR Research Center
Big Data for Building
Inclusive Agriculture in Dry Areas
Stockholm | August 28, 2019
Atef Swelam and Chandra Biradar
“Big data for all”, can it help improve agricultural productivity?

2. icarda.org
New 9: 5 SRPs + 4 CCTs
Genetic Resources:Mining crop diversity to develop germplasm resistant
to heat, drought, cold, disease, higher nutrients; International public goods (open access)
Adaption to Climate Change: Conventional and molecular
breeding to develop climate-smart crops and livestock
Building resilience: Integrated crop-livestock farming systems to address
economic, social, and environmental conditions
Promoting value chains, policies: Agriculture as an income-
generating business for many poor smallholder households
Enhancing water, land productivity: Rainfed, irrigated, and
agro-pastoral farming; Reversal of environmental degradation; Enhance intensification
CCTs
BigData
Scaling
CapDev
Gender
SRPs-strategic research priorities + CCTs-cross cutting themes

3. DryArc region and where ICARDA is working

4. • Big Data can support resilient agri-food systems under uncertain
climate variability and change.
• Big Data has a huge potential in the dry areas where resource use
efficiency is below its actual potential
• But they can only deliver if applied to Inclusive Farming Systems
Big Data in sustainable agriculture
Better integration Better measurements Better modelling Resilient Systems
++

5. 2015-162014-15
Impact of variability or extreme weather events on agricultural systems productivity

6. Quantification of Farming Systems @ multiple-scales

8. Water
Productivity
(rainfed)
Water
Productivity
(Irrigated)
Agricultural Water Productivity in E-T Basin
• It is possible to save substantial amounts of water by increasing AWP.
• Achieving high water productivity can save about 19 BCM while producing same
amounts of the crops. Alternatively, using the same amounts of water may boost
the production by about 24 million tons of crops.
• Such water savings and/or increases in production is clear response to water scarcity in the E-T basin.

9. icarda.org
Land use and systems level yield gaps
2000 to 2018
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

10. icarda.org
Quantification of crop water productivity in the Nile Delta over last three decades
• Determining what crops have the highest water productivity in order to better planning the agricultural
policy based on comparative advantages of these crops in a particular climatic conditions
• Establishing big data would be use as reference for researchers and decision makers
• Helping irrigation water planner for better improve the supply system according to the actual crow
water requirements

11. NENA ET-Network:
Validation of Remote-Sensing Evapotranspiration estimates using Field Measurement
Vs
0.1 mm/day error can lead to and error of 30% for a 150-days crop

12. • Several Remote-Sensing ETa data are made freely available at an increasing temporal and
ground resolution [SSEBop, WaPOR, ET Enseble, GloDET, OpenET]. This is extremely
valuable for progressing in agricultural water management on large areas
• Although many ET RS-based estimates are available, that can be used for regional planning
and policy development, they suffer from uncertainties owing to the fact that they are not
rigorously validated.
• The weak point: these RS data suffer from a limited field validation (virtually none in the NENA
Region)
• ICARDA, in collaboration with FAO-RNE, has recently activated a NENA Regional-Network of
field ETa monitoring including (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia)
• Objective: capacity development in field ETa measurements, accuracy assessment of RS ETa
data of different databases, provide the opportunity for RS algorithms calibration
The issue
The response

13. Global FluxNet
NENA-ETNet

14. Sugarbeet Maize Pomegranate
ET = Rn - G - H

15. icarda.org
3 ha
3 million ha
300 k ha30 k ha
3 billion ha
Improving agroecosystems productivity by scaling innovations and measuring impacts

16. Scale out the MRB in the region
Mechanized raisedbed will likely form the core of water savings
for wheat production across the MENA region.

17. • Agri-food systems is the largest user of land and water resources and is also
the vehicle to achieves SDGs (considering improved system efficiency)
• Big Data is helpful tool required to close the farming system productivity
gaps to achieve efficient use of resources in the water scarce world (needs
collective actions and efforts)
• To build the confidence on the Big Data, it has to be verified in the field
• Big Data is useless unless reflected in implementation and decision making
to help the targeted communities
Take home message

18. What is the Real Big Data in Agriculture?!

19. The Farmer
Thank You
and goes back to
the field
Big Data comes
from the field