CIGR Newsletter No 41

++ CIGR NEWS++CIGR NEWS++CIGR NEWS++

Prof. G. Elias World President of I.S.O. 1998-1999

Prof. Giacomo Elias, Chairman of CIGR Working Group 4 (Certification and Quality Systems in Agricultural Engineering) has been elected World President of I.S.O. (International Standardization Organization) for the biennium 1998-1999. As a result of this election Prof. Elias will discontinue his chairmanship of CIGR W.G. 4.

Congratulations with your nomination !

Minutes of the Board Meeting of Section I , Albacete, June 2, 1997

The Board of Section I of CIGR ‘Land and Water Use’ met on the occasion of the Workshop on ‘The Use of Water in Sustainable Agriculture’ held in Albacete, Spain on 2 June 1997.

Present were: Prof. H.N. van Lier (President), Prof. M. Greppi (Secretary), Prof. F. Martin de Santa Olalla, Prof. L. Santos Pereira, Prof. F. Steiner, Prof. D. De Wrachien (Permanent Observer).

Absent were: T. Miyazaki, J. Amsler, E. Fulajtar, R. Peltomaa.

  1. The Chairman opened the discussion on the minutes of the Gödöllö meeting.
  2. It is decided to publish a selection of the papers presented in the workshop on ‘The Use of Water in Sustainable Agriculture’ in Albacete, in a journal. Prof. Martin de Santa Olalla will take action by approaching Elsevier Scientific Publishers for a special issue of one of their journals.
  3. The next workshop on ‘Soil Erosion and Environmental Degradation’ will be in Auburn, USA (1998). The topic will be : compaction, the planned dates are in July.
  4. The Permanent International Association on Rural Road Construction is organising a Workshop on ‘Minor Rural Roads’. This will be held on 19-21 May in Poland.
  5. Prof. Santos Pereira proposed to co-sponsor a Workshop on ‘Environment and Water: Innovative Issues in Irrigation and Drainage’.
  6. The Chairman presented the current situation regarding Chapters and Paragraphs of Volume 1 of the CIGR Handbook. Several decisions are made regarding the number and titles of the chapters, the review process, additional authors and so on.
  7. The next meeting will be held in Morocco, during the XIIIth CIGR International Congress on Agricultural Engineering (2-6 February 1998). Please put it in your diary.

Minutes of the Board Meeting of Section V of CIGR "Management, Ergonomics and Systems Engineering" on 26 September 1997 at Kaposvar, Hungary

Participants: W. Luder, Chairman, (CH), D. Goense (NL) (replacing H. Donkers), P. Piccarolo, (IT), G. Széles (HU), A. Hilmersen (NO), T. Luoma, Secretary, (FI).

Absentees: N. Sakai (JP), L. Weiershäuser (DE), I. Trueba (ES), 0. Ajibola (NG).

Observers: E.H. Oksanen, (FI), V. Nielsen, (DK), B. Berruto, (IT), J. Achten, (NL), A. Mathé, (HU).

Item I: Opening of the meeting, approval of the agenda

The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed the participants to Bikal, particularly Mr. Goense from IMAG - DLO who is replacing Mr. Donkers. The agenda was adopted.

Item 2: Minutes of the Board Meeting 1996

The minutes of the Board Meeting on 16-20 September in Tänikon, Switzerland were accepted.

Item 3 : Information about WGs and SIGs

- WG 17 "International Database for Labour and Machinery in Agriculture" (actual situation, next activities, support from CIGR V):

The chairman of the Working Group WG 17, Mr. J. Achten, presented the actual situation. In his draft report dated 07.07.97 he compared some data and models of partner institutes. In a next report he will suggest a number of definitions and models which should represent a common basis for the further work of WG 17. Therefore all the partners were asked to contribute to the next draft. Financial support for the Concerted Action Programme was rejected by the EU. Considering future work of WG 17 there is a need to find resources for financing, especially the travelling expenses of the participants.

- SIG 21 EurAgEng "Systems Management, Ergonomics and Safety": Mr. Luoma informed about the meeting in Madrid. After the meeting there have been no other activities.

- Activities of other relevant WGs or SIGs which might be of interest :

Mr.Berruto proposed a new WG : "Work Science and Systems Engineering Network". The proposal was discussed and Mr. Berruto was asked to make a draft for the next board meeting.

Item 4 : Discussion and decision about financial contribution of 40 000 BEF to WG 17.

The financial situation for the activities within CIGR Section V was discussed, and it was concluded to support WG 17 with BEF 40 000 which is the total amount of the Section V budget 1997. Mr. Luder thanked Mr. Achten and Mr. Nielsen for their good work in WG 17.

Item 5 : Further activities in the field of Systems Engineering (who can do what?)

The Chairman reported on the current situation of Systems Engineering. Because of lack of material the planned workshop in Kaposvar was cancelled. Mr. Luder will participate in a seminar on SE in Munich in October. The Board discussed the possibilities for further activities and decided to plan a workshop in Tänikon in October 1998.

Item 6 : Exchange of information about our activities or problems through CIGR-Newsletter or Internet http://wwworg.nlh.no/CIGR/
(short report about CIOSTA-CIGR Congress 1997 and Board Meeting in Hungary; Web Site Section V CIGR)

The members of the Board were reminded of the Web Sites of CIGR and to send in interesting material. The notes should be sent to the section chairman who will coordinate the necessary steps further. In the near future also the work of WG 17 will be drafted for the information network.

Item 7: Activities / events of Section V CIGR in 1998:

- CIGR-Congress in Rabat, Morocco, 2-6 February 1998:

The Chairman informed about the coming congress in Morocco as far as the arrangements were known. It will not be possible to arrange a Board Meeting of Section V in Morocco because of the very limited participation.

- AgEng Oslo 1998, 21-28 August 1998 :

The congress will be held in accordance with plans stated in the second announcement.

- The next meeting of the Board of Section V:

The next meeting of the Section V Board will be held in connection with the workshop on Systems Engineering in Tänikon in October 1998.

Item 8 : Miscellaneous

- Letter of Mr. Chèze, Chairman of Section III:

Notice was taken of the letter of Mr. Chèze concerning his collaboration in our board. The proposals for the new candidates for the Section Boards should be addressed to the National Associations of the member countries.

Item 9 : Closure of Board Meeting

The Chairman thanked the participants and closed the meeting.

Communicated by W. Luder, Chairman & T. Luoma, Secretary.

Erratum Composition Webmaster Working Group

Prof. F. Sevila, EurAgEng representative in the Webmaster Working Group has been replaced by Prof. B. S. Bennedsen from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Taastrup, Denmark.

E-mail : Bent.S.Bennedsen@agsci.kvl.dk

NEWS FROM REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SOCIETIES

New President and Editor for AAAE

Effective from January 1, 1998 Prof. Makoto Hoki from Japan will take over the Presidency of AAAE from Prof. David Gee-Clough. Prof. V.M. Salokhe becomes the new Editor of AAAE Newsletter. Other changes to the Association which will take effect in 1998 are the appointments of Prof. Bassam Snobar as Vice-President for Farm Machinery, Prof. Ramesh Kanwar as Vice-President for Soil and Water Conservation, Prof. Chang Joo Chung as Vice-President for Post-Harvest Technology and Prof. Mikio Umeda as Vice-President for Industry. We wish them a very successful term of office and are looking forward to a fruitful cooperation for the future.

EurAgEng SIG on Soil and Water Activity

The Valenzano Statement

Conclusions and Recommendations of the International Conference on "Water Management, Salinity and Pollution Control toward Sustainable Irrigation in the Mediterranean Region" , Valenzano (Italy) 22-26 September 1997

The Conference was organised by the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, with the help of the World Water Council, Section I of the Italian Society of Agricultural Engineering and the EurAgEng Special Interest Group on Soil and Water.

The Conference attracted 156 participants from 30 countries, 15 of which are of the Mediterranean basin. Several key officials attended the Conference including the Ministers of Agriculture of Albania and Malta, representatives of the European Union (EU), World Bank (WB), International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), World Water Council (WWC), International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

A total of 119 papers were presented, 96 in 12 plenary sessions and 23 in the poster sessions. They covered the following topics:

  1. Water Quality and Pollution Control
  2. Water Resources and Irrigation Water Management
  3. Wastewater Re-Use in Irrigated Agriculture
  4. Capacity Building and Water Quality Management
  5. Fertilisers and Water Quality.

Several special sessions were also organised parallel to the main themes of the Conference addressing specific topics.

At the Closing Ceremony the following considerations have been pointed out:

Subject 1 - Water Quality and Pollution Control

(With contributions from D. De Wrachien and R. Van Genuchten)

The session noted the alarming rate of increase in water scarcity and water quality deterioration around the world and especially in the Mediterranean region.

In spite of large studies made for better understanding soil, soil-water-plant and pollutants interactions, knowledge is still lacking in many key areas. Better understanding of the unsaturated flow using non-equilibrium thermodynamics and other approaches can be useful.

Models can be useful tools to predict and provide better understanding of the physical, chemical and biological aspects of salt movement in cropped and salt-affected soils.

Crop tolerance to salt and related mechanisms are needed for better design and management of irrigation systems.

The session concluded that:

  1. Much expertise, both basic and applied, exists on salinity and groundwater pollution issues in the different countries surrounding the Mediterranean, as well as elsewhere. It is imperative that interaction between individual research and extension groups within the Mediterranean and other countries be encouraged as much as possible, perhaps through CIHEAM/IAM-FAO. This interaction should involve co-operative research, education and sharing of computer codes, specific databases or other information or research expertise deemed useful for addressing salinity and water pollution problems.
  2. There is a wide scope for research and development in the following areas:

Subject 2 - Water Resources and Irrigation Water Management

(With contributions from R.A. Feddes and A. Hamdy)

This session highlighted the following issues:

  1. There is not enough fresh water in the world to meet agricultural requirements. It is expected that by the year 2050 2/3 of the world will face an intolerable situation of water shortage if the present rainfall pattern prevails and if no proper actions are taken to save water, minimise water losses and improve water management. Therefore, a number of actions should be considered:
  1. Managing water quality needs:
  1. Developing and application of mathematical models.

It is recommended that the use of mathematical models should be encouraged. Models should represent actual processes and account for the heterogeneity of the system. It should also account for temporal and spatial variability. In that respect, steady state drainage criteria are insufficient to describe processes such as aeration, sub-irrigation, leaching and capillary rise. Dynamic simulation models of water flow and solute transport in the saturated and unsaturated zones in combination with carefully selected field experiments are crucial instruments for proper water management, salinity and pollution control towards sustainable irrigation. In addition, the use of dynamic simulation models is more important to assess the consequences of "what if scenarios" in terms of relative impact rather than absolute values.

Subject 3 - Wastewater Re-Use in Irrigated Agriculture

(With contributions from A. Hamdy and R. Ragab)

This session highlighted a number of issues related to irrigation, drainage, crop and soil management, environment protection and health safety. The following recommendations were reported:

  1. Generally, the use of saline water for irrigation requires a selection of appropriate salt tolerant crops and an improvement in water management and maintenance of soil physical properties to ensure adequate soil permeability to meet leaching requirements.
  2. Better techniques to determine optimum leaching requirements for dynamic situations are needed. There is a gap in present knowledge on how plants respond to salinity stress that varies with time and space. Most of the present knowledge on water and solute flow is for deep groundwater table conditions. The specific effect of various salt constituents on crops is not well understood. Periodic information on salinity is required, i.e. inventories, data base systems.
  3. More information and dynamic models are needed to show how crops respond to time and space varying osmotic and matrix stresses as a function of irrigation management, soil water retention characteristics and atmospheric stresses.
  4. Integrated approaches are needed to facilitate the use of saline water for irrigation, to minimise drainage disposal problems and to maximise the beneficial use of multiple water sources.
  5. More investigation is needed on the long-term effect of irrigation with saline water on soil and vegetation (trees). This can only be achieved by conducting long-term experiments. More investigation is also needed on the long and short-term effects of irrigation with wastewater on soil and vegetation and human health.
  6. The safe disposal of highly saline drainage water requires a good balance between environmental protection and the economy factor.

Subject 4 - Capacity Building for Water Quality Management

(With contributions from A. Hamdy and A. Shady)

Capacity building has become a critical requirement for improving water management practices in the future. The current attempts to enhance capacity are a useful beginning, but they suffer from numerous conceptual and operational constraints. Unless these constraints are objectively identified, and the entire process is carefully planned to overcome these problems promptly and cost-efficiently, benefits that are likely to occur from such efforts would be at best incremental.

However, if planned and implemented properly, capacity building has the potential to contribute to a quantum leap in water management during the early part of the 21st century.

Capacity building is analogous to capital, the more it is properly spent, the more output is yielded.

There is mounting evidence that, in the near future, the major constraint to water resources development and protection will be the limited capacity of the institutions in many countries to absorb financial resources and convert them into worthwhile and sustainable development.

Capacity building has been identified as the missing link in water resources development and management. Many failures in water resources management are the result of lack of trained staff and weak institutions.

Capacity building and its successful implementation by local-level management institutions still require answers to the following related questions:

Subject 5 - Fertilisers and Water Quality

(With contributions from A. Hamdy and I. Papadopoulos)

The session highlighted the usefulness of the Agri-Screen Decision Support System to predict probable range of off-site pollution from agricultural fertilisation. Modelling techniques can be useful in predicting fertiliser movement in soil and water. These techniques would show the critical impact on groundwater quality and the extent of its vulnerability.

In this respect, proper irrigation techniques are expected to minimise off-site effects of fertilisers.

A number of issues have been raised:

  1. There is a need to define new management practices to improve fertiliser use efficiency, minimising leaching into groundwater both in humid and dried regions. This issue includes selection of optimum:
  1. Developing Integrated Plant System (IPS) of nutrient management is crucial to enhance nutrient use efficiency. Systems with low nutrient use efficiency have most drastic adverse effects on water quality. Not only should the nutrient losses by runoff / erosion and leaching be decreased, but nutrient use efficiency should also be improved. Attention should be paid to soil and crop management systems that can be adopted to decrease losses. Best management practices (BMP’s) must be determined for integrated management of nutrient to enhance efficiency and restore losses.
  2. Micro-irrigation combined with fertigation technology present an alternative to the use of agro-chemicals under intensive farming conditions with minimum pollution hazards. Such system should be well designed, operated and maintained. There is a need to train extension workers and farmers for the successful use of such technologies. However, there is a need to device ways and means to leach and safely dispose the accumulated salts and chemicals even if they are in relatively small quantities to make such system sustainable.

Global Issues for Water Management

The Conference, during the Closing Ceremony, stressed that there is not enough fresh water in the world to meet agricultural requirements. Moreover, it is expected that by the year 2050 2/3 of the world will face an unbearable situation of water shortage if the present rainfall pattern prevails and the Mediterranean region will likely be one of the most affected areas in the world. With reference to this problem, care should be paid to the following:

Specific Recommendations for Future Actions

At the conclusion, it was recommended that consideration should be given to the following:

  1. The need to have a brainstorming session to unify the nomenclature related to the subject of "sustainability" and "pollution".
  2. To define common goals for future research and development, and establish priorities.
  3. As a follow-up to this Conference, another Conference or Workshop should be planned to present, discuss, and find solutions for case studies in the field of sustainable water resources and pollution prevention that are common in the Mediterranean countries.
  4. Formation of a MEDI-NET to exchange data, and promote co-operation among scientists from the Mediterranean countries.
  5. To establish a programme to improve the performance and increase the awareness of the end users in every sector of potential pollutant sector.

Prof. Daniele De Wrachien

Chairman EurAgEng SIG on Soil and Water

NEWS FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

30th Session of the FAO European Commission on Agriculture

The 30th Session of the FAO European Commission on Agriculture (ECA) was held in Nitra, Slovakia from 8-11 October 1997.

At the beginning of the Session the situation in the agricultural and rural sector of Slovakia in a period of reforms and structural adjustment was introduced by the State Secretary of the Slovakian Ministry of Agriculture. He underlined the on-going changes involved in the process of reforming the private farm sector and resulting agrarian structures.

The current and future FAO activities in the European Region were supplemented by a number of room documents provided by the Secretariat of the ECA. The ECA was informed of the status of cooperation with the UN Economic Commission for Europe. The ECA took note of the fact that ECA remains the sole FAO technical body in agriculture of the region with pan-European membership. The activities of the Working Party on Women and the Agricultural Family in Rural Development, an ECA statutory body, were reviewed in detail. The ECA also reviewed the activities of the European System of Cooperative Research Networks in Agriculture (ESCORENA) on the basis of documents provided by the Secretariat, including a report of the European Research Network Advisory Committee (ERNAC). The ECA recommended that ESCORENA should take into consideration in the future also activities of global interest. New initiatives such as the Organic Farming Workshop (Rome, September 1997) and Biological Farming Research in Europe could be possible as future cooperation options. The FAO World Agricultural Information centre (WAICENT) was presented to the ECA. The ECA expressed interest and encouraged FAO to continue activities and services in this field.

The ECA was informed of the activities of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) and of the activities of the Meteorological Organisation (WMO) related to European agriculture.

The main thematic paper ’Re-emergence of Pandemic Livestock Diseases in the European Region: an Assessment of Potential Impact’ was introduced by the FAO consultant. The paper outlined the present situation in which nine major epidemic diseases in livestock had occurred in the Region in recent years giving rise to economic losses of several billion dollars.

In the next thematic paper the issue of sustainable agriculture and research priorities was introduced. The debate centred around : 1) Institutional circumstances and barriers to agricultural growth and efficient research and extension, 2) the contribution of the European Region to easing problems of global food insecurity and 3) linkages between research and future growth of agricultural output and increased productivity. A strong recommendation was made for FAO to include research on organic and ecologically friendly farming in its programme. All academic and research communities face budget constraints and dilemmas of applied versus basic research. Advantages and dangers of private and public funding of research activities were discussed. In this regard the role of public research institutions also as controlling instrument was emphasised. The ECA recommended that FAO should follow up this new development.

The Secretariat provided the ECA with information and documents related to the World Food Summit (WFS) follow up with focus on activities of importance in the European Region.

The Secretariat also provided the Session with information on potential savings which could be achieved through the reduction of the number of working languages of the ECA.

At the end of the Session the ECA elected the new Executive Committee and the Permanent Representative of Georgia to FAO, on behalf of his government, invited the ECA to hold its

31st Session in Georgia. The Session requested the Chairman of the ECA and the Secretariat to convey this invitation to the FAO Director General for his consideration.

Communicated by Prof. Stefan Mihina, Slovakia.

 

Back To Currect Issue Index