Drip irrigation is a regenerative agricultural mechanism for sustainable crop production

This market is likely to grow at 9.8 percent annually by 2028.

An alternative solution to an existential problem

Alternative irrigation methods forcefully impose themselves on governments and farmers to combat the problem of water poverty, which is one of the factors of food insecurity given the chronic drought dilemma, as everyone is eager to produce crops efficiently, at the lowest costs, and without wasting water.

LONDON - Recently, old and renewed solutions have emerged in the agricultural sector with the exacerbation of drought, through countries modernizing irrigation systems to shift from flood irrigation to modern irrigation, sprinkler, surface and pivot irrigation.

There are also countries that seek, according to their strategies, to implement water-saving agricultural practices, such as laser leveling the land, farming on terraces, and expanding the production of new varieties, in addition to reducing the area of ​​​​water-hungry crops.

And the matter is not limited to that, but farmers knock on the door of drip irrigation, and do not target specific areas because of the lack of water in them. Even countries with large water resources resort to this method in order to achieve two agricultural seasons, one rainy, as it seems, for grains, and the other dripping for the summer.

In light of the structural water stress and mismanagement of water resources, those working in the sector say that the only available way to compensate for the recorded losses is to make an outright break with the model of wasting water resources.

Drip irrigation is a system that facilitates slow droplets of water on the surface of the soil or directly to the roots of crops. It includes a network of valves, tubes, and emitters and is used in applications such as agriculture, greenhouses, and others.

Experts say that the main objective of this method is the governance of water use, or the preservation of water from loss, because the policy of drawing water from a river or a well to dissipate it in a canal exposed to heat and air seems inappropriate.

Farmers in Arab countries such as Morocco and Egypt use this method extensively, and producers in Middle Eastern countries, including Turkey, have focused on it for years and are getting good results.

In some areas, there is a shortage of water that negatively affects farming practices, while others have an excess of water supply that destroys crops and even damages soil fertility.

While drip irrigation methods appear on thousands of kilometers in Morocco, this method in Turkey contributed to saving water consumption by 60 percent, and gave farmers the opportunity to plant two seasons annually, and the crop area expanded greatly.

Sardar Ozuten, head of the Irrigation Cooperative Association in the village of Cemlik Akpinar, in the Turkish city of Edirne, says that thanks to drip irrigation, the villagers are now cultivating wheat and barley as winter crops in the first season.

He pointed out to Anadolu Agency that in the second season they are continuing to grow sunflower, corn and fodder plants as summer crops.

With the increasing rates of drought in many parts of the world, experts believe that planting less water-dependent and drought-resistant products in areas that suffer from this natural phenomenon appears vital.

Nor does it burden farmers with greater costs. Governments in some countries, such as Sudan, Syria and Lebanon, may not be able to support them given their stifling economic and financial crises.

60 Percentage of water provided by the technology and two agricultural seasons, winter and summer

The Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture is developing and rehabilitating irrigation networks and supporting partnership between the public and private sectors, within the framework of the green generation strategy that aims to reach one million hectares of drip irrigation by 2030, to increase the irrigated area to 1.6 million hectares.

In Egypt, the government rushed to search for solutions to the problem of water poverty and the effects of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, through the use of modern irrigation tools in agriculture, which consumes 80 percent of the country's total annual needs.

Cairo aims to save 5 to 7 billion cubic meters of water, as a result of the shift from surface and flood irrigation to modern technical irrigation.

Numerous international studies and research on the effects of climate change on ecosystems and biodiversity have found significant changes in the rain regime and precipitation rates over the past two decades.

During this period, the rainfall system was greatly affected by climatic changes, although there were no changes to the same extent in the rates of precipitation amounts.

Cengiz Tora, head of the Department of Ecology at the Turkish Technical University of Eskisehir, points out the need to choose drought-resistant crops that are less dependent on water for agriculture in areas suffering from drought.

Tura, a member of the advisory board of the Federation of Healthy Cities in Turkey, stresses to Anadolu Agency that the diversity of agricultural products in a region must take into account environmental factors and the rainfall regime, as well as the amount of water available.

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Adopting this approach in agriculture is one way to combat drought, as wrong farming and irrigation methods promote drought and climate changes.

While the number of extreme weather incidents reached more than 500 in 2016, this number exceeded 1,000 in 2021, according to estimates.

Experts believe that there is an urgent trend today for the cultivation of maize and chickpeas instead of other types of cereals in areas that suffer from high rates of drought.

In the midst of this, research centers believe that the increasing adoption of greenhouse agriculture and the increasing need to withdraw water for agricultural purposes may lead to the growth of the drip irrigation market.

International assessments indicate that the drip irrigation market may witness significant growth in the coming years, by about 9.8 percent by 2028, with farmers relying heavily on this method.

The global drip irrigation market is segmented on the basis of component, type of crop, application, and type of challenges that impose this method.

Cross-segment growth helps analyze niche growth pockets and market approach strategies and identify specific core application areas and teams in target markets.