Next week the Nuffic TMT training will start on ‘Climate smart irrigation strategies to improve salinity control and enhance agricultural production in Iraq’, provided by FutureWater and Wageningen University, in collaboration with Basra University. The training, using the FutureWater Moodle School, is aimed at building capacity of participants in accessing and using innovative public-domain data, tools, and models to analyse water resources to support climate-smart irrigation strategies. The training is structured around 3 training modules tailored around different tools for gaining insight into salinity issues, improving salinity control, and enhancing agricultural production in Iraq:

  1. Google Earth Engine: Geospatial mapping for water resources and agricultural applications using remote sensing and cloud computing
  2. SWAP modeling: Soil-water-plant modeling to determine optimal irrigation water allocations to control water tables and soil salinity
  3. ReWas toolbox: Crop water productivity options to achieve real water savings in irrigated agriculture.

We are looking forward to starting this training and hope to strengthen the collaboration and vibrant partnerships between Dutch and Iraqi institutions in the fields of water management, agriculture, and education!