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WASA

Water Saving in Agriculture: technological developments for the sustainable management of limited water resources in the Mediterranean area
Classification: 
international research
Programme: 
Other UE programmes
Call: 
ERANET MED - Call 2014
Main ERC field: 
Life Sciences
Unict role: 
Partner
Duration (months): 
36
Start date: 
Friday, April 1, 2016
End date: 
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Total cost: 
€ 554.070,00
Unict cost: 
€ 80.000,00
Coordinator: 
Università degli Studi di Padova
Principal investigator in Unict: 
Simona Consoli
University department involved: 
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment
Participants: 

CREA - Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa (Portogallo) - Institut Agronomique et vétérinaire Hassan II (Morocco) - The University Ibn Zohr (Morocco) - Water Research and Technology center CERTE (Tunisia) - Benha University (Egypt) -  Çukurova University  (Turkey)

Abstract

The project aims to develop, test and consolidate an operational protocol aimed at reducing water consumption for the irrigation of high value-added crops, typical of the Mediterranean region, with important socio-economic consequences for current and future scenarios of possible scarcity of water resources. The protocol is defined through a combination of scientific, technical and training activities conducted by nine partners distributed in the Mediterranean basin.

The aim of the project is therefore to build, refine and disseminate technical skills in irrigation management that specifically address the needs of the Euro-Mediterranean region. These skills must be able to be introduced and maintained in arid or semi-arid agricultural production areas, and must be based on simple but physically robust models of water use, and on inexpensive but reliable methodologies for monitoring soil moisture and state of crops.