Browsing by Author "Osorio, Javier"

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    Assessing Irrigation Potential and Land Suitability in Ethiopia
    (Texas A&M AgriLife Research, [2019?]) Worqlul, Abeyou W.; Osorio, Javier; Jeong, Jaehak; Gerik, Thomas; Dile, Yihun T.; Srinivasan, Raghavan; Clark, Neville; Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, TAMU, IDSS, ILSSI
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    Assessing potential land suitable for surface irrigation using groundwater in Ethiopia
    (Applied Geography, 2017) Worqlul, Abeyou W.; Jeong, Jaehak; Dile, Yihun T.; Osorio, Javier; Schmitter, Petra; Gerik, Thomas; Srinivasan, R.; Clark, Neville; Elsevier
    Although Ethiopia has abundant land for irrigation, only a fraction of its potential land is being utilized.This study evaluates suitability of lands for irrigation using groundwater in Ethiopia using GIS-basedMulti-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques in order to enhance the country's agricultural industry.Key factors that significantly affect irrigation suitability evaluated in this study include physical landfeatures (land use, soil, and slope), climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration), and market access (proximity to roads and access to market). These factors were weighted using a pair-wise comparison matrix,then reclassified and overlaid to identify suitable areas for groundwater irrigation using a 1-km grid.Groundwater data from the British Geological Survey were used to estimate the groundwater potential,which indicates the corresponding irrigation potential for major crops. Results indicated that more than6 million ha of land are suitable for irrigation in Ethiopia. A large portion of the irrigable land is located inthe Abbay, Rift Valley, Omo Ghibe, and Awash River basins. These basins have access to shallowgroundwater (i.e., depth of groundwater less than 20 m from the surface) making it easier to extract. Thecomparison between available groundwater and total crop water requirements indicate that groundwater alone may not be sufficient to supply all suitable land. The study estimates that only 8% of thesuitable land can be irrigated with the available shallow groundwater. However, groundwater is a viableoption for supplementing surface water resources for irrigation in several basins in the country
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    Evaluation of new farming technologies in Ethiopia using the Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS)
    (Agricultural Water Management, 2017) Clarke, Neville; Bizimana, Jean-Claude; Dile, Yihun; Worqlul, Abeyou; Osorio, Javier; Herbst, Brian; Richardson, James W.; Srinivasan, Raghavan; Gerik, Thomas J.; Williams, Jimmy; Jones, Charles A.; Jeong, Jaehak.
    This study investigates multi-dimensional impacts of adopting new technology in agriculture at the farm/village and watershed scale in sub-Saharan Africa using the Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS). Application of IDSS as an integrated modeling tool helps solve complex issues in agricultural systems by simultaneously assessing production, environmental, economic, and nutritional consequences of adopting agricultural technologies for sustainable increases in food production and use of scarce natural resources. The IDSS approach was applied to the Amhara region of Ethiopia, where the scarcity of resources and agro-environmental consequences are critical to agricultural productivity of small farm, to analyze the impacts of alternative agricultural technology interventions. Results show significant improvements in family income and nutrition, achieved through the adoption of irrigation technologies, proper use of fertilizer, and improved seed varieties while preserving environmental indicators in terms of soil erosion and sediment loadings. These pilot studies demonstrate the usefulness of the IDSS approach as a tool that can be used to predict and evaluate the economic and environmental consequences of adopting new agricultural technologies that aim to improve the livelihoods of subsistence farmers.