Agricultural Development in the West Bank (ص 33)

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Agricultural Development in the West Bank (ص 33)

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sp
B
sterns ture of rainfall and its irregular
sonal na
tue to the pronounced $2
been widely used in Palestine for
storing run-off water for 1
le which is about five metres
is a cone-shaped ho!
A typical cistern is 2
and four netres wise (at the bottom)+ Tt holds about 80-100
deep
ie metres of rater. such cisterns have played a critical
cubic
role in aeeting water needs in practically all rural communi ties
‘in the West Bank. However, their significance has declined over
the last two decades die to the dissemination of modern water
storage and delivery facilities. Hence, many of them have broken
down.
The researcher believes that cisterns could possibly reassume an
important role in the context of modernizing rainfed agriculture.
Water stored in winter could be used to irrigate newly planted
olive seedlings or in the spraying of weedkillers and other
chemicals, Thus there may be a good case for reclaiming abandoned
*eservolrs in areas where certain modern techniques are recomended
for developing rainfed agriculture,
Attigation techniques
West Bank
gation techniques,
Water was carried
Fonet and i
aii
‘ade and sity, SE Resources
(Tel Aviv Weare their
a loitation in
a
T Company 1981, p 13)+
37
‘On the average the quantity of water per irrigated donum of land
is about 50% higher than in Israel (112n3 vs. 701m? per donum)},
In addition,water distribution in the field may be too uneven,
which ultimately leads to a lower productivity.
Irrigation techniques have rapidly improved over the past ten years.
This trend has been stimilated by the high cost of water and
labour, and by easy accessability of modern technology through
Israeli intermediaries. It has been further accentuated by active
financial and technical support provided to farmers by the Mennonite
Central Gommittee. The pace of change has been particularly dramatic
in vegetable growing, where drip irrigation pipes and sprinklers
are gaining acceptance.” This has been accompanied by the rapid
expansion in protected farming under nylon sheets. A recent study
in the Jordan Valley has denonstrated that profitability of
vegetables under drip irrigation and nylon protection is about
seven times that of traditional farming.’ More rapid expansion
along this line is impeded by the high volume of investment needed
for this purpose, estimated at about JD 100 per donum,
West Bank land is characterized by steep slope gradients and excessive
rockiness. Both of these characteristics, as we shall see later
in this chapter, impose grave constraints on the prospects for
modernizing and intensifying agriculture.
1, Calculated from water consumption data in Table III-5 and on the
basis of 80,000 donuns of irrigated land in the West Bank, vs
1,980 thousand donums in Israel. (Source: Ststistical Abstract
of Israel, 1980, op cit, p 9)+
According to the Director of Agriculture in the Jordan Valley,
90 percent of vegetables grown in that area is irrigated by
modern techniques.
3. Salim Tanari and Rita Giacanan, ZBEIDAT: The social Impsct of
Drip Irrigation on a Pali nian Peasant Committee in the Jordan
Valley, (West Bank: Birzeit University, 1980), p 25.

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Agricultural Development in the West Bank

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المنشئ

Hisham Masoud Awartani

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