Rice Production in Egypt: The Challenges of Climate Change …
313
northwest of Addis Ababa. The GERD reservoir will extend for an area of 1874 km
2
with a full supply of 640 m above mean sea level, with total and effective storage
volumes of 74 BCM. The main concern about the construction of Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam (GERD) is the filling period of its reservoir which will decline
Egypt’s share from Nile River water and as a result affecting water security of Egypt
[55]. Thinking about the construction of the dam for power generation on the Blue
Nile started in the sixties in the 20th century. The U.S. Office of Land Reclamation
in 1964, has studied the establishment of around 11 dams, most importantly the
four large dams on the Blue Nile with a total capacity of 80 BCM and these dams
have been involved in the Nile Basin Initiative. However, the establishment of the
Renaissance Dam was announced with a total capacity of 74 BCM [i.e. five times
the size and capacity of the total of the four old dams in the American Studies (14.5
BCM)] [49].
Construction of GERD will have some negative implication on many sectors in
Egypt including agriculture and water deficiency. Lack of supplied water to Nasser
Lake due to water storage in front of the Renaissance Dam (by approximately 25–33
BCM year
−1 unless there is pulling of shortage from Dam Lake) means wasting
approximately 3–5 million feddan of Egypt’s cultivated area. Each feddan requires
about 5 thousand cubic meters (CM) of water according to the estimation of the
Irrigation Ministry in Egypt. Therefore, the minimum of wasting cultivated lands
will lead to a lack of cultivated area of approximately 46.9%, while the maximum
wasting limit of cultivated land will be approximately 67.6% of cultivated lands.
As well, deficiency of irrigation water will lead to increasing the use of agricultural
drainage water for irrigation up to about 7 BCM year
−1 , which duplicate the salinity
3 times following irrigation and thus reaching the water to the banks again with
higher concentrations in each irrigation, which lead to increasing in water salinity
of agricultural lands in the Delta. Additionally; lack of water flow means stopping
all land reclamation projects, agricultural expansion, and ending of some great agriculture projects in Egypt such as Toshka project, Al-Salam Canal, and El Hamam
Canal in the Northwestern coast of Egypt. Anyhow, there will be an urgent need for
establishing many wastewater treatment plants, for treating contaminated water to
become suitable for irrigation, and also treating industrial wastewater and sewage,
which costs Egyptian country millions of dollars [49].
Based on the previous mention data, there will be a decline in rice cultivated
area which store C and N more than other cultivated areas, especially in the surface
layer. Already it is noticed obviously in Egypt this year that farmers are suffering
from drought and inability to cultivate their preferred crop; rice; as a result of water
shortage. Thus, loss of 50% of cultivated area in Egypt based on the previous scenario
of [49] will lead to a loss of approximately 50% of cultivated rice area also, the loss
of 50% of C and N storage in those soils (equal approximately third of C and N of
Egypt’s cultivated soils) because of converting rice to dry crops. Also; some soils
in Egypt, especially in North Nile Delta (more 95% or rice cultivation in Egypt is
concentrated in this area), is salt-affected soil; thus, rice cultivation is one of the most
important practices that lead to salinity leaching. Saline soil requires a huge amount
of water irrigation for salt leaching to be suitable for agricultural activities. In such
313
northwest of Addis Ababa. The GERD reservoir will extend for an area of 1874 km
2
with a full supply of 640 m above mean sea level, with total and effective storage
volumes of 74 BCM. The main concern about the construction of Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam (GERD) is the filling period of its reservoir which will decline
Egypt’s share from Nile River water and as a result affecting water security of Egypt
[55]. Thinking about the construction of the dam for power generation on the Blue
Nile started in the sixties in the 20th century. The U.S. Office of Land Reclamation
in 1964, has studied the establishment of around 11 dams, most importantly the
four large dams on the Blue Nile with a total capacity of 80 BCM and these dams
have been involved in the Nile Basin Initiative. However, the establishment of the
Renaissance Dam was announced with a total capacity of 74 BCM [i.e. five times
the size and capacity of the total of the four old dams in the American Studies (14.5
BCM)] [49].
Construction of GERD will have some negative implication on many sectors in
Egypt including agriculture and water deficiency. Lack of supplied water to Nasser
Lake due to water storage in front of the Renaissance Dam (by approximately 25–33
BCM year
−1 unless there is pulling of shortage from Dam Lake) means wasting
approximately 3–5 million feddan of Egypt’s cultivated area. Each feddan requires
about 5 thousand cubic meters (CM) of water according to the estimation of the
Irrigation Ministry in Egypt. Therefore, the minimum of wasting cultivated lands
will lead to a lack of cultivated area of approximately 46.9%, while the maximum
wasting limit of cultivated land will be approximately 67.6% of cultivated lands.
As well, deficiency of irrigation water will lead to increasing the use of agricultural
drainage water for irrigation up to about 7 BCM year
−1 , which duplicate the salinity
3 times following irrigation and thus reaching the water to the banks again with
higher concentrations in each irrigation, which lead to increasing in water salinity
of agricultural lands in the Delta. Additionally; lack of water flow means stopping
all land reclamation projects, agricultural expansion, and ending of some great agriculture projects in Egypt such as Toshka project, Al-Salam Canal, and El Hamam
Canal in the Northwestern coast of Egypt. Anyhow, there will be an urgent need for
establishing many wastewater treatment plants, for treating contaminated water to
become suitable for irrigation, and also treating industrial wastewater and sewage,
which costs Egyptian country millions of dollars [49].
Based on the previous mention data, there will be a decline in rice cultivated
area which store C and N more than other cultivated areas, especially in the surface
layer. Already it is noticed obviously in Egypt this year that farmers are suffering
from drought and inability to cultivate their preferred crop; rice; as a result of water
shortage. Thus, loss of 50% of cultivated area in Egypt based on the previous scenario
of [49] will lead to a loss of approximately 50% of cultivated rice area also, the loss
of 50% of C and N storage in those soils (equal approximately third of C and N of
Egypt’s cultivated soils) because of converting rice to dry crops. Also; some soils
in Egypt, especially in North Nile Delta (more 95% or rice cultivation in Egypt is
concentrated in this area), is salt-affected soil; thus, rice cultivation is one of the most
important practices that lead to salinity leaching. Saline soil requires a huge amount
of water irrigation for salt leaching to be suitable for agricultural activities. In such