Innovations in Dryland Agriculture

88

Water storage spurs economic growth and helps alleviate poverty by making
water available when and where it is needed. In northwestern Egypt, farmers use
stored water in the cistern to irrigate olive and fig trees at critical stages to match the
rainfall variability. One rainwater cistern, one family and one unit of olive and fig
orchard are an essential part of most of the people in northwestern Egypt. The rain-
water harvesting and utilization project in Gansu province of the People’s Republic
of China harvested and stored rainwater for about 1.2 million people and their live-
stock from 1988 to 1996 (Gansu Bureau of Water Resources 1995 ). Several tech-
niques are available to improve the runoff efficiency of a catchment (cleaning,
compaction, covering patches with impervious materials) thereby improving the
soil in the target area and reducing evaporation losses.

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

1944-451946-471948-491950-511952-531954-551956-571958-591960-611962-631964-651966-671968-69

Rainfall mm

Rainfall (mm)

Years Average

1970-711972-731974-751976-771978-791980-811982-831984-851986-871988-891990-91

140.0

120.0

Rainfall (mm)

100.0

80.0

60.0

40.0

20.0

0.0

1944-451946-471948-491950-511952-531954-551956-571958-591960-611962-631964-651966-671968-691970-711972-731974-75

Monthly Rainfall in mm

Years Mean-monthly Rain

1976-771978-791980-811982-831984-851986-871988-891990-91

a

b

Fig. 16 (a) Variability of annual rainfall at Matrouh in Northwestern Egypt and (b) Variability of
monthly, for December, rainfall at Matrouh in Northwestern Egypt

A. Yazar and A. Ali