Experts in Egypt warn of water scarcity as a result of Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the River Nile. On the other hand, Egypt is facing water shortage due to climatic changes and increasing population.
The Machine of Soil and Water Management for Rice Crop Cultivation (SWMR), a solution in the form of a machine that ploughs fields in a manner that saves about half the amount of water usually used for irrigation, and a quarter of fertilizers used in cultivation.
SWMR aims to save water for irrigation and fertilizers used in rice cultivation.
SWMR is designed by Mohamed ElSayedElHagarey, a researcher at the Desert Research Center in Cairo (Egypt). A specially imported unit, which sows rice seedlings mechanically, is mounted on the machine. The machine’s Egyptian inventor was granted the prestigious WatSave Award for Young Professionals from the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) during the Second World Irrigation Forum in Thailand. The innovative types of SWMR machines are beingrecorded under patent No. (28832).
The basic cylinder is the heart of the machine with many circular projections around. The projections carved cross section of trenches in the soil.
The machine makes ‛V’ shaped lines into the soil, at a depth and width of 20cm, and sows rice seedlings automatically. This operation maintains the water level necessary for rice to grow in the V-shaped troughs, which is less than the water used in conventional agriculture that requires the entire plot of land to be completely submerged.
The machine costs about US$5000, but needs further development to make it ready for commercial production.
The machine was tested in a field in Kafr el-Sheikh governorate, which is known for rice crop cultivation in Egypt, with good results. It reduced the amount of water used by half, and the crop yield increased by 4.6 per cent.
Egypt
