Hosted by ICARDA in Amman, Jordan
In the frame of the Global Futures & Strategic Foresight Project, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), through its Socioeconomic and Policy Research Program (SEPRP) and its Capacity Development Unit (CDU), organized a four-day regional training workshop on “Crop modeling for identification of promising agricultural technologies: the use of the APSIM model”, in Amman – Jordan from 2-5 June 2014.
In total 20 trainees, representing eight countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, and Jordan) participated in the training course. The participants had backgrounds in natural resource management, including economists and agronomists with expertise in crop growth, physiology and relations to soil, water and environment. Participants learned, through hands-on practical exercises, to undertake crop modeling exercises, including data management, running the model, building graphs, interpreting model results, and sensitivity analysis.
The training included specific discussions on modeling crops and technologies that were important for the trainees. Some participants brought their own datasets (including data on rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall and solar radiation along with the soil and cultivar information), which were used to simulate real-case scenarios. The training was an excellent opportunity to increase collaboration with NARS partners and enhance their capacity in carrying out crop simulation modeling work especially for identifying relevant promising technologies to make cropping systems more profitable and resilient in the wake of climate change.
Follow up of this training includes the commitment of participants to undertake, in partnership with ICARDA, joint simulation studies. A workshop for sharing studies and findings may be organized at the end of 2014 with the participation of all trainees that attended this training course.
