NARC, FAO to launch smartphone application for Jordan’s farmers

AMMAN — The National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) and the Office of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Jordan on Wednesday signed a technical cooperation agreement, under which an irrigation application for smartphones will be developed to serve Jordanian farmers, mainly in the Jordan Valley.

NARC Director General Nizar Haddad and Director of the FAO office in Jordan Nabil Assaf signed the agreement on the sidelines of the 21st National Olive Festival and Rural Products Exhibition, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Assaf said that the irrigation application to be developed will be provided with real-time climate information from NARC meteorological stations in the Jordan Valley region in particular. 

He added that this application, in its first phase, will serve farmers of the Jordan Valley and will provide them with accurate scientific information on irrigation dates and the required amounts of water.

Assaf explained that the WAPOR application is FAO's gateway to monitoring water productivity through globally available climate data sources that employ remote sensing technologies and satellite imagery.

Haddad stressed the importance of this partnership, which he said will contribute to pushing the Jordanian agricultural sector towards digitisation more in line with the latest global developments. 

He added that the irrigation application will verify the accuracy of the information provided by WAPOR for two vegetable crops and one tree crop in the Jordan Valley region.

Haddad added that the agreement includes provisions for raising public awareness, and organising workshops and training courses on using the irrigation application after it goes online.