EN: The preparations for the pilot trials at the locations Meknes and Ouarzazate were succesfully completed in close cooperation between local Moroccan partners.
Our colleagues from the Ecole Nationale d’Agriculture de Meknes (ENAM) have prepared a summary video of the installation at ENA campus.
Watch and share!
FR: Les préparations pour les essais pilotes sur les sites de Meknès et Ouarzazate ont été menées à bien en étroite collaboration avec les partenaires locaux marocains.
Nos collègues de l’Ecole Nationale d’Agriculture de Meknès (ENAM) ont préparé une vidéo récapitulative de l’installation sur le campus de l’ENA.
EN: This week, the first works on our pilot sites have started: The tillage and preparation of the plots are carried out at our sites in Meknes and Goulmima. This include building a fence of our parcel at ENAM Campus for the two-factorial tests that will start in March.
At our pilot site in Goulmima we are preparing the storage house for the desalination technology MCDI, which will serve as a bodega for other equipment including the energy storage system with the PV panels in the roof.
FR: Cette semaine, les premiers travaux sur nos sites pilotes ont commencé : Le travail du sol et la préparation des parcelles sont réalisés sur nos sites de Meknès et Goulmima. Cela inclut la construction d’une clôture de notre parcelle au Campus de l’ENAM pour les tests bi-factoriels qui commenceront en mars.
Sur notre site pilote de Goulmima, nous préparons la maison de stockage pour la technologie de dessalement MCDI, qui servira de bodega pour d’autres équipements, y compris le système de stockage d’énergie avec les panneaux PV sur le toit.
Field preparations GoulmimaConstructions Works GoulmimaPlot at Campus ENAMParcel preparation in MeknesParcel preparation in MeknesTillage @Campus ENAM
Photo rights: A. Abouabdillah, J. Hoinkis, Feb. 2022
October 2022 was a busy month in the SuLaMo project. The SuLaMo-team gathered in various constellations in the three project regions in Morocco and many project-relevant stakeholders were visited. The objectives were to finalize the field trial plans and to start the collection of socio-economic data in the field. Furthermore, the team was able to gain first insights into the site-specific soil water flow around a subsurface water source during Pretrials at two project sites.
In the region Meknès, the research team of Ecole Nationale d‘Agriculture Meknès (ENAM) met up with representatives of the Universities of Kassel, Humboldt University Berlin (HUB), the UMI Errachidia and the SuLaMo Coordinator from Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA). A vivid and constructive discussion on the field trial design was followed by a viewing of the new experimental field. Plans are now well advanced and the three-factorial field trial will be implemented as soon as the equipment, currently being prepared by the project partners irriproject and UGT in Germany, arrives in Morocco. Experts from ENAM contributed also to the socio-economic ex-ante assessment of the project goals.
At the research site Goulmima, a simulation was conducted of the Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) System, which will be implemented in the field trial. Varying flow rates and irrigation amounts have been tested. The results provide an important first impression of the site-specific evolvement of the wetting bulb around a subsurface point water source. This pretrial setup was repeated at the experimental site Idelsan near Ouarzazate.
Additionally, the region Errachidia was the focus of ex-ante interviews addressing the implementation of the new technologies studied in SuLaMo. Interesting and insightful conversations arose between the socio-economic expert from the University Kassel and stakeholders of the agricultural sector in administration, academia and practice. These were largely facilitated and coordinated by the local partner UMI Errachidia. Details on the Goulmima On-Farm field trial and the import of equipment have been discussed with the project partners from AOFEP, UMI, HKA, HUB and University Kassel.
From 9 to 15 May 2022, the kick-off meeting took place in Morocco. During this week, the SuLaMo team visited the selected pilot regions north and south of the Atlas Mountains: Meknes – as semi-arid – and Errachidia and Ouarzazate – as arid example regions.
The Kick-Off event took place on 12 May at the University of Moulay Ismail (UMI) in Errachidia. A total of 35 representatives of the German and Moroccan partners as well as other institutions and stakeholders took part. The aim of the event was to introduce the project and the partners to each other, as well as to inform and involve potential stakeholders.
In addition, a meeting with the Wali of the Draa Tafilalet region was facilitated during the visit to Errachidia, an important milestone for the project launch.
