Objective:
Extend and expand the services of the USDA/ARS in support of the Middle East peace process multilateral program to foster Israeli-Arab cooperation through the Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS) project for Efficient Water Use in the Middle East to include Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian partners, the new activities described in this agreement will augment the ongoing project by supporting cooperators to study essential elements of irrigated agriculture which are pertinent to water conservation in the Middle East. The IMIS project includes an infrastructure and human capacity that requires regional cooperation and promotes regular interaction among the cooperating partners.

Approach:
• Provide the resources to maintain the IMIS website; allocate resources for the website maintenance and improvement. • Maintain the regional database system for the agro-meteorological information, providing data for scheduling irrigation and other crop management decisions to increase irrigation efficiency in the region. • Provide maintenance for the automated weather stations, and lysimeters to continue to improve water management models and irrigation scheduling practices at both the field and watershed scale in the Middle East. • Apply irrigation scheduling methodology on farmer’s fields; and through interaction with farmers, farm advisors and extension personnel, promote the implementation of the IMIS system to ensure wide acceptance and sustainability.