President Lee has suggested top 10 core issues that could revolutionize our sector in a message in ICID Newsletter. The top 10 I & D technologies are -

1. Farmer controlled water supply, or total channel control or downstream control of canals; call it what you will, but essentially an extension of the control that came with groundwater, applied to surface sources and large systems.
2. Emitter delivery systems for precision irrigation and for undulating terrain, not just through drip systems but also through centre pivots, especially those that can be moved from centre to centre, and with sweeps programmed to serve typical farm blocks. Such technologies can bring irrigation to areas previously thought capable only of purely rainfed production.
3. Wetting front indicator, a technology recognised for its outstanding potential by a WatSave award, but not yet widely appreciated.
4. Drain controllers, also exampled by WatSave awards, for their capability to improve control of soil moisture and stimulate sub-irrigation.
5. Wetting-drying rice, another important water saving technology that WatSave has recognised in its widespread application in China.
6. No-till (NT) or minimum tillage technologies already used to conserve erodible soils and nutrients, and save fuel, but which can also conserve water in irrigated as well as rainfed production.
7. Fresh-saline irrigation, where saline and brackish water is used for part of the growing period without much loss of yield or detriment to the soil structure.
8. Salt and drought tolerant food crops, perhaps used in conjunction with 7, or independently, especially where irrigation is ephemeral or only supplementary.
9. Remote sensing coupled with the Internet and mobile communications to help the farmer with everything from establishing land tenure to operational forecasting.
10. Drainage, an "old" technology but one which we must not forget can improve and sustain production in rather more parts of the world than irrigation on its own.

The Central Office has created an `E-forum' to bring out appropriate issues connected with the listed top 10 technologies.

The `E-forum' has the following features:

Group Name: icid_top10tech
Group Homepage: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/icid_top10tech
Group e-mail : icid_top10tech@yahoogroups.com

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