Innovative Approaches for Afghanistan's Agricultural Water Management

Due to the difficulties of water shortages and climate change, innovative water management solutions in agriculture are essential for food security, environmental sustainability, and economic viability. This study addresses several innovative techniques for agricultural water management in Afghanistan, considering specific issues in the region. Afghanistan's dependency on imported food reveals the ineffectiveness of the irrigation system, as well as a lack of new agricultural technologies and infrastructure. This study was conducted at the Paktika Higher Education Institute to analyze key irrigation challenges and provide innovative approaches to water management in Afghanistan's agriculture. Sixty-nine agricultural faculty students participated in the study. The primary data for this quantitative descriptive study were collected through questionnaires. SPSS version 24 was used to analyze the data. The analytical methods used were frequency and percentage. According to the findings, the key problems were drought, lack of a plan for managing water in agriculture, failure to apply water management regulations, lack of modern irrigation systems, and farmers' lack of knowledge regarding crop water requirements. Water management in Afghanistan's agriculture can be enhanced by precision agriculture, rainwater collection, the reuse of treated wastewater, conservation tillage, crop rotation, cover crops, smart irrigation, and drip and sprinkler irrigation systems.