As part of The Research Data Alliance (RDA) Interest Group on Agricultural Data (IGAD) meeting focusing on IGAD/RDA : Sharing Experiences and Creating Digital Dialogues, Stefan Strohmeier, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA); Joren Verbist, Wageningen University and Mira Haddad, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) presented a webinar during the ‘Europe/Asia’ group of presentations on May 27. 

The webinar focused on ‘Obtaining agro-hydrological datasets in the marginal drylands of Jordan: two-sided lesson shared by scientists and farmers.’ A recently conducted initiative aims at investigating the rural watershed rehabilitation impacts in Jordan’s dry agro-pastoral areas, the so called Badia, where Bedouin tribes used to commute. A combination of locally confined high-yield agricultural operations with traditional and nature-based SLM’s in the watershed’s uplands are among the most promising technologies. However, concise data acquisition and interpretation through WOCAT require both i) state of the art monitoring methods and ii) applicability and management through the local communities. Sometimes it even requires a mix of those: advanced monitoring conducted by the local communities - as the sole option for on-site process verification during periods with limited field-access, such as triggered through COVID-19. Various methods of soil, water and plant dynamic assessment have been merged to generate input for WOCAT. 

The Research Data Alliance (RDA) Interest Group on Agricultural Data (IGAD) meeting was set to be held in Rome (Italy) in April 2020 but instead, took place as a virtual meeting from May 25 to 28.  The virtual meeting provided an online platform to continue to build upon collaborations, knowledge sharing and developing innovations with activities including panel sessions, group discussions and presentations.