Implementing ancient agricultural practices to confront modern-day challenges of water scarcity and food insecurity
As global water resources become more strained, the insights gained from traditional agricultural systems could pave the way for the development of innovative, low-water-use agricultural practices to confront the growing ...
A new study exploring traditional sunken groundwater-harvesting agroecosystems in coastal and inland sand (SGHAS) bodies of Israel, Iran, Egypt, Algeria, Gaza, and the Atlantic coast of Iberia offers fresh perspectives on ancient agricultural techniques that could inform modern sustainability practices.
The research, which combines geospatial analysis, archaeological findings, and historical documentation, sheds light on the innovative use of water-harvesting and soil-enrichment technologies developed in the early Islamic period and their continued relevance to contemporary agricultural challenges.
The paper stems from an international workshop at Bar-Ilan University (BIU) in 2023 on continuity-discontinuity of ancient water-harvesting agricultural systems that resulted in a special issue in the journal Environmental Archaeology.
This study on early Islamic (late 9th—early 12th century) Plot-and-Berm (P&B) agroecosystems located along Israel's Mediterranean coast evolved into an investigation of the long-term viability of regional SGHAS as a sustainable agricultural model.
Masseira agriculture north in Apulia, northwestern Portugal. Seaweed is collected for sand enrichment. The plot and berm are utilized by irrigation from well into 1 m deep groundwater. Today a wide range of local family-farm. produce is sold at stands. Credit: Seaweed photos by Álvaro Campelo, other photos by Prof. Joel Roskin
Oblique aerial photo of modern Navazo agriculture by Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain. Note the greenpool water next to a shallow well in the shed by the palm and shady vegetated berms in the background. Credit: R. Sanchez