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Geography
Georgia is a country of Eurasian continent, situated in the Caucasus region. It is Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. The country is bounded by the Black Sea to the west, by Russia - to the north, by Turkey and Armenia - to the south, and by Azerbaijan - to the south-east. Due to its location, Georgia has had an important transit route since ancient times. The Silk Road began in the third century BC. It is a very mountainous country. The Greater Caucasus Mountain Range forms the northern border of Georgia. The southern portion of the country is bounded by the Lesser Caucasus Mountains. The highest mountain in Georgia is Mount Shkhara at 5,068 meters (16,627 ft). The region between Kazbegi and Shkhara (a distance of about 200 Km (124 mi) along the Main Caucasus Range) is dominated by numerous glaciers. Out of the 2,100 glaciers that exist in the Caucasus today, approximately 30% are located within Georgia.

Population and land use
The population of Georgia was 4.0 million in mid-2019 as per the Population Reference Bureau. The density of the population is 57 inhabitants per Sq.Km. It is believed that Kartvelis have always lived in this region, which was known as Sakartvelo. The Georgian populations are not homogeneous but a mixture of ethnic groups that inhabited the Caucasus region. The ethnic groups include Georgians, Armenians, Russians, Azerbaijanis, Ossetes, Greeks, Abkhazians, and other ethnic groups. The total area of Georgia is 6.97 Mha, out of which 6.95 Mha is the land area. The agricultural land in Georgia is 2.39 Mha, and 2.82 Mha accounts for the forest cover. At higher altitudes, there are only pastures.

Climate and rainfall
The climate of Georgia is extremely varied, despite its small size. There are two main climatic zones, corresponding to the eastern and western parts of the country. A large part of Western Georgia is located in the northern part of the subtropical zone with annual precipitation ranging from 1,000–4,000 mm. The precipitation is distributed equally throughout the year. The climate of the region varies significantly with elevation and, while the lowland areas of western Georgia are relatively warm throughout the year, the foothills and mountainous areas experience cool, wet summers and snowy winters (snow cover often exceeds 2 meters in many regions).

Eastern Georgia is characterized by a transitional climate, starting with a humid subtropical climate and ending with continental. Annual precipitation is considerably less than that of western Georgia and it ranges from 400 to 1,600 mm. The wettest periods generally occur during spring and autumn, while winter and summer months are the driest. In a large part of eastern Georgia, there are hot summers (especially in the low-lying areas above sea level) and relatively cold winters.

Food and agriculture
Agriculture is traditionally a key economic sector in Georgia, where approximately 42% of the population is employed. Despite the high rate of GDP, agriculture contributes just 10%. According to official statistics, there are about 640,000 agricultural land in Georgia, out of which 500,000 units are less than 1 Ha. Particularly, it should be noted that regions of Eastern Georgia - Kakheti, Shida Kartli and Kvemo Kartli, which play a key role in the country’s food security. The land area used in all three regions is 520,000 ha, while the number of people employed in agriculture is 840,000. In the above-mentioned regions, crops, such as barley, maize, sunflower, watermelon are dominating crops. Perennial crops, for example grapes and olive, also are grown. However, a great potential exists for developing horticultural crop production. One of the most important agricultural products in Georgia is wine. Georgia has the oldest and finest winemaking tradition in the world. Animal husbandry, mainly the keeping of cattle, pigs and sheep, play an important role in agricultural products - about 25%.

Water resources management
The country is divided into two surface water drainage basins: with the Eastern portion draining - to the Caspian Sea; and the West draining - to the Black Sea. Major rivers are: 1)The Mtkavari (Kura) with its tributaries The Alazani and The Iori - in the East; and 2). The Rioni - in The West. The climate in the East is semi-arid, receiving from 600 mm to 800 mm of rainfall a year. The West is more sub-tropical with over 1,000 mm of rainfall a year. Therefore, irrigation is a common requirement in the East, while in the West artificial drainage is often required. Georgia’s main natural resource, water, is unequaly distributed on the teritory of the country. Due to unequal distribution of rivers’ annual flow (65 billion m3) in Georgia, (only 24% in eastern Georgia), during the vegetative irrigation period, the irrigation water supply is not fully satisfied, especially during the peak water demand period (July-August), when the rivers’ flows are significantly reduced. Currently, in Georgia only 8 out of 34 irrigation reservoirs are in operation, which can store less than 4 % of the annual flow of the Eastern Georgia’s rivers. Snowpack on mountains provides additional reserve, but this reserve reduces with climate warming. Georgia also has groundwater potential, though they are less used for irrigation.

Irrigation and drainage.
As in an agrarian country, irrigation was always paid much attention in Georgia. It has an ancient tradition. This is proved by the irrigation infrastructure (Tamari canal) that was built in the 12th century during King Tamar’s reign. This canal is still operating. In the period of King Tamar’s reign, large irrigation canals were arranged in Shida Kartli and Kakheti regions. All this, provided good conditions for the development of cereal culture, viticulture and fruit growing.

In 1950-1970, most of existing Georgian irrigation schemes were constructed, and 500,000 hectares of land area were irrigated. Most of irrigation systems were generally designed to serve large state and collective farms. Designs were done by scientific-research institutes based on historic surface water availability, geology, hydrogeology, soil cover, and climatic factors. In the early 1980s, 72 % (357,000 ha) of this area was irrigated by gravity flow, while the remaining 28 % (143,000 ha) was designed to be irrigated by pumps (FAO, 2008). The systems mainly consisted of engineering constructions with headworks, water outlets, inverted siphons, tunnels, pumping stations and concrete main canals. Some systems were non-engineering constructions with partially lined or earth canals. Most of the systems are located in Eastern Georgia having relatively dry climate.
As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and consequently, a difficult economic transition period in Georgia, the condition of irrigation systems became worse and the irrigation area fell to a historically low level: In 2017, the irrigation area was reduced to one fifth and only 47,700 Ha were actually irrigated. Along with the reduction of area, agricultural production and productivity were reduced. In 2000-2010, production of annual crops decreased by 44%, while productivity of perennial crops decreased by 10%. Nowadays, the main irrigation service provider in Georgia is “Georgian Amelioration” LTD, state owned company under the “Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia”.

Water policies
In 2017, the Government of Georgia developed a complex strategy of irrigation, which aims to develop irrigation systems in Georgia for the period 2017-2025. The strategy outlines main legal and institutional reforms needed to support expanding irrigation systems, managing main systems, managing at local level, and regulating irrigation tariffs. It includes both, the rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure out of order, as well as the development of irrigation management capabilities. The strategy aims to increase irrigation farming to 200,000 Ha by 2025. Rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation systems is a principal step towards this level, along with market development, extension services and the implantation of drip irrigation technology at the on-farm level. In achieving the set goals, Georgia is supported and helped by such international financial institutions, as the World Bank (WB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), etc.

ICID and National Committee
Georgia became a member of ICID in 2018. “Georgian Amelioration” LTD, as the ICID membership candidate, made a presentation on the Successes and Challenges of the Georgian Amelioration, in the 68th IEC Meeting and 23rd ICID Congress in 2017 Mexico. The President of Georgian National Committee is Mr. David Tsitlidze and can be contacted at <D.Tsitlidze@ag.ge>, <info@ag.ge> and <info@ag.ge>.