Building resilience in agricultural

systems under marginal environments: ICBA’s Experience and Partnership

NENA-LWDS, Amman

17th December 2013

Shoaib Ismail, Ph.D. International Center for Biosaline Agriculture

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

www.biosaline.org

Non-Conventional water

Saline Water

Brackish Water

Drainage Water

Treated Waste Water

What I heard most during last 2 days….

Non-Conventional water

Saline Water

Brackish Water

Drainage Water

Treated Waste Water

What I heard most during last 2 days….

Salinity in Agricultural Production

Region Area (106ha)

Africa 81.0

Near and Middle East

53.1

Asia and Far East 19.5

Latin America 59.4

Australia 84.7

North America 16.0

Europe 20.7

More than 1.2 billion ha of lands are affected by salinity globally

Nearly 1.6 million ha/ year are lost globally due to salinization

At this rate all irrigated areas that now contribute to agricultural

foods will be out of production in 140 years.

Availability of saline water……

By 2050 the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion,

34 percent higher than today.

Nearly all of this population increase will occur in

developing countries.

About 70 percent of the world’s population will be

urban (compared to 49 percent today).

Food production must increase by 70 percent.

Annual cereal production will need to rise to about 3

billion tons from 2.1 billion today

Annual meat production will need to rise by over 200

million tons to reach 470 million tons.

2050…… and Targets

Agriculture by 2050

70 m.ha < 5%

120 m.ha ~ 12%

50 m.ha ~ - 8%

Brackish and

saline water

Marginal and

saline land

Irrigated/

supplementary

irrigated agriculture

Salt-tolerant plant

production systems

Biosaline

Agriculture

Strong R & D linkage

Strong partnerships with National Research &

Development programs, Private sector, NGOs and

donors

Capacity Building for National systems

Saline

Wasteland

Saline

Groundwater

Increased

Permeability

Improves Bulk

Density

Increased Salt

Movement

Organic Matter

to Soil

Stops erosion

Improves

Environment

Biological N

Fixation

Fuel Wood

Timber

Forage

Green

manure

Compost

biofertilizer

Pulp, paper

board

Bioenergy

The Potential…..

• Change the environment

– Reclaim lands

– Desalinate water

– Mix saline water with

freshwater

• Change the cropping

pattern & management

– Improve the crop to

deal with the

environment

– Choose a different crop

or develop new crops

The Options…..

Economically Viable

Environmentally safe

Land use/

Land management

Terrain

Climate

Irrigation water

Mapping

ST trees

+

Halophytic grasses

Salt tolerant Trees

+

Halophytic crops

Salt tolerant Trees

+

conventional crops

Conventional crops & Environments: ECe < 8 dS/m; ESP < 2

Halophytic crops & Environments: ECe 8-20 dS/m; ESP 2-15

Halophytic grasses & Environments: ECe 15-25 dS/m; ESP > 15

Adaptations in

production

systems with

increasing

salinity &

aridity

Sea-water Based Agriculture

Potential of Salicornia for biofuel

from seeds, vegetable and

residual biomass for forage

Quinoa – The new Crop

ICBA is an international

center undertaking

research and

development for

improving the

agricultural productivity,

social equity and

environmental

sustainability of water

use through an

integrated system

approach

ICBA – Agriculture for Tomorrow

Expanding Our Mandate

• Working on a wider array of crops tolerant to salinity

and inclusion of bioenergy in our research program

• Working with partners to ensure that research is

relevant, useful and is accessible, available and

applicable

Our Mission

To work in partnership to deliver agricultural and water scarcity solutions

in marginal environments

Our Vision

To be the global Center of Excellence for innovative agriculture in saline and

marginal environments

Capacity

building

and

knowledge

sharing

Strategic Outcomes and Objectives

ICBA

Mission

Reflecting our

long-term

perspective

Strategic Outcomes

10 year time horizon.

The context within which our

own strategy must fit.

Strategic Objectives

10 year time horizon.

The objectives against which

we align our efforts

ICBA

Vision • Increased Food and

Nutritional Security

• More Resilient

Environment and Income

• Improved Water Security

1. Improve generation and

dissemination of knowledge

(knowledge hub)

2. Expand food and bioenergy

solutions

3. Facilitate competitive agri-

business enterprises

4. Increase and enrich partnerships

• Assessment of natural resources

• Climate change impacts and

management

• Crop productivity and

diversification

• Aquaculture and bioenergy

• Policies for resilience

Research Innovations & Partnerships

Managing Salinity

Seawater based agriculture:

Salicornia promising new

biofuel

Reclaiming abandoned farms in Abu

Dhabi

Managing Water –Irrigation & Drainage

Sub-surface irrigation – can reduce

water use by 20% compared with

surface irrigation

Diversification/Intensification

Central Asia: dual purpose food-

feed crops and shrub-tree crops

Comprehensive set of digital information to support policies

and decision–making on water and land use planning

Journ

al o

f Enviro

nm

ent a

nd E

arth

Scie

nce

ISS

N 2

22

4-3

21

6 (P

ape

r) ISS

N 2

22

5-0

94

8 (O

nlin

e). V

ol 2

, No

.8, 2

01

2

Decision Support Systems

Safe use of TWW for agriculture

Explore policy support in the region for the use of TWW in agriculture

Review the current status of the use of TWW in agriculture in the world

with an emphasis on the Arab World, including best management

practices, guidelines, regulations, policies and strategies

Explore the future potential of TWW in agriculture in the Arab World

Best management practices (soil, water and crop) related to the use TWW.

Synthesis and dissemination of current knowledge related to the impact of the use of

TWW on plant and animal products.

Synthesis of environmental impact related to the use of TWW.

Cost-effectiveness of the use of TWW.

Exchange of knowledge, research outcome and identi�cation of research gaps.

Compares standards, regulations and policies of the use of TWW regionally and

worldwide.

The Use of Treated Wastewater in the Agricultural Production

in the Arab World: Current Status and Future Prospective 14-16 January 2014, United Arab Emirates

Training

Transfer technologies through field demonstrations and training courses

Improved crop

management

Water and irrigation

management

Adaptation of

appropriate

productions systems

Climate change

adaptation strategies

Soil salinity analysis

and mapping

29

GCC ~ MENA ~ Africa ~ Central Asia ~ South & Southast Asia ~ Latin America

Regional Cooperation

Enabling Innovations

Technology

Incubation

Strategic

Alliances,

Networking,

Partnerships

Capacity

Building Knowledge

Transfer

www.biosaline.org