international center for biosaline agriculture

International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE

International Center for Biosaline Agriculture

Prof Dr Faisal TahaDirector of Technical Programs

Presented at AIRCA Meeting,Rome

March 1-2, 2012


• ICBA was established in 1999 in strategic response to water situation

• Center’s purpose to investigate the potential for the use of saline groundwater and to share this knowledge widely

ICBA’s Establishment


ICBA’s Founding Donors

• Islamic Development Bank• Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development• OPEC Fund for International Development• UAE Government


ICBA’s Core Donor’s

•UAE Government – Ministry of Environment and Water– Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi

•Islamic Development Bank


ICBA’s Project Donors

– The Islamic Development Bank (IDB)– Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi– Ministry of Environment and Water, UAE– IFAD– The World Bank – Asian Development Bank– Sultanate of Oman– Arab League - Cairo– European Union– CGIAR – Challenge Program

– USAID– UNDP– UNEP– OPEC– BADEA– OFESD– OASE– KISR – ACSAD


Programs

Strategic Plan 2008-2012 comprises 3 programs:– Integrated Water Resource System

Program (IWRS)– Marginal Quality Water Resources

Program (MQ)– Capacity Building and Knowledge-sharing

Program (CK)


A. Technology generation and backstopping research (On-station research)1. PGR2. Plant Production and management systems3. Soil and Irrigation

B. Technology transfer and Dissemination

1. Regional (multilateral) Projects2. Bilateral Projects3. Host country/GCC projects4. Private sector partnership projects5. Capacity building & Knowledge sharing6. Networking

ICBA’s Key Research Activities and Project Types


ICBA – Contributing to agricultural production through R & D on saline and

marginal quality waters

• Identification of new and improved salt-tolerant germplasm (conventional crops and halophytes) to sustain ecosystem productivity

• Developing alternative production systems and technologies to improve productivity in marginalized environments

• Developing low-cost technologies for low-quality water-use by small scale farmers

• Promoting policies, legal and institutional framework for sustainable resource management

• Establishing stronger partnerships with NARS to test and adopt new technologies for ecosystem resilience


ICBA’s Countries of Operation

MENA Region: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Qatar, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Yemen and Sudan

SUB-SAHARA AFRICA : Burkina Faso, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal

ASIA Region: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

CAC Region: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan


Key Projects


Adaptation to climate change in WANA marginal environments through sustainable

crop and livestock diversification

• The project approved for finance by IFAD AFESD, IDB, ICBA and NARS of 8 countries.

• The overall project goal is to improve the livelihoods, resiliency to climate changes and income of poor farmers relying on marginal water and land resources in WANA through the scaling-up and dissemination of high-yielding forage/crops production packages better adapted to the marginal environmental conditions.


In partnership with FARA - West African Sub-Saharan Countries (Burkina Faso, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal)

The overall purpose of the project is to improve performance of small-scale irrigated systems to help in achieving (i) food security, (ii) dependable supply of basic agricultural products, and (iii) reduction in migration of rural communities to urban cities

Small-scale irrigation water management


Donor: Australian Center for Agricultural Research (ACIAR)International R&D Centers: International Center for Biosaline

Agriculture International Center of Agricultural Research in Dry AreasInternational Water Management Institute

Australian Partners: CSIRO, AgWALocal Partners: Ministries of Science; Water; Higher

Education; Environment

Roadmap for the Study is based on:Assessment, Mitigation and Adaptation at three levels:

- Regional level- Irrigation District level- Farm level

Developing salinity strategic plan for Central Iraq region


Development of National Strategy to Combat salinity and Protection of Water Resources from Pollution and Salinity in the Sultanate of Oman

Modeling: Building of a conceptual model for Al-Batinah region which included: the extent of the aquifer system, aquifer properties (hydraulic conductivity, etc), groundwater inflow from hardrock (Jabal), recharge to the aquifer, outflow (abstraction, natural outflow to the sea), boundary conditions & the water balance for the study area (Al-Batinah)

Models are being developed at the farm level to examine alternative cropping production systems & at national levels based on likely features driven by water management options.


Combating resource degradation in Central Asia and Caucasus

Very dry or water logged conditions

Salt accumulation on soil surface - Irrigated fields, once productive turned into degraded lands

New Initiative• Partnership with ICARDA, ICRISAT and

NARS of three partner countries

• ICBA’s initiative to evaluate salt tolerant lines of sorghum and pearl millet for forage

• Seed production in partners countries for scaling-up

• Capacity building of NARS

Improper drainage systems severely affected agricultural production in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan


Sorghum and pearl millet for enhanced crop-livestock productivity in saline lands

• A Joint ICBA-ICRISAT project in 6 countries (Syria, Jordan, Oman, Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen) supported by OFID, ICBA and NARS

• The first phase (Development of salinity-tolerant sorghum and pearl millet varieties for saline lands)was completed in 2009.

• Purpose: Develop and disseminate high-yielding, salinity-tolerant sorghum and pearl millet cultivars as well as crop management technologies for economic and sustainable crop-livestock (forage) production


Donor: Ministry of Environment and WaterPartner (s): Ministry of Environment and Water

• An updated overview of the available water resources, uses and future forecasts

• Economic syntheses of the current water use and the best options to improve water use and allocation efficiency

• Eight initiatives that direct the Ministry of Environment and Water on implementing the UAE water conservation strategy

• Recommendations to strengthen the Federal policy, laws and sound water resources management

Water Strategy for Conserving Water Resources in UAE


Collaboration with Farmers Services Center (FSC), Abu Dhabi

FSC is an intermediary between the Abu Dhabi Government, specifically the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), and the farming community in Abu Dhabi Emirate.

• To evaluate the existing agriculture systems in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, with special reference to crops, cropping patterns, irrigation systems, economics, marketing and others.

• To identify & recommend strategies for short-term improvement of current agricultural systems and long-term planning for sustainable agricultural production.

• To improve capacity building of farmers’ and extension services.


1000 individuals from 50 countries trained

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World HQ

Capacity Building in biosaline agriculture


Thank you

international center for biosaline agriculture

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