Webinar #7: Salinization, Water Scarcity and Future Agriculture

Description: 

Around 20% of all the arable land in the world is irrigated. Around 20% of all the irrigated land suffers from salinization. This means that salt levels in the soil have built up to such a high level that nothing can grow on that land anymore. We are losing 1.6 million hectares this way every year. This offsets much of the progress we make towards achieving greater agricultural productivity, food security and poverty reduction.

Build-up of salt levels in land and freshwater sources is a gradual process, and not something we observe until it turns into a problem. This does not mean that there aren’t solutions, but only that we don’t act until its too late. There is a wide range of solutions and adaptive measures to manage salinization. , and even utilize it as a resource.

In this webinar, Dr. Shoaib Ismail will discuss examples of such solutions and measures from around the world, such as reclamation of saline land, salt-resistant crops, adaptive cropping patterns, using seawater for irrigation… and many more. He will also discuss how such practices can be integrated to further the saltland agronomy, and why this is key to future agriculture and food systems.

• Publications from the International centre for Biosaline Agriculture
• Salt-affected soils and their Management (FAO)
• The Role of Biosaline Agriculture to Cope with Water Scarcity in the WANA Region (International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture)