Webinar #7: Salinization, Water Scarcity and Future Agriculture

Date and time:September 24, 2013
Speaker:Dr. Shoaib Ismail, International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture, 
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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.

About the speaker:Dr Shoaib Ismail is a research scientist and university educator with more than 33 years experience in saline agriculture research and development. Dr Ismail specializes in the management of saltland agronomy with a special interest in integrated forage production, bioenergy trees for wastelands and seawater-based agricultural system. His current research also involves climate change and its impact on food security, as well as environmental resource management. Dr. Ismail has worked in many dryland regions of the world and has active collaboration with international and national system partners. More info >>
 
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 International Centre
for Biosaline Agriculture, 
UAE
 
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Stories from the Arab World,Is the world getting saltier?  
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January 10, 2014  
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