International Center for
Biosaline Agriculture
Prof Dr Faisal Taha
Director of Technical Programs
Presented at AIRCA Meeting,
Rome
March 1-2, 2012
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
ICBA’s Establishment
• 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
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
ICBA’s Founding Donors
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Islamic Development Bank
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development
OPEC Fund for International Development
UAE Government
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
ICBA’s Core Donor’s
•UAE Government
– Ministry of Environment and Water
– Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi
•Islamic Development Bank
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
ICBA’s Project Donors
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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
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
– 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)
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
ICBA’s Key Research Activities
and Project Types
A. Technology generation and backstopping
research (On-station research)
1. PGR
2. Plant Production and management systems
3. Soil and Irrigation
B. Technology transfer and Dissemination
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Regional (multilateral) Projects
Bilateral Projects
Host country/GCC projects
Private sector partnership projects
Capacity building & Knowledge sharing
Networking
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
ICBA – Contributing to agricultural
production through R & D on saline and
marginal quality waters
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Identification of new and improved salt-tolerant
germplasm (conventional crops and halophytes)
to sustain ecosystem productivity
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Developing alternative production systems and
technologies to improve productivity in
marginalized environments
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Developing low-cost technologies for low-quality water-use by small scale
farmers
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Promoting policies, legal and institutional framework for sustainable
resource management
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Establishing stronger partnerships with NARS to test and adopt new
technologies for ecosystem resilience
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
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
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
Key Projects
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
Adaptation to climate change in WANA
marginal environments through sustainable
crop and livestock diversification
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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.
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
Small-scale irrigation water management
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
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
Developing salinity strategic plan for
Central Iraq region
Donor: Australian Center for Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
International R&D Centers: International Center for Biosaline
Agriculture International Center of Agricultural
Research in Dry Areas
International Water Management Institute
Australian Partners: CSIRO, AgWA
Local 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
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
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.
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
Combating resource degradation in
Central Asia and Caucasus
Improper drainage systems severely affected
agricultural production in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan
and Tajikistan
 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
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
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
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
Water Strategy for Conserving Water
Resources in UAE
Donor: Ministry of Environment and Water
Partner (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
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, 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.
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
Capacity Building in biosaline
agriculture
1000 individuals from 50 countries trained
200
World
HQ
150
100
50
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE
2005
2006
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2011
Thank you
International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE