Editors Azeem Khalid Shahid Mahmood Mauro Centritto SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE WATER MANAGEMENT IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT: A SPECIAL FOCUS ON OLIVE TREE International Training Workshop Organized by Department of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Forestry, Range Management & Wildlife PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan In collaboration with Trees and Timber Institute-National Research Council, Italy & Institute of European Studies“Alcide De Gasperi” Italy Sponsored by Higher Education Commission, Islamabad Pakistan & Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Directorate General for Development Cooperation SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE WATER MANAGEMENT IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT: A SPECIAL FOCUS ON OLIVE TREE Proceedings of International Training Workshop Held at Pir Mehr Ali Shah (PMAS) Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan Sptember 30 – October 02, 2015 © 2015 All rights reserved with the editors. No part of this book may be reprinted, sorted in a retrieval system, translated or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the copyright owners. Any such request must state the purpose and extent of the reproduction. ISBN 978-969-8374-16-7 Patron Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad (Vice Chancellor) Organizing Committee Prof. Dr. Sarwat Naz Mirza Prof. Dr. Maqsood Anwar Prof. Dr. Mauro Centritto Prof. Dr. Antonio Sabbatella Prof. Dr. Nadeem A. Abbasi Dr. Irfan Aziz Dr. Audil Rashid Dr. Shahid Mahmood Dr. Allah Ditta Ms. Aniqa Batool Organizing Secretary Dr. Azeem Khalid Department of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Forestry, Range Management & Wildlife PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi Pakistan Speakers/Contributors Dr. Abid Mahmood [email protected] Prof. Antonio Sabbatella [email protected] Prof. Mauro Centritto [email protected] Prof. Mehdi Ben Mimoun [email protected] Dr. Kostas Chartzoulakis [email protected] Prof. Muhammad Arshad [email protected] Prof. Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi [email protected] Dr. Muhammad Tariq [email protected] Dr. Rosario Napoli [email protected] Dr. Nicola Laruccia [email protected] Prof. Ishfaq Ahmad Hafiz [email protected] Dr. Azmat Ali Awan [email protected] Dr. Muhammad Irfan Ashraf [email protected] Prof. Alessandro Bozzini [email protected] Prof. Jamal Khan Khatak [email protected] Dr. Abid Subhani [email protected] Dr. Bashir Ahmad [email protected] Dr. Muhammad Ashraf [email protected] Dr. Muhammad Imran [email protected] Dr. Muhammad Iqbal [email protected] Dr. Sheikh Saeed Ahmad [email protected] Muhammad Yousaf Shah [email protected] Col. (Rtd.) Khalid Mahmood [email protected] Acknowledgments Workshop Organizing Committee is thankful to the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad for his kind support to organize this international training workshop in the university on a very important topic “Sustainable Agriculture Water Management in a Changing Environment - A Special Focus on Olive Tree”. The efforts made by Prof. Mauro Centritto, Director of Trees and Timber Institute - National Research Council Italy and Prof. Antonio Sabbatella, President of Institute of European Studies “Alcide De Gasperi”, Italy to organize this training workshop are greatly acknowledged. Untiring efforts of faculty members and students of the Department of Environmental Sciences to make this event successful are highly appreciated. Financial support to organize this international training workshop was provided by the Higher Education Comission, Islamabad. Financial support provided by Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Development Cooperation Project “Training and capacity building in sustainable agricultural water management: Addressing food security and social instability in Pakistan (SAWaM-Pak) is also acknowledged. Dr. Azeem Khalid Organizing Secretary Preface The global environment is changing with increasing temperature and CO2. These are key variables which affect plant growth, development and functions. Moreover, the combination of elevated temperatures and the increased incidence of environmental stresses will probably constitute the greatest risk caused by global climate change to agricultural ecosystems in arid and semiarid areas of the world. Arid and semiarid lands are characterized by low and highly variable rainfall, and inter-annual variability in the total annual precipitation.In addition, the onset of rainy season is unpredictable and the length of the “dry season” varies from year to year. All these factors strongly limit primary productivity. Thus, it is necessary to learn as much details as possible on how agricultural ecosystems are and will be affected by the predicted environmental changes. The ability to capitalise on the beneficial effects of global change, while avoiding or reducing adverse effects, will require a strong predictive capability. Pakistan is one of the countries, which is most vulnerable to climate change and environmental stresses. Therefore,it is an urgent need to adapt and promote techniques that, without requiring large infrastructures and investments, could counteract environmental stresses, water shortage and land degradation, leading to a recovery of crop productivity. Innovative water management techniques that can mitigate the impact of different environmental factors on agricultural production are currently available. It is essential that these systems of water management in agriculture should be sustainable. Olive is the most economically important oil tree crop in temperate areas, with 10.2 million hectares under cultivation (FAO, 2012), and one of the most social and historically important crops in the Mediterranean Basin and ends in Pakistan. Olive has been traditionally a rainfed crop, but there has been a large increase in the amount of irrigation water used in olive farming, promoted by spectacular increases in yield. However, most olive production is located in regions where water is very scarce, even for human use. Therefore, the economy of these regions is calling for a better management policy. Pakistan has an immense potential for olive cultivation. Millions of wild olive plants already exist in various areas of Pakistan because of having most suitable conditions to cultivate finest nest olive varieties. Recent expert survey has identified 890,000 hectares potential suitable area for production. However, the weakness of the education system, as well as training and technology transfer to promote olive production in Pakistan is the main problem that must be addressed. Keeping in view the propect of olive cultivation in Pakistan, an international training workshop was organizedin order to demonstrate and disseminate the state-of-the-art knowledge and results developed bythe interactive research on tree crops, with special focus on olive and water. In addition, innovative management strategies and characterization of olive genetic resources to enhance the conservation and sustainable use and ensure the future of this crop in different climate change scenarios are also discussed in the conference. Azeem Khalid Contents 1. Welcome address 1 Professor Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad , Vice Chancellor 2. Inaugural address by the chief guest 3 Professor Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reforms 3. Sustainable management of agricultural water resources: From leaf physiology to dryland 5 ecosystem services Mauro Centritto 4. New challenges in olive orchard management 13 Sofienne Hammami and Mehdi Ben Mimoun 5. Sustainable irrigation scheduling and water quality for olives 18 Kostas Chartzoulakis 6. Use of micro catchment rainwater harvesting combined with micro irrigation technique in 25 olive for sustainable water management Muhammad Tariq, Abid Mahmoodand Marjan Aziz 7. GIS-based approaches for land evaluation of sustainable cultivation of olive trees 35 Rosario Napoli and Nicola Laruccia 8. In vitro screening of olive (Olea europaea L.) varieties for drought tolerance 47 Naeem Akhtar, Ishfaq Ahmad Hafiz, Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi, Abrar Ahmad, Abdul Razzaq and Touqeer Ahmad 9. Synthetic seed: A potential tool for exchange of olive germplasm 56 Ishfaq Ahmad Hafiz, Toqeer Ahmad, Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi, Abrar Ahmad, Naeem Akhtar, Tiziano Gardi and Maurzio Micheli 10. Olive oil quality vary with cultivars and agro-climatic conditions 61 Azmat Ali Awan and Abdur Rab 11. Establishment of nursery for vegetative propagation of Olea europaea L. 67 Muhammad Irfan Ashraf, Muhammad Ibrar Ahmed and Sabeeqa Usman Malik 12. Available and innovative technologies against soil erosion and desertification and a brief 71 overview of olive tree worldwide and diffusion prospects in Pakistan. Alessandro Bozzini 13. Prospects of olive growth in Pakistan: Agro-climatic suitability assessment in rainfed agro- 76 ecosystems through geospatial approaches Muhammad Iqbal, Amjad Ali, Muhammad Hanif, Muhammad Imran, Zuhair Bokhari and Imran Iqbal 14. Farmers‟ experiences and perception on climate change in bajaur agencies- Fata 79 Mohammad Jamal Khan, Mohammad Afzal and Jawad Ali 15. Watershed management for profitable use of land resources in Pothowar 90 Abid Subhani, Riffat Bibi and Syed Zia ul Hassan 16. Efficient use of soil, water and inputs is indispensable for sustainable agriculture under 97 changing environments Muhammad Arshad and Azhar Hussain 17. Climate change and its impacts on water resources of Indus Basin 105 Bashir Ahmad 18. Management of brackish