Literature Search September 2004
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SALINE WATER USE IN AGRICULTURE Literature Search September 2004 OVERVIEW / REVIEW LITERATURE TI: The role of biosaline agriculture in managing freshwater shortages and improving water security. AU: Mohammad-Al-Attar; Scanes-CG (ed.); Miranowski-JA SO: Perspectives-in-world-food-and-agriculture-2004. 2004, 271-282; 16 ref. PB: Iowa State Press; Ames; USA LA: English AB: The Near East is one of the driest areas of the world, being poorly endowed with freshwater resources. The establishment of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, which aims to promote the use of saline water in productive sustainable agriculture in its member countries and elsewhere, in the Near East is presented. The role of biosaline agriculture in managing freshwater shortages is discussed.PT: Book-chapter IB: 0-8138-2021-9 AN: 20043077576 TI: The use of saline water in agriculture in the Near East and North Africa Region: present and future. AU: Abou-Hadid-AF SO: Journal-of-Crop-Production. 2003, 7: 1-2, 299-323; 20 ref. LA: English AB: Salinity is a major problem that negatively impacts agricultural activities in many regions in the world, and especially the Near East and North Africa region. Generally, salinity problems increase with increasing salt concentration in irrigation water. Crop growth reduction due to salinity is generally related to the osmotic potential of the root-zone soil solution. This will lead to certain phenological changes and substantial reduction in productivity. Salinity also affects the soil physical properties. Sewage treated waste water is an alternative water source for irrigation. Using such waste water will provide a new water resource to expand agricultural activities as well as reduce the environmental pollution. Each country in the region has a unique system of rules and regulations to protect the quality of water resources. Important aspects that should be taken into account when using waste water for irrigation are discussed, including some information on the different irrigation systems used in the region, and the factors leading to success of using saline water for economic crop production. Information on the use of saline water or marginal saline soils for wheat production and improvement of irrigation systems, including old land irrigation systems, under Egyptian conditions is also presented. The regional experiences and the future prospects of using saline water for crop production that vary greatly among countries in the Near East and North Africa region are summarized. This article also presents information on special cultivation methods, such as protected agriculture and soilless culture that can help in alleviating the salinity effects. Finally, the article includes some examples on the inherited knowledge for saline agriculture that conveys the grower's experience in the Near East and North Africa region where several living examples for unique and sustainable cultivation system are still in operation. One of the most impressive cultivation techniques for bio-saline crop management in Egypt is the Edkawy production system. TI: Prospects-for-saline-agriculture. 2002, xvii + 460 pp.; many ref. AU: Ahmad-R; Malik-KA; Ahmad-R (ed.); Malik-KA PB: Kluwer Academic Publishers; Dordrecht; Netherlands LA: English AB: This book contains 47 papers discussing some practical approaches (e.g. biotechnology) for saline agriculture and afforestation, and describes examples of cultivating salt tolerant/halophytic plants (viz., wheat, rice, millet, halophytes and mangroves) for commercial interest on salt-affected land or with highly salinized water in Australia, Central Asia, Egypt, Pakistan and Russia. The possibilities of arid/saline agriculture and afforestation in the United Arab Emirates are also discussed. TI: Irrigation management under water scarcity. AU: Pereira-LS; Oweis-T; Zairi-A SO: Agricultural-Water-Management. 2002, 57: 3, 175-206; many ref. LA: English AB: The use of water for agricultural production in water scarcity regions requires innovative and sustainable research, and an appropriate transfer of technologies. This paper discusses some of these aspects, mainly relative to on-farm irrigation management including the use of treated waste water and saline waters. First, the paper proposes some concepts relative to water scarcity, concerning aridity, drought, desertification and water shortage, as well as policies to cope with these water stressed regimes. Conceptual approaches on irrigation performances, water use and water savings are reviewed in a wide perspective. This is followed by a discussion of supply management to cope with water scarcity, giving particular attention to the use of waste water and low-quality waters, including the respective impacts on health and the environment as water scarcity is requiring that waters of inferior quality be increasingly used for irrigation. The paper then focuses on demand management, starting with aspects relating to the improvement of irrigation methods and the respective performances, mainly the distribution uniformity as a fundamental tool to reduce the demand for water at the farm level, and to control the negative environmental impacts of over-irrigation, including salt stressed areas. Discussions are supported by recent research results. The suitability of irrigation methods for using treated waste waters and saline waters is analysed. Supplemental irrigation and deficit irrigation strategies are also discussed, including limitations on the applicability of related practices. The paper also identifies the need to adopt emerging technologies for water management as well as to develop appropriate methodologies for the analysis of social, economic, and environmental benefits of improved irrigation management. TI: Saline irrigation assessment and management for sustainable use. AU: Hamdy-A; Hamdy-A SO: Special session on non-conventional water resources practices and management and Annual Meeting UWRM Sub-Network Partners. Special-Session-on-Non-conventional-Water-Resources-Practices-and- Management-and-Annual-Meeting-UWRM-Sub-Network-Partners,-IAV-HASSAN-II,-Rabat,-Morocco,-28- October,-1999. 2000, 3-69. PB: Mediterranean Agronomic Institute; Bari; Italy LA: English AB: The paper is focused on issues related to management, environment and health that should be addressed when reusing poor quality waters. Crop-water-yield relations are discussed with particular relation to salinity impact. The exact effects of salinity, toxicity of certain ions, and nutritional imbalance are not explicitly accounted for in crop-water production functions. There is a need for more investigation on how plants respond to the temporal and spatial variation in water and salinity stress in order to obtain more realistic crop water production functions. Guidelines on the suitability of saline water for irrigation are discussed that account for the varying sensitivity of plants at different growth stages to the salinity of water. The factors considered include: plant tolerance, irrigation system, irrigation frequency, soil type, soil physical condition, tillage and seed bed preparation. Blending different salinity waters is a questionable practice. Examples on the reuse of drainage water in a cyclic management strategy for field crops and agroforestry are explained. The results in terms of environmental protection are encouraging. New, improved techniques to assess health risks associated with trace contaminants, microbiological quality, fate of microbiological, chemical and organic contaminants are necessary to improve safety standards. TI: Sustainable use of salt tolerant plants. OT: Nachhaltige Nutzung salztoleranter Pflanzen. AU: Huchzermeyer-B; Heins-T; Kamphues-J (ed.); Flachowsky-G SO: Animal nutrition - resources and future developments. Workshop on Sustainable Animal Production, 15-16 June 2000, EXPO 2000, Hannover, Germany. Landbauforschung-Volkenrode,-Sonderheft. 2001, No. 223, 391- 397; 10 ref. LA: German LS: English AB: The development of mankind has reached the point that new resources need to be trapped in order to fill our basic needs for food, feed and freshwater. It is foreseeable that freshwater resources will become limited, and that currently used agricultural irrigation systems will steadily increase soil salinity in the near future. To date, 30% of the farmland under irrigation cannot be used any more for efficient crop framing due to salt contamination. It is one goal of the scientific community, therefore, to develop sustainable production systems to supply animal and men with food and drinking water. The EU-Concerted-Action, "Sustainable Use of Halophytes" has the objectives to (i) demonstrate the feasibility of brackish water or even seawater irrigated ecosystems for landscape management, agriculture, horticulture, greenification of housing areas, wasteland and roadsides, roof 2 greenification and sand dune stabilization; (ii) inform potential users as well as the general public through seminars, congresses, exhibits in fairs, and by building demonstration sites at different locations in the Mediterranean and subtropical dry regions; (iii) perform physiological, biochemical and molecular genetically experiments with potential cash crop halophytes in order to identify relevant parameters and to provide data for future breeding projects. This contribution aims at providing early information with respect to the use of halophytes and their by-products as fodder for the animal production in arid areas. PT: Journal-article; Conference-paper TI: