Webinar "Soil and Water Management in salt affected areas: practical solutions and tools"
The Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture (WASAG) hosted by the FAO Land and Water Division organized a series of webinars in collaboration with its Partners.
The working group on “Saline Agriculture”, under the framework of WASAG, is organized a webinar titled "Soil and Water Management in salt affected areas: practical solutions and tools" to share knowledge and experience in addressing the multiple challenges related to agriculture of these zones. Aim of the Webinar was to the understand major issues and the role that tailored soil management and irrigation techniques can play in ensuring food security in such areas. The webinar brought together irrigation practitioners (researchers, Government officials, service providers) from around the world to showcase solutions and tools provided by their experience.
Some of the key aspects of the dialogue focused on global projects related to the practice of irrigation with brackish or saline waters, as well as innovative approaches and solutions in managing saline soils. Under the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented challenging conditions push the attention on how local food production can be enhanced by utilizing low-quality water and land resources, such as in salt-affected soils.
The working group on “Saline Agriculture”, under the framework of WASAG, organized a webinar titled "Soil and water management in salt affected areas: practical solutions and tools" to share knowledge and experience in addressing the multiple challenges related to agriculture of these [...]
Speakers
Dr Torkil Jønch Clausen - International Water Adviser
Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Chair of the Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture (WASAG), Chair of the Action Platform for Source-to-Sea Management, and Chair of the Expert Panel for the African Water, Climate and Development Program (WACDEP-Gender by AMCOW/GWP).
Mr Felix Britz Reinders - President, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage - ICID
He is a Professional Engineer, registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa. He is specialized in Water resources management and Irrigation engineering in the Agricultural and Civil Engineering field. His skills include research, design, training and mentoring. As Manager of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering at the Agricultural Research Council’s Agricultural Engineering group, he has had a pivotal role in the co-ordination of irrigation research, development, testing and design.
Mr Marco Arcieri - Vice President, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage - ICID
He is an agronomist and holds a Ph.D. on Environmental Science, Crops and Forestry systems. He has over 20 years’ experience on assessment of evapotranspiration, crop water requirements, water resources management, prevention and monitoring of drought.
Ms Angela Moreno - President, Institut National de Recherche et Développement Agraire INIDA/MAA – Cape Verde
She is an agronomist and holds a PhD in Biosystems Engineering - Rural Engineering, besides a Master's degree in Hydraulics and Water Resources. She has 28 years of experience in agriculture, irrigation and hydraulics, soil and water management and agrarian research. She is also author and co-author of many Scientifics publications. She is actually Chair of the Board of Directors of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD).
Mr Tommaso Letterio - Technical Researcher, CER – Consorzio Emiliano Romagnolo
He has been working at CER since 2015, addressing the following topic: hydro-informatics, soil-water-plant-atmosphere data analysis and modelling, remote sensing and field investigation. He is an agronomist with Ph.D. on applied hydrology.
Mr Francisco Pedrero - Researcher/Scientist, Applied Biology and Soil Sciences (CEBAS) Irrigation Department. Spanish National Research Council -CSIC SPAIN
He has been working for the last 12 years on the use of non-conventional water resources in agriculture. Agriculture Engineer and Project coordinator in CEBAS-CSIC, he has participated in more than 20 international, national and regional research projects in close collaboration with private enterprises.
Ms Zineb Bazza - GSP, FAO
Ms Zineb Bazza is a soil scientist specialised in sustainable soil management and soil fertility. She has joined the GSP Secretariat in 2017, where she is the coordinator for the African Soil Partnership and the main facilitator for activities related to sustainable soil management and also leading the work on salt-affected soils within the partnership.
Mr Ahmed Elnaggar - Soil Management Scientist - ICBA
During his career, Dr. Ahmed El-Naggar has led or been involved in many research projects to enhance the recycling and management of different types of waste. This includes nutrient management of natural resources and their optimum use in agriculture. His research focuses on biomass of organic origin as a potential sustainable source for nutrients in agricultural systems and improving soil and water as valuable natural resources.
He holds a Ph.D. in Soil Sciences and Environmental Management from the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has published more than 20 research publications in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and conference proceedings.
Mr Gergely Tóth - head of the Department of Soil Science and Environmental Informatics, University of Pannonia and scientific advisor at the Agricultural Research Centre, Hungary
Over 25 years of experience in applied research in the areas of soil functions, land evaluation, soil threats and degradation control. He has background in soil science and agricultural chemistry (South China Agricultural University) an MSc in environmental sciences (University of Manchester) PhD in agricultural sciences (University of Pannonia) a DSc in soil evaluation (Hungarian Academy of Sciences). Co-chair of Pillar 3 (research) of the European Soil Partnership.
Ms Ana Laura Touza - FAO representative in Cabo Verde
Madame Touza, an Argentine national, holds a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), San José, Costa Rica. She has worked in a variety of research and coordination capacities throughout her career. Since 2017, she has served as Regional Coordinator of the PRO-ACT Resilience Project, WFP, Panama.
Programme
Moderator – Torkil Jønch Clausen, WASAG Chair
15:00-15:05 Opening remarks - Felix Britz Reinders, President ICID
15:05-15:45 WATER
Irrigation management under saline conditions - Marco Arcieri, ICID
Biosaline agriculture techniques: soil and water salinity in Cabo Verde – Angela Moreno, INIDA
Water management in land reclamation areas of southern Spain - Francisco Pedrero, CEBAS
Saline water management in land reclamation areas of northern Italy - Tommaso Letterio, CER
Q&A
15:45-16:25 SOIL
International Network on Salt-Affected Soils (INSAS) and salinity mapping - Zineb Bazza, FAO
Show cases for managing saline soil - Ahmed El-Naggar, ICBA
Potentials of bio-based fertilizers in managing nutrients and soil properties in saline areas - Toth Gergely
Q&A
16:25-16:30 Closing remarks - Ana Laura Touza, FAO Rep Cabo Verde