Andrés Parra González IWARESA Congres, Murcia 2018

SALINE AGRICULTURE A practical solution to a global problem

Why saline agriculture?

$ 27 billion crop salt damage

70 % used by agriculture

95 % in developing countries

20 % irrigated areas salt affected

1 billion ha salt affected About 97 % salt water

2 % fresh

> 1 % available

2000 ha per day

C o n t r i b u t e t o f o o d s e c u r i t y, r e d u c e m i g r a t i o n ,

p o v e r t y, m a l n u t r i t i o n , u n e m p l o y m e n t

Adapt farming systems to higher salinity levels

Salt tolerant crops + soil salinity management

Open air lab

Texel Island, the Netherlands

First “quick scan” 2 salt concentrations, many different varieties

In 2017 screening of 100 Brassica + 80 potato varieties

* 2016: 80 lettuce varieties, 45 strawberry varieties

* 2015: 266 potato varieties

Test facility 1 ha; 56 plots, 7 treatments, 8 replicas

Data up until 2015 in report

Publications in preparation with data from last years

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Yiel

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Seasonal mean ECe (dS/m)

carrot

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Seasonal mean ECe (dS/m)

potato Potato. Salinity threshold: 7.6 dS/m FAO reference: 1.7 dS/m

Carrot. Salinity threshold: 7.0 dS/m FAO reference: 1.0 dS/m

Up-scaling and implementation

Focus in cultivation methods and market development

Salt tolerant potatoes in Pakistan

Bangladesh

-The Salt Solution Project-

Bangladesh

-The Salt Solution Project-

Salinity tolerance reaches higher than common believe

Increase crop production under saline condition is possible

Seeing is believing, social learning for up scaling

ha for a new

SA not only contributes to food security, but also revalue salt

affected farmlands, recovery local economies and prevent

climate migrations

Summary

Thank you! agonzalez@saltfarmtexel.com