Highlights - Current Events D1

Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition

The efficient use of scarce water resources is vital for ensuring adequate and stable agricultural production in many developing countries located in arid and semi-arid regions. There are good prospects to profitably increase crop yields and reduce yield variation in rainfed agriculture with proper management of cropping systems, stored rainfall water and judicious use of inputs such as supplemental water, chemical fertilizers and organic residues.

A CRP on “Management of Nutrients and Water in Rainfed Arid and Semi-arid Areas for Increasing Crop Production” supported national efforts in ten Member States (Argentina, China, India, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Senegal, Syria) to identify promising soil, water and nutrient management practices for optimizing crop production in a wide range on soils and cropping systems under rainfed conditions. More information (pdf)

A Regional RCA/ IAEA TC project (RAS/5/039, Part 1), involving eleven countries of the region (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam) focused on the restoration of soil fertility in the rice-based cropping systems in the region with the objectives to: a) improve fertilizer management practices to increase the efficiency of chemical and bio-fertilizers to optimise the cost-effectiveness of fertilizer inputs (mainly

nitrogen), and b) identify crop residue management practices to enhance the nutrient availability to crops and improve soil fertility. More information (pdf)

FAO/IAEA Technical Co-operation Project CHI/5/021 “Improvement of Soil/Water/Nutrient Management to Control Soil Degradation”
At request of the government of Chile, this project was approved for implementation through the biennium 2001-2002 and extended to the next biennium 2003-2004 to investigate the sustainability issues and evaluate the impact of the activities. This project assisted in the development and promotion of an integrated approach for soil, water, and nutrients management (SWNM) in the central-southern area

(regions VIII, IX and X) of Chile to provide solutions for controlling /mitigating specific soil degradation problems such soil fertility decline, soil erosion losses, scarcity of irrigation water and deforestation using nuclear and related techniques. This project underpins the activities of national programs aiming at conserving natural resources and monitoring impacts from agriculture on the environment such as the Degraded Soils Recovery Program (PRSD) implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture through the Agricultural and Livestock Service. More information (pdf)

Technical Meetings

FAO/IAEA Technical Meeting on “Combating Soil Degradation to Enhance Food Security in Africa: The Role of Nuclear Techniques in Developing Improved Soil, Water And Nutrient Management Practices”, ICRAF Headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya, 10 - 13 October 2005.
Scientific Secretary: C. Bernard
This regional conference will provide a unique Forum to discuss on problems of soil quality degradation, as related to the more global desertification problem, share experiences and exchange information on success stories in controlling the problem and restoring soil quality, establish contacts and build new alliances to increase the impact of R&D work on desertification. More Information

Submission Deadline: 30 June 2005