Developing Climate Smart Agricultural Management Practices including Polyhalite to Alleviate Soil Salinisation and Sodification Impacts on Crop Production using Nuclear and related techniques

The project will bring together relevant expertise from Soil, Water Management and Crop Nutrition section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre, Anglo American Crop Nutrients, researchers, academia, extension workers, land managers, local farmers and non-governmental organisations. The project will be implemented as a Coordinated Research Project (CRP) over five years. The CRP will focus on the development of climate smart agricultural practices to effectively manage and improve soil health and fertility and increase crop productivity using polyhalite fertiliser to improve farmer outcomes in saline, sodic and saline-sodic soils, and compare its efficacy with other commercially available fertilisers. Call for research proposals will be posted on the IAEA website for institutions in MSs to apply.
MSs/Institutes will be selected to participate in the project based on the following criteria:
- Existence of suitably qualified staff with adequate laboratory capacity to implement the project activities.
- Proven research experience in soil, nutrient and water management, including enhancing nutrient and water use efficiency of marginal land and mitigating salinity using nuclear and related techniques.
- Extensive experience in establishing strategic partnerships with regional key stakeholders (i.e., decision-makers, end-users, members of the civil society and extension workers) for implementation and roll out of project activities, as well as with international counterparts for knowledge sharing and analytical support. Selected MSs/institutes will receive an annual grant to conduct research under the framework of the CRP.
Research Coordination Meetings (RCM) will be held at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna or other locations in MSs to review the project progress, provide technical backstopping and sharing of information, knowledge and skills. Training will be conducted to improve any knowledge gaps. Results will be published through a minimum of 20 peer reviewed publications, based on pooled data from the CRP or individual reports/publications from the participating MSs/institutions by agreement with the CRP steering committee. Additionally, CRP activities and results will be disseminated through conference presentations, technical workshops and a final CRP Symposium. A technical document will be published on completion of the CRP on the methods and results of the CRP. Other potential partners: Universidad de Polytechnica Madrid and International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai UAE, and FAO. Objective: To assess the relative benefits and effectiveness of polyhalite when compared to other commercially available fertilisers and soil amendments to ameliorate salt affected soils. This will enhance crop productivity and quality under a changing climate, understand nutrient release dynamics, and rebuild the health and fertility of degraded and marginal soils to reduce their environmental impact. Using climate smart agricultural practices and polyhalite, this CRP will improve soil health and farmer livelihoods leading to improved food security and contributing to SDGs 1, 2, 13, 15 and 17.