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Seed bank hunts for solutions to saltier soil

It is cold, very cold, inside the seed bank at the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture outside Dubai.

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Behind solid fridge doors, the bank's temperature of between 5 and 7 degrees centigrade takes the breath away as the Gulf summer gets under way.

The objects of this special care and attention are set neatly on wooden shelves in hundreds of kilner jars.

Seeds have a limited shelf life and do not like warmth - or else they die, says Dr Kameswara Rao Nanduri, a plant genetic resources scientist at ICBA. And some of these seeds are special because they can grow in very salty conditions.

Salt levels in groundwater, in soils, rivers and freshwater lakes are increasing dramatically. In the Arab world, the Tigris, Euphrates and Jordan are growing increasingly saline as water is drawn off upstream, threatening the efficacy of once-mighty irrigation systems.

Date palms on Oman's Batinah coast, the sultanate's traditional agricultural centre, are withering.

"Each time water is used and then recaptured it gets more salty," says Ian McCann, an expert in water management and irrigation.

The ability of plants to withstand salt is therefore increasingly prized around the world as a means of meeting real or imagined food shortages, in an ever increasing population.

Which is where ICBA comes in.

"It's about challenging the way in which we think about land and water use. Farmers and governments think about just about using good soils and good water," says Rachel McDonnell, a visiting scientist specialising in water policy and governance. "It's about taking land on which nothing is being grown and transforming it by using water that you wouldn't otherwise use."

At the seed bank, Dr Rao has identified several accessions - types - out of 3,000 strains of barley and other crops that can survive in highly saline soils. The crop can be used in breakfast cereals, soups, brewing and as feed for animals.

He has also identified suitable flowers and fodders. Sweet alyssum, African daisy and beach evening primrose are ornamentals that can survive in highly saline conditions. Asparagus, cow pea and quinoa are recommended as edible alternatives to more thirsty foodstuffs such as alfalfa or lettuce.

These solutions are needed urgently. More than 25 per cent of irrigated land globally is affected by salinity and an additional 15 per cent is waterlogged, ICBA says.

Founded with the help of the Islamic Development Bank over a decade ago, the centre's task is to test the agricultural possibilities of using water ranging up to what is defined as very highly saline.

"ICBA is really an applied research centre, an outreach centre. Its focus is on transferring our scientific knowledge directly to those who can benefit from it. It really wants to get the goods out there and used," says Dr McCann.

Arab countries are not alone in suffering from higher levels of salt. Large proportions of agricultural land in Pakistan, central Asia and Australia are affected and all have developed responses, some of which date back decades.

So what can these techniques achieve? A sceptic notes that saline agriculture has been studied for nearly 50 years by "some significant scientists [but] the effort has not resulted in major adoption".

That said, a study conducted across five sites in southern Australia found that "introducing improved pasture species to salt- affected land to increase the feed value for livestock is profitable across a broad range of environments".

The Arab world is at an earlier stage. The centre is looking at remediation methods, a set of techniques by which overworked or infertile soils can be brought back into some kind of use. ICBA is working with Iraqi government agencies to reclaim hundreds of hectares of degraded land.

The head of the Jordan Valley Authority has recently visited, as have the heads of various food security agencies. Much groundwater in the region is classified as brackish but could be used in food production with careful management.

The United Arab Emirates is clamping down on subsidies for Rhodes grass, an animal fodder particularly favoured in Abu Dhabi's western province. The grass was consuming more than a half of all the water in agriculture in the UAE.

Behind the ICBA building are beds of distichlis spicata, originally from the US, where it is known as seashore saltgrass, and sporobolus virginicus, both of which can grow using seawater. Such plants can serve as forage for animals or on golf courses - favoured developments in the Gulf Arab states.

Breeds of Acacia, a tree, can grow in harsh conditions, provide fuel, and can provide shade and mulch to nurture other plants.

"The situation has not been perceived to be critical until now. [Arab] governments are now suddenly rethinking as food and water security issues become more urgent. The governments see change happening and it is happening now," says Dr McDonnell.

© Financial Times 2011