A crucial part of the Initiative is the determination of the extent and nature of the land degradation
due to salt damage in Central and Southern Iraq. A range of techniques, including the very latest
Geographic Information Systems are being deployed to achieve this.
من أهم عناصر البحث التي يعني بها هذا المشروع هو تحديد مدى وطبيعة تدهور الأرض الزراعية المتدهورة بفعل الملوحة في وسط وجنوب العراق حيث تستخدم مجموعة من التقنيات لتحقيق ذلك. نذكر منها على سبيل المثال نظم المعلومات الجغرافية.

A fines del anterior siglo los impactos ambientales negativos de las actividades humanas sobre los bosques amazo?nicos se han vuelto un tema primordial en las agendas poli?ticas mundiales. La investigacio?n cienti?fica ha permitido desarrollar una variedad de alternativas para reducir los impactos por deforestacio?n y la degradacio?n de los bosques.

Different processes of land degradation have been the outcome in many parts of the world, having severe impacts on ecosystems and the services they provide and on human livelihoods. Land degradation is one of the key challenges facing mankind in order to achieve sustainable development, but the quest for sustainability of land management has proved to be a major challenge to most countries. This book takes the case of Iceland. It tells the remarkable story of more than century combating land degradation.

Rainwater harvesting in micro-catchments such as contour ridges and semicircular bunds is an option for utilizing the limited rainfall, improving productivity and combating land degradation in dry rangeland areas (Badia). However, implementation of this practice using manual labor or traditional machinery is slow, tedious and costly, and often impractical on a large scale. These limitations can be overcome using the ‘Vallerani’ plow for quickly constructing continuous and intermittent ridges.

Mechanized construction of micro-catchments for water harvesting (WH) was successfully tested in the Badia (dry rangeland) areas in Syria and Jordan, using the “Vallerani” plow, model Delfino (50 MI/CM), manufactured by Nardi, Italy. The plow was able to construct intermittent and continuous contour ridges, and could potentially be used to rehabilitate degraded rangelands. However, one major issue for large-scale implementation is the high cost and time required to manually identify contours for the plow to follow.

Research Report no. 4 of the CPWF project: Improving on-farm agricultural water productivity in the Karkheh river basin (PN8).

 Durante tres años se establecieron en un Andisol del municipio de Somotillo (Nicaragua) los sistemas

de usos de tierra: tradicional del productor (tala, quema, fertilización y siembra de maíz + fríjol);

agroforestal Quesungual (SAQ) (no quema, árboles nativos en regeneración natural y siembra de

maíz + fríjol); residuos de cultivos (manejo de cobertura con residuos de cultivos); y testigo bosque

secundario (tacotal) de aproximadamente cinco años de edad no cultivado. Se hicieron muestreos de

Land degradation is a major problem in almost all the countries. In most of the developing countries, population pressure and small farm sizes, land tenure insecurity, land redistribution, limited access to credits and limited education are the factors leading to unsustainable land management. In Ethiopia, among many factors, tenure insecurity is considered as a main problem for land degradation. The frequent land redistribution and the changing pattern of land ownership with the change in Government made the farmers insecure of their land resulting in not making land related investments.

The study of soils is important for landuse planning, agriculture, and natural resource development programs. Determination of soil characteristics and limitations is one of the most important duties of soil researchers. This report presents a semi-detailed soil survey of Merek watershed in Kermanshah Province, and Honam watershed in Lorestan Province, Iran. It is hoped that the analyses and recommendations will be of value to those interested in the optimum use of Iran’s land and water resources.

Center Commissioned External Review of Integrated Water and Land Management Program of ICARDA.
ICARDA’s Response to the Recommendations of the Center Commissioned External Review of the Integrated Water and Land Management Program in ICARDA March 2010

ICARDA’s West Asia Regional Program (WARP) coordinates agricultural research and development activities in Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and lowland Turkey. With its head office in Amman, Jordan, the program plays a key role in joint bilateral and regional initiatives, as well as implementing several projects.

Desertification, land degradation and drought affect more than 2 billion people and the situation might worsen due to the unsustainable use of soil and water under present scenarios of climate change. The UNCCD 10-year strategy points out the importance of science, knowledge sharing systems and awareness raising to support policymakers in reversing this trend. Sustainable land management practices, including sustainable agriculture, provide important local, regional and global benefits.