Opportunities to reduce the vulnerability of dryland farmers in Central and West Asia and North Africa to climate change
The world’s drylands will face not only increasing temperatures with climate change but more importantly also disruptions to their hydrological cycles resulting in less and more erratic rainfall that will exacerbate the already critical state of...
Fruit and Oil Characteristics of Three Main Syrian Olive Cultivars Grown under Different Climatic Conditions
The recent expansion in olive (Olea europaea L.) production in Syria to less favorable areas implies the need for comprehensive studies of cultivars on the characteristics of oil produced in these marginal environments. The objective of this...
Groundwater resources in the Jabal Al Hass region, northwest Syria: an assessment of past use and future potential
In many cases, the development of groundwater resources to boost agricultural production in dry areas has led to a continuous decline in groundwater levels; this has called into question the sustainability of such exploitation. In developing...
Long-Term Cereal-Based Rotation Trials in the Mediterranean Region: Implications for Cropping Sustainability
With increasing global populations particularly in developing countries, and a limited or even shrinking supply of arable land, the challenge to agriculture is to meet the world's food and fiber needs without reducing the capacity of the...
Use of an adsorbent and antioxidants to reduce the effects of leached phenolics in in vitro plantlet regeneration of faba bean
Development of a reliable in vitro regeneration protocol is necessary to facilitate genetic transformation of faba bean. However, leaching of phenolics from the explants of most genotypes of faba bean to the culture medium causes browning, and...
Sources of resistance to Hessian Fly ( Diptera:Cecidomyiidae ) in Syria identified among Aegilops species and Synthetic derived bread wheat Lines
The Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say), is a major pest of wheat in North Africa, southern Europe, North America, and northern Kazakhstan. It is believed this pest (like wheat) originated in West Asia. The Syrian Hessian fly biotype has...
In-season wheat root growth and soil water extraction in the Mediterranean environment of northern Syria
Wheat is the most important cereal crop in the semi-arid eastern Mediterranean region that includes northern Syria. Knowledge of wheat root depth and the vertical distribution during the winter growing season is needed for sound scheduling of...
Extent and characterization of salt-affected soils in Iran and strategies for their amelioration and management
Salinisation of land resources is a major impediment to their optimal utilisation in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world including Iran. Estimates suggest that about 34 million ha, including 4·1 million ha of the irrigated land, are...
Modification of the FAO-56 spreadsheet program for scheduling supplemental irrigation of winter crops in a Mediterranean climate
Population growth and urbanization are increasing demands on limited renewable water resources in the Mediterranean region. Irrigation is a major water user, and so there has been increased effort to improve its efficiency. Using supplemental...
Accumulation and implications of cadmium, cobalt and manganese in soils and vegetables irrigated with city effluent
In most parts of Pakistan, untreated city effluent is utilised for growing vegetables around large urban settlements such as Faisalabad. Farmers use it as a source of irrigation water and plant nutrients. However, its continuous use may have...