Management Techniques to Combat Land Degradation

Land degradation threatens the survival of more than 250 million people in the drylands of the developing world. Most of these people depend on rainfed agriculture and natural rangelands. The India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) based in Syria are teaming up for a global research program called ‘Oasis’ to intensify the effort against dryland degradation and desertification.

ICRISAT has developed a “microdosing” technique to address the issue of poor soil fertility. This involves the application of small, affordable quantities of fertilizer with the seed at planting time or as a top dressing 3 or 4 weeks after emergence. The Institute is also undertaking Bioreclamation of Degraded Lands (BDL) project in the unproductive soils of the West African Sahel. The project combines simple effective techniques such as zaï holes, planting-basin cultivation, trenches and land scarification that concentrate limited water and nutrient resources close to the plant roots.

For more information, read the press release at http://www.icrisat.org/Media/2008/media10.htm