April 2021

For Media Enquiries

Abdumutalib Begmuratov

Head of Knowledge Management and Communications

A.Begmuratov@biosaline.org.ae
+971 4 304 63 45

Climate-resilient crops like quinoa hold great potential for food security and nutrition in marginal environments.

World’s indigenous peoples to bear brunt of climate change, warns UN paper

25 April 2021

Indigenous peoples around the world – the guardians of traditional knowledge systems and underutilized, forgotten crops that may yet prove critical for global food security – are likely to be hit hardest by climate change, says a United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) 2021 brief co-authored by scientists representing the Association of International Research and Development Centers for Agriculture (AIRCA).

Around 2,500 people were engaged in various project activities and events in Egypt. The project provided some 350 farmers, including 250 women, with different tools and resources to enable them to sustainably grow food under marginal conditions. What is more, nearly 30 quinoa- and five Salicornia-based products were launched and presented during various events.
ICBA also hosted a series of online training courses between February and April 2021, which were attended by about 500 participants from 49 countries, of whom 30 percent were women. The series covered such topics as soil and water sampling; irrigation management; quinoa and Salicornia production; on-farm fertilizer, pesticide and waste management; aquaculture; and marketing strategies in agriculture.

Helping farmers earn more from salt-affected land, water resources

20 April 2021

The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) has recently completed a project aimed at supporting the development of value chains for quinoa and Salicornia in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to boost the economic resilience of farming communities in marginal areas.

The study presents different scenarios for quinoa cultivation in manual and mechanized production systems under rainfed and irrigated conditions. It notes that, among other things, quinoa is more economically beneficial than some traditional cereals. For example, it generates much higher profits than barley and wheat when grown under the same conditions (a rainfed and mechanized scenario).

ICBA’s quinoa varieties show promise in Morocco - study

15 April 2021

Quinoa varieties introduced in Morocco’s Rehamna Province by the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) perform better under local conditions than those currently used by farmers, says a recent study by Dr.