On 16 July, ICBA scientists were able to learn more about research being undertaken in Japan on soils quality improvement when a Japanese group visited ICBA. The group comprised representatives from the Graduate School of Engineering in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and farmers specializing in tomato production. They were keen to learn from ICBA’s expertise and research in using marginal quality water resources to grow vegetable and other crops. The Japanese group shared their experience in the application of microbes to improve the quality of sandy soils and expressed their interest to collaborate with ICBA to test their technology under harsh desert conditions.