The Third International Laayoune Forum on Biosaline and Arid Land Agriculture
The Third International Laayoune Forum on Biosaline and Arid Land Agriculture
Shaping future agriculture in salt affected and arid lands
31 January 2025
28 February 2025
30 April 2025
15 April 2025
16 April 2025
30 April 2025
Abiotic stress, forage crops, Marginal environments, Irrigation, water resources, Arid land agriculture, Soil amendments, Breeding, Biosaline Agriculture
Welcome from the Chair
Dear Colleagues,
It is a pleasure to announce the Third edition of the International Laayoune Forum on Biosaline and Arid Land Agriculture (LAFOBA3). This conference is organized jointly by the African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and Phosboucraa foundation. LAFOBA3 will be physically held from May 20th to 22nd 2025 in Laayoune city, Morocco.
The Forum is organized in view of enormous impact the soil and water salinization, drought and climate change have on ecosystems, agriculture, livelihoods and food security worldwide. Therefore, it is crucial to map the areas already affected by salinity or at risk on a global scale, develop, and implement strategies and practices to effectively and efficiently address this issue.
The forum is also a continuation of the previous successful First and second International Laayoune Forum on Biosaline Agriculture, as salinity and drought still affect many aspects of human life. Moreover, the concept of using saline water for irrigation and stress tolerant crops to increase food production has been advocated by many research scientists, organizations, institutions and authorities for the last five decades.
Furthermore, the forum will look at the progress that has been made in salinity and drought management at national, regional and global levels. As practice and policy on agricultural management in salt affected and dry land have been further advanced, the forum will benefit a wide range of stakeholders, including scientists, policymakers and experts. Thus, it will serve as a platform for exchange of knowledge on the latest advancements on salinity and drought in marginal environments.
Call for abstracts
Dear Colleagues,
It is a pleasure to announce the Third edition of the International Laayoune Forum on Biosaline and Arid Land Agriculture (LAFOBA3). This conference is organized jointly by the African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and Phosboucraa foundation. LAFOBA3 will be held from May 20th to 22nd 2025 in Laayoune city, south of Morocco.
The Scientific and Organising Committee welcome the submission of original contributions to be presented at the forum in its different sessions.
Bookmark our website, follow us on social media and do not hesitate to contact us with your questions at LAFOBA@um6p.ma and do not forget to submit an abstract to share your research with others as an oral talk or poster presentation to an international audience. Please note there will be several prizes for young scientists!
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Critical Dates
Event Organizers
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University
UM6P
ASARI has been created by UM6P university within Laayoune Technopole project in 2020. Located in a desert area suffering from various challenges including desertification, aridity, salinization, etc. The Institute focuses on research questions related to sustainable agriculture under marginal environment and its research agenda includes several programs: Biosaline agriculture, native plant and algae valorisation, camel value chain, water management and renewable energy. Currently ASARI researchers are implementing more than 14 research projects in Morocco and abroad. The institute’s mission is to ensure sustainable livelihoods and food security in salt marginal environments in Africa.
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P, https://www.um6p.ma/en) is an international higher education institution, established to provide research and innovation at the service of education and development for Morocco and the African continent. It has a state-of-the-art campus at the heart of the Green City of Benguerir, near Marrakesh. UM6P academics and staff enjoy strong research funding, moderate teaching loads, and excellent facilities. Its research approach is transdisciplinary with an emphasis on international collaboration. Many of our research programs run as start-ups. OCP group (http://www.ocpgroup.ma/en/home), a world leader in fertilizer production, is a major starter client for the University providing capital and research funds. In parallel, a new portfolio of clients is growing with the development of an R&D cluster around the University and a growing number of international partnerships.
abdelaziz.hirich@um6p.ma
Phosboucraa foundation
PBF
Phosboucraa Foundation was created in May 2014 to operate for the well-being of the communities in the 3 Southern regions of Morocco. Since its founding, the foundation have developed sustainable locally-relevant programs covering the region of Guelmim Oued Noun, Laayoun Sakia El Hamra and Dakhla Oued Eddahab.
abdelaziz.hirich@um6p.ma
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
ICARDA
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is an international organization undertaking research-for-development. We provide innovative, science-based solutions for communities across the non-tropical dry areas. In partnership with research institutions, NGOs, governments, and the private sector, our work advances scientific knowledge, shapes practices, and informs policy.
Since its establishment in 1977, ICARDA has implemented research-for-development programs in 50 countries across the world’s dry areas – from Morocco in North Africa to Bangladesh in South Asia.
ICARDA has a global mandate for the crop development of barley, lentil, and faba bean, and serves the non-tropical dry areas for the improvement of water-use efficiency in agriculture, rangeland issues, and small-ruminant production. In the Middle East and North Africa region, and in Central Asia, ICARDA contributes to the improvement of bread and durum wheat, kabuli chickpea, pasture, and forage legumes, and associated farming systems. We also work on land management topics, the diversification of production systems, and value chains for sector-based crop and livestock products. Social, economic and policy research, as well as communication and knowledge sharing, is an integral component of ICARDA’s approach to enhance the uptake of new technologies and maximize the impact of research outputs.
k.devkota@cgiar.org
Event Chairs
African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), College of Agriculture and Environmental Science (CAES), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Laayoune, Morocco.
Assistant professor with HDR at UM6P, African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute in Laayoune, Morocco since January 2020. Prior to his current position he was scientist at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai from 2017 to 2020 and Postdoctoral fellow from 2014-2016. His expertise is focusing on Biosaline agriculture, salinity management, horticulture, irrigation management, alternative crops, fertigation...etc. Currently at ASARI he is leading a portfolio of more than 15 research projects and supervising 8 PhD students. At African level, he’s leading a R&D project to explore the potentialities of the agro-sylvo-pastoral systems under climate change context towards improving local population nutrition and livelihoods in the Great Green Wall, Sénégal. He has more than 130 publications in journals, book chapters and international conferences.
abdelaziz.hirich@um6p.ma
Keynote Speakers
Chair of the Center of Excellence for Sustainable Food Security, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia
Before becoming a professor of plant science and the associate director of the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST, Mark Tester received his BSc with honours in plant sciences from the University of Adelaide. He then completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge, where he worked alongside Enid MacRobbie in the study of potassium ion channels. Since moving to KAUST, Tester has delivered on the promise that lies at the heart of his research, founding agritech company Red Sea Farms to apply his research to the challenges of environmental sustainability and economic viability. Much of Tester’s current research revolves around salinity and developing crops that grow in salty soils or can be irrigated with saline water. He focuses on two main approaches. One is taking a crop, such as tomatoes, and engineering it to become more salt tolerant. The other is to take a salt-tolerant plant, like sea asparagus, and turn it into a commercial crop. Both approaches could provide a sustainable alternative to humanity’s use of freshwater within agricultural production. With KAUST acting primarily as a research university, Tester’s average day consists of tackling a diversity of research problems, delivering research outputs through published papers and students’ theses, and developing Red Sea Farms.
Salinity, functional biology, plant physiology, genomic, greenhouse technology
Section Head, Plant Breeding and Genetics Section, Joint FAO/IAEA Centre – Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria
Experienced R&D professional in agriculture with a solid background in analytical, project manager and technical leader positions at FAO/IAEA Joint Division Food and Agriculture and General Directorate of Agricultural Research in Turkey. I hold a PhD from the University of Ankara on plant breeding . I am an author, or a co-author of more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters published extensively on themes relating to crop improvement using biotechnologies, and seed delivery system.
Biotechnology; Agricultural Plant Science; Agronomy; breeding
Exotic Halophyte Resources for Improving Quinoa
Dr. Eric “Rick” Jellen is a professor of genetics at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Prior to joining the faculty in 1996, he obtained a doctorate in Ron Phillips’ lab at the University of Minnesota and did postdoctoral research on cereals with Bikram Gill and Stan Cox at Kansas State University. His research is focused on genome characterization of oat (Avena) and the pseudocereal quinoa (Chenopodium) and their genomic relationship to their wild relatives. His primary basic research interest is the evolution of chromosome structural variation (SV) and its effects on recombination. A major focus of his applied research is incorporation of genetic variation from wild species to expand the adaptation of quinoa for production in warm-season, subtropical, and lowland tropical environments.
genome characterization, quinoa, crop adaptation
Hirt studied biochemistry at the Univ. of Cape Town and Vienna where he received his PhD in 1987. After post-doctoral fellowships at the Univ. of Oxford and Wageningen, he became Professor of Genetics at the Univ. of Vienna. In 2007, he was nominated Director of the INRAe Plant Genomics Institute in Paris and of the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST in 2014. Hirt has a long standing record on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions (several hundred publications, h-index 100). His current research is focused on how desert plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions by identifying and using beneficial desert microbes. His work aims to provide sustainable solutions to restore vegetation and agriculture in arid regions by improving drought, heat and/or salt tolerance of crops. Website : http://www.heribert-hirt.org
Salinity, abiotic stress, microbes, salt tolerance
Principal Scientist and Research Program Director - Soil, Water, and Agronomy at ICARDA,
Professor at Tottori University, Japan,
adjunct faculty at Texas A&M University, USA
Dr. Vinay Nangia is a Principal Scientist and Research Program Director - Soil, Water, and Agronomy at ICARDA, a professor at Tottori University in Japan and an adjunct faculty at Texas A&M University (USA). Dr. Nangia has a Ph.D. degree in Water Resources Management and two master’s degrees - first in Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering and the second in Geographic Information Science – all from the University of Minnesota, USA. His leadership and team building skills have helped solve complex challenges to water resource management posed by climate change. His work has been supported by US$ 35 million of grant support from various donors such as the AFESD, CFC, FAO, GIZ, IFAD, OFID, USAID World Bank and bilateral funding from governments of China, Egypt, GCC countries, Iran, India and Morocco. Dr. Nangia has published over 300 publications including over 120 peer reviewed scientific articles in high impact journals and 40 book chapter/conference proceedings. Over the years, he has trained more than 50 graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists from all over the world. He is recipient of several scientific awards and honours. He serves on FAO WASAG, UNCCD IWG on Drought, UNFCCC focal point for ICARDA and other high-level expert bodies. Dr. Nangia is an advisory board member of GIWEH (a Geneva-based water think tank).
Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Barcelona (from 1993 to date). Research expertise in the effects of abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity on growth and yield of crop species and the development and implementation of phenotyping approaches. Sabbaticals at the University of Georgia (Athens, USA), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria), and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA, Dubai, UAE). Principal Investigator on several international projects and contracts and co-author of more than 300 publications in SCI and SSCI journals, with an h index of 94 (Google Scholar) and 75 (WoS), more than 32,000 citations (Google Scholar), and 28 doctoral theses supervised. In 2008 I was awarded with the Friendship Award of the People's Republic of China. I have contributed extensively as an evaluator for numerous international and national research evaluation agencies and on a wide range of scientific journals in the field of Crop Physiology and Agriculture. I am one of 11 researchers associated with the UB who appeared on the list of the world's most influential scientists, published by Clarivate Analytics in 2022 (placed in “Cross-Field category”). https://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/menu_eines/noticies/2022/11/032.html
abiotic stresses, drought, salinity; growth and yield; crop species; phenotyping approaches
Living with salinity: getting the right plant into the right place in saline landscapes
Prof Ed Barrett-Lennard is a Professorial Fellow at Murdoch University in Western Australia and Senior Principal Soil Scientist in the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) of Western Australia. His research interests lie in practical agriculture at the intersection between agronomy, soil science and ecophysiology. For more than 40 years Ed has been a passionate researcher and advocate of the need to develop farming systems in response to landscape salinization, waterlogging, sodicity and climate change. Ed’s international work has been supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). He has worked in Australia (since 1982), Pakistan in a range of projects since 1986, Iraq (2011–13), Bangladesh and India (2016–present) and Vietnam (2016-present).
agronomy, soil science and ecophysiology, landscape salinization, waterlogging, sodicity and climate change.
President of the International Commission on Irrigation & Drainage, ICID (2020-2023),
UK Centre for Hydrology (UK CEH) Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB , United Kingdom
Dr. Ragab obtained his BSc. in Soil and Water Sciences (1970), MSc. in Irrigation (1974), and Ph.D, in Rural Engineering from the University of Leuven, Belgium (1982). Presently, he is serving as a Fellow Principal Hydrologist and Water Resources Management Specialist at UK Centre for Hydrology, Wallingford. As an editor at the Journal of Agricultural Science, he contributes to Cambridge University Press (2013-present). He is also serving as an Adjunct Professor at Soil and Water Sciences Dept., the University of Alexandria, Egypt since 2006. He has more than 40 years of experience in irrigation, drainage, catchments hydrology, remote sensing application in hydrology, integrated water management, climate change impact on water resources, soil-water-plant- atmosphere relations, rainfall harvesting, use of poor-quality water (saline/brackish, treated wastewater) for crop production, organic farming and urban hydrology. Dr. Ragab is also associated with many professional organizations which include: British Society of Soil Science Society, Irrigants Europe - IE, and European Soil and Land Use Management. He has contributed over 130 peer-reviewed publications, excluding reports, and developed models like IHMS, SALTMED 2019, and HYDROMED and has also received global awards and recognitions for his commendable work in the irrigation and drainage sector, including Egypt State Recognition and Merit Award for Scientific Achievements, The Baron’s 500: Leaders for the New Century, ICID Award of Excellence (2002, 2012, 2013, 2014) and Best Paper Award 2018. Dr. Ragab has actively contributed to the ICID activities as the Vice President of ICID from 2010-2013 and has also served as the Chairman of the British National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID-UK) (2007- 2011) and headed many ICID working groups.
Irrigation, drainage, crop modeling, salinity, climate change
Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), Netherlands
Dr. Katarzyna (Kate) Negacz is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) working on governance for food systems and biodiversity. Her research focuses on non-state and sub-national actors in the global biodiversity governance and the potential of saline degraded lands for sustainable food production. Dr. Negacz leads a number of international projects including FOSC Eranet SALAD and SUSTAIN COST Action.
Biodiversity governance, environmental policy, environmental economics, saline agriculture.
Director of Strategy & Africa Initiative at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco
Agriculture in Biosaline and Marginal Environments: Lessons and new perspectives for Africa.
Director of Strategy & Africa Initiative at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. Prior to his current position, Dr. Serraj was Senior Project Officer, Delivery Manager for the Regional Initiative on Small Scale Family Farming, Regional Office in Near East and North Africa, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Egypt. From 2010 to 2012 he was Director of Diversification & Sustainable Intensification of Production Systems (DSIPS) at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Dr. Serraj has an extensive experience in research and development and occupied several positions in various international research centres and organizations such as IRRI, IAEA, ICRISAT. He holds a PhD in plant physiology from Montpelier University, France in 1987. He is author of more than 250 publications.
Drought, Soil and Water Conservation, Water Balance, Soil Fertility, Salinity, Crop Managemeny, Sustainability
Senior Scientist (Agronomist) at the International Center for Agriculture Research for Dry Areas (ICARDA), Morocco
Mina Devkota is Senior Scientist (Agronomist) at the International Center for Agriculture Research for Dry Areas (ICARDA), based in Morocco. She has more than seventeen years of research and development experience in the field of soil and agronomy with a major focus on Resilient farming system intensification, crop diversification, conservation agriculture-based soil and crop management from different parts of the world (South and Central Asia, North Africa, and MENA region). Dr. Devkota has published over 100 scientific articles in high impact journals.
Resilient farming system intensification, crop diversification, conservation agriculture-based soil and crop management
CIRAD, UMR SENS, F-34398 Montpellier, France,
UMR SENS, CIRAD, IRD, Univ. Paul Valery Montpellier 3, Univ. Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France
An agronomist graduate from France, Dr. Didier is an active researcher in agroecology at CIRAD. After his M.Sc. in Agronomy with a specialization in ecology in 1992, he received a Ph.D. in Rural Geography from Toulouse University in 1998. He works on natural resources management for biodiversity conservation accompanying farmers' practices for maintaining in situ conservation of landraces. After different international work experiences for the European Union in Mali and Burkina Faso, and the World Bank Group in Madagascar, Didier joined CIRAD in 2001 as Principal Scientist. From 2028 to 2012, he spent 4 years in the Andes for characterizing the quinoa's biodiversity in Chile. Considering his high involvement during the International Year of Quinoa in 2013, he has been invited to FAO-HQ to serve as visiting expert and quinoa international focal point for giving technical assistance to new quinoa experimenters. For the period 2016-2019, he was nominated CIRAD Regional Director for the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Balkans regions.
agrobiodiversity; agroecology; plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; quinoa; neglected and underutilized species; cropping systems; food security; adaptation to climate change
Research Scientist, Desert Agriculture and Ecosystems Program, Environment & Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR)
P.O. Box 24885 Safat, 13109 Kuwait
Salinity Management in Arid Environments Agriculture for Food Security
Shabbir Ahmad Shahid was embraced with presti¬gious Sir William Roberts award to pursue PhD degree in Soil Science specialization in Salt-affected Soils at the University of Bangor, Wales, UK, completed in 1989. He has over 44 years’ experience as a Soil Scientist in Pakistan, the UK, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. His last job was at Dubai based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture as Senior Salinity Management Scientist and Senior Fellow (2004-2018). Currently, Dr. Shahid is a Research Scientist at Food Security Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. He led several projects in natural resources assessment and management. He was a tech¬nical coordinator in multi-million-dollar national soil surveys of the State of Kuwait and Abu Dhabi Emirate and developed the soil survey action plan for the Northern Emirates of UAE and the Republic of Mauritania. Currently Dr. Shahid is leading a national salinity project “Farm Land Salinity Risk Assessment to Develop a Management Strategy for Food Security of Kuwait” funded by Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, to be conclude in March 2026. Dr. Shahid’s discovery of anhydrite rich soil is formally added in the US Keys to Soil Taxonomy as a subsurface diagnostic horizon, mineralogy class and subgroups in the Salids suborder of the order Aridisols. He is also the principal author of United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy and Kuwait Soil Taxonomy books published by Springer in the years 2014 and 2022, respectively. In addition, Dr. Shahid is a creator and co-founder of the Emirates Soil Museum hosted at ICBA Dubai, UAE. He is a prolific author of over 225 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, book chapters, conference proceedings, and newslet¬ters. He published nine books through professional publisher Springer. In 2023, he co-edited a book “Terrestrial Environment and Ecosystems of Kuwait” published by Springer. Dr. Shahid presented key-notes at several international salinity conferences.
salinity, soil taxonomy, soil amendment
Principal Scientist and Regional Director for Africa, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Nairobi, Kenya
Principal Scientist with over 30 years of research for development to enhance and sustain agricultural productivity and food security from less favorable areas in Asia and Africa, targeting areas affected by Salt stress, drought, floods and nutrient deficiencies and toxicities. Contributed to advancing the understanding of mechanisms associated with tolerance of several abiotic stresses in crops, and to the development and deployment of stress-tolerant varieties and proper system-based crop and resource management innovations. Led several regional programs and projects on breeding and delivery of high-yielding, climate resilient varieties and technologies, through building and coordinating large networks of research and development partners. Served in several leadership roles at IRRI including Deputy Director General for Research (Interim) and Head, Genetics and Biotechnology Division; currently serving as the Regional Director for Africa. Authored/co-authored over 275 peer reviewed articles, chapters and books and supervised 50 PhD and MSc students. Member of several scientific societies and editorial boards. Holds a BSc and MSc from University of Khartoum, Sudan, and a PhD in botany, University of California, Riverside. Recipient of a number of merit and leadership awards including “Merit Medal for the Cause of Science and Technology Development”, 2010, and “Gold Medal for Contribution to Agriculture Development” 2017; Vietnam; Certificate of Appreciation for inspiring leadership and for development of high yielding rice varieties suitable for Cambodia; 2017; and the David and Betty Hamburg Science Diplomacy Award, American Society for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Fellow (Foreign), National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India (2019); Fellow, American Society of Agronomy (2023); Fellow, Crop Science Society of America (2024).
Salt stress, drought, floods and nutrient deficiencies, toxicities
Senior Scientist at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Morocco
Dr. Krishna Devkota is a distinguished agronomist with over 20 years of experience in agricultural science across different countries of Africa and Asia. Currently, he is a Senior Scientist at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), where he leads research on dryland farming, sustainable intensification, and climate-smart agricultural practices. His expertise spans ecological intensification, resilient agri-food systems, biosaline agriculture, and climate-smart technologies, among other areas. Dr. Devkota holds a PhD in Agriculture (Agronomy) from the University of Bonn, Germany where he focused on the sustainability of conservation-based rice-wheat cropping systems in Central Asia. He has extensive experience in leading international research projects aimed at improving agricultural productivity and sustainability, particularly in dryland and saline environments. His recent work involves decomposing yield gaps and enhance crop management using experimental and modeling approaches in challenging regions. Dr. Devkota is a prolific author, with over 70 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals, focusing on topics such as crop diversification, sustainable intensification, and agronomic modeling. His work has garnered international recognition, contributing to global efforts in food security and environmental sustainability. More detail can be found here: ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2179-8395 Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2zCNgdsAAAAJ&hl=en
ecological intensification, resilient agri-food systems, biosaline agriculture, and climate-smart technologies
Senior Researcher from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in the Research Institute “Centre for Soil Science and Applied Biology of Segura (CEBAS) in Murcia, Spain
Effect of halophyte-based crop managements in physiological, biochemical and metabolomic responses of tomato plants under moderately saline conditions
Dr. José Antonio Hernández is Senior Researcher from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in the Research Institute “Centre for Soil Science and Applied Biology of Segura (CEBAS) in Murcia (Spain), and external teacher from Plant Physiology on the Catholic University San Antonio from Murcia (UCAM, Spain). Much of my scientific career has been dedicated to studying the response of plants to salinity. During my PhD period, I worked on the effect of salt stress on antioxidant and ROS (reactive oxygen species) metabolism at subcellular level. We concluded, for the first time, that ROS were involved in the damage caused by salinity at subcellular level. After my postdoctoral stays, I continued working on the involvement of ROS in the effect of salinity on the activity and the expression of the ASC-GSH cycle enzymes and SOD isoenzymes. Then, I started a new research line related to the “Physiological and Biochemical Bases of the Response to biotic stress in Prunus sp”. More specifically, I studied, for the first time, the effect of Plum Pox Virus (PPV) infection in the response of the antioxidant systems in apricot and peach plants at subcellular level. In addition, we studied the effect of PPV infection on the protein expression using proteomic techniques. In parallel, we studied the role of redox metabolism on seed germination. We reported that H2O2 promoted germination and the early seedlings growth in a concentration-dependent manner. We observed an interaction among the redox state and hormone profile, orchestrated by H2O2, in the induction of proteins related to plant signaling and development during the early growth of pea seedlings.
Salinity, halophytes, stress physiology, intercropping
Professor and Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Climate-Resilient Strategies for Wheat Production in Arid Environments: Innovations in Stress Adaptation and Sustainable Agriculture.
Dr. Muhammad Farooq is a Professor and Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. He also holds adjunct positions at the University of Western Australia and Dankook University, South Korea. Previously, he was affiliated with renowned institutions, including IRRI (Philippines), CSIRO (Australia), Hohenheim University (Germany), and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (Pakistan). A recipient of prestigious fellowships from Japan, Australia, and Germany, he has earned multiple research excellence awards, including the COMSTECH Award (2016) and the Best Academician Award (2024, SQU). Recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher (2018-2021), his work focuses on crop stress responses, conservation agriculture, and biofortification. Prof. Farooq has authored 450+ research articles, 50 book chapters, and 35 edited books, amassing over 60,000 citations (H-index: 115). His innovations in sustainable agriculture have significantly impacted global food security and climate-resilient farming.
crop stress responses, conservation agriculture, and biofortification
Scientific Committee
Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Barcelona (from 1993 to date). Research expertise in the effects of abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity on growth and yield of crop species and the development and implementation of phenotyping approaches. Sabbaticals at the University of Georgia (Athens, USA), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria), and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA, Dubai, UAE). Principal Investigator on several international projects and contracts and co-author of more than 300 publications in SCI and SSCI journals, with an h index of 94 (Google Scholar) and 75 (WoS), more than 32,000 citations (Google Scholar), and 28 doctoral theses supervised. In 2008 I was awarded with the Friendship Award of the People's Republic of China. I have contributed extensively as an evaluator for numerous international and national research evaluation agencies and on a wide range of scientific journals in the field of Crop Physiology and Agriculture. I am one of 11 researchers associated with the UB who appeared on the list of the world's most influential scientists, published by Clarivate Analytics in 2022 (placed in “Cross-Field category”). https://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/menu_eines/noticies/2022/11/032.html
abiotic stresses, drought, salinity; growth and yield; crop species; phenotyping approaches
Applied Geology and Geo-environment Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Morocco,
Affiliate professor to International Water Research Institute (IWRI) of University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Morocco
Dr Lhoussaine Bouchaou has completed his PhD at the age of 27 years from University of Franche-Comté (France) in 1988 and Doctorate of state from University of Cadi Ayyad (Morocco) in 1995. He is professor at Ibn Zohr University of Agadir (Morocco) since 1988. His research is focusing mainly on “contribution of Chemical and isotopic tracers for water resources management in semi-arid areas, salinity of water and soil, karst hydrology, environment, climate change and its impact on natural resources in arid zones”. He is Leader of several national and international research contracts (EU, IAEA, UNESCO, NATO, EU, CNRS, CNRST, IRD, ABH, ACADEMIE Hassan II, OCP..) since 1990s and supervisor of about 30 PhD students. He has published more than 200 papers in reputed journals, serving as reviewer member of repute journal and international expert in water resources topic. He was former president of Moroccan chapter of International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) 2003-2016. Affiliated professor to International Water Research Institute (IWRI) of private University Mohamed 6 Polytechnic (UM6P), Benguérir (Morocco) since July 2019.
Contribution of Chemical and isotopic tracers for water resources management in semi-arid areas, salinity of water and soil, karst hydrology, environment, climate change and its impact on natural resources in arid zones
Department of Soil Science, College of Food Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
Abdulrasul has a Ph.D. in Soil Science from Orogen State University, USA (1984), a MSc. In Water Science University of California, Davis USA (1979) and B. Sci in Agriculture King Saud University, Riyadh Saudi Arabia. he has published over 120 articles and 6 books. he is currently the editor in-chief of the Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences and Member of the Editorial Board of the Arid Land Research and Management, USA (2003-present).
Irrigation, salinity, soil amendments, water conservation, crop modeling
Dr. Atul Bhargava works as Associate Professor and Head, Department of Botany at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar, India. He completed his PhD in 2005 from the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, and postdoctoral studies at the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Cytogenetics at the University of Delhi. Dr. Atul Bhargava has over 18 years of teaching experience and specializes in genetic improvement of crop plants, phytoremediation, and nanobiotechnology. He has more than 55 research papers in reputed journals, 6 books and numerous book chapters to his credit. He has an h-index of 30 and more than 4500 citations to his credit. Dr. Atul Bhargava also serves as an editorial board member of several international journals of repute.
Genetic improvement of crop plants, phytoremediation, and nanobiotechnology.
Director of the Research Lab. Valorization of Non-Conventional Waters at INRGREF, Tunisia
Researcher at INRGREF: Institut National de Recherches en Génie Rural, Eaux et Forêts. Professor of Higher Agricultural Education. Director of the Research Laboratory "Valorisation of Non-Conventional Waters"). He has extensive experience in the coordination and management of R&D projects in the field of saline water and treated wastewater use in agriculture. He has coordinated several projects at national, bilateral and multilateral levels. He has published more than fifty articles in national and international journals and holds two national patents. He has published several documents including guidelines for irrigation with salt water. He has reviewed several articles for national and international journals. He has supervised several students: about ten doctoral theses, about twenty master's degrees and about thirty end-of-study projects and has participated as rapporteurs and examiners in several thesis and master's juries. He has given courses, provided training, many of them for Arab and French-speaking engineers. He has carried out several consultations for Tunisian and international consulting firms and organizations. He has more than a hundred papers presented in national and international seminars. He has organized and been invited to several scientific events at the national and international levels. He has several activities in the severel Tunisian commissions.
saline water, treated wastewater use in agriculture, irrigation, salinity
Filippo Randelli is Associate Professor in Economic Geography at the University of Florence. He carried out researches on sustainable tourism, economic geography, spatial analysis and the transition towards the sustainability, with several papers published on Italian and International journals. Since 2010, he is in the board of the Society of Geographical Studies and he is Director of the GIS Laboratory of the University of Florence.
sustainable tourism, economic geography, spatial analysis and the transition towards the sustainability
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Centre for Soil Science and Applied Biology of Segura (CEBAS), Murcia, Spain
Dr. José Antonio Hernández is Senior Researcher from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in the Research Institute “Centre for Soil Science and Applied Biology of Segura (CEBAS) in Murcia (Spain), and external teacher from Plant Physiology on the Catholic University San Antonio from Murcia (UCAM, Spain). Much of my scientific career has been dedicated to studying the response of plants to salinity. During my PhD period, I worked on the effect of salt stress on antioxidant and ROS (reactive oxygen species) metabolism at subcellular level. We concluded, for the first time, that ROS were involved in the damage caused by salinity at subcellular level. After my postdoctoral stays, I continued working on the involvement of ROS in the effect of salinity on the activity and the expression of the ASC-GSH cycle enzymes and SOD isoenzymes. Then, I started a new research line related to the “Physiological and Biochemical Bases of the Response to biotic stress in Prunus sp”. More specifically, I studied, for the first time, the effect of Plum Pox Virus (PPV) infection in the response of the antioxidant systems in apricot and peach plants at subcellular level. In addition, we studied the effect of PPV infection on the protein expression using proteomic techniques. In parallel, we studied the role of redox metabolism on seed germination. We reported that H2O2 promoted germination and the early seedlings growth in a concentration-dependent manner. We observed an interaction among the redox state and hormone profile, orchestrated by H2O2, in the induction of proteins related to plant signaling and development during the early growth of pea seedlings.
Salinity, halophytes, Arthrocaulon macrostrachyum, Salicornia lagascae, antioxidant metabolism
CIRAD, UMR SENS, F-34398 Montpellier, France,
UMR SENS, CIRAD, IRD, Univ. Paul Valery Montpellier 3, Univ. Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France
An agronomist graduate from France, Dr. Didier is an active researcher in agroecology at CIRAD. After his M.Sc. in Agronomy with a specialization in ecology in 1992, he received a Ph.D. in Rural Geography from Toulouse University in 1998. He works on natural resources management for biodiversity conservation accompanying farmers' practices for maintaining in situ conservation of landraces. After different international work experiences for the European Union in Mali and Burkina Faso, and the World Bank Group in Madagascar, Didier joined CIRAD in 2001 as Principal Scientist. From 2028 to 2012, he spent 4 years in the Andes for characterizing the quinoa's biodiversity in Chile. Considering his high involvement during the International Year of Quinoa in 2013, he has been invited to FAO-HQ to serve as visiting expert and quinoa international focal point for giving technical assistance to new quinoa experimenters. For the period 2016-2019, he was nominated CIRAD Regional Director for the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Balkans regions.
agrobiodiversity; agroecology; plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; quinoa; neglected and underutilized species; cropping systems; food security; adaptation to climate change
Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Italy
Giulia Atzori obtained her PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the School of Agriculture of the University of Florence. She is currently Researcher in the Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection - National Research Council of Italy (CNR). She collaborated with the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) of Leiden University (The Netherlands) carrying out a research period at the SaltFarm Texel experimental site. Her research activity aims at studying the response of edible species to saline stress at the growth, physiological and at the biochemical level. The studied species are characterized by different degrees of salt tolerance, with a special focus on halophytes which have naturally adapted to saline environments developing a series of mechanisms that allow a tolerance to saline concentrations up to 50% sea water. Her research interests also include the investigation of the effects on crops of other abiotic stresses, among which water stress and increasing temperatures. She is keen at investigating the combinate effects of different stress factors in a framework which focuses on the double need of increasing food production and of modifying the current farming systems for achieving an enhanced tolerance to the effects of climate change. She is also participating in the Cost Action CA22144 - Sustainable use of salt-affected lands (SUSTAIN), participating as a member of the Management Committee and as Grant Awarding Coordinator. She is section editor for the journal “Advances in Horticultural Science”.
Saline agriculture, halophyte species, salt-tolerant crops; salt stress tolerance mechanisms
Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), Netherlands
Katarzyna (Kate) Negacz is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) working on governance for food systems and biodiversity. Her research focuses on non-state and sub-national actors in the global biodiversity governance and the potential of saline degraded lands for sustainable food production. For more than 12 years she has been involved in research and practice related to sustainable development. She conducted research in Switzerland, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. She has published articles, reports, book chapters and policy brief on a variety of earth system governance issues, in particular biodiversity, salinity and sustainable consumption. She has a background in Environment and Resource Management from VU Amsterdam, International Economics from the Warsaw School of Economics, and Law from the University of Warsaw. Her MSc thesis addressed the potential of food production on salinized, degraded lands within the framework of the Interreg SALFAR project. Katarzyna obtained her PhD degree in Economics from Warsaw School of Economics in 2019 for her thesis on the economic and cultural determinants of green consumption in Taiwan. Katarzyna is currently working on the international biodiversity governance project BioSTAR with Philipp Pattberg and Oscar Widerberg in cooperation with the PBL (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency). She focuses on role of transnational cooperative initiatives with relevance for biodiversity.
Biodiversity governance, environmental policy, environmental economics, saline agriculture.
Cadi Ayyad University (UCA), Morocco,
Affiliate Prof at University Mohammed 6 Polytechnic (UM6P), Morocco
Mohamed HAFIDI obtained his Ph-D thesis in 1990 at National Polytechnic Institute, Toulouse, France, in Agronomic Science and “Doctorat d’Etat” in Agronomic and Environmental Science at Cadi Ayyad University in 1996. Mohamed HAFIDI is a full professor at Cadi Ayyad University (UCA) Marrakech-Morocco since 1990 and affiliate Prof at UM6P since 2018. His area of expertise is agronomic Sciences, Environment; Composting and Organic waste treatment and valorization, Soil and biofertilizers…
Environment; Composting and Organic waste treatment and valorization, Soil and biofertilizers…
National Salinity Research Center, Nahalestan Ave.Airport Bulevard, Yazd-Iran
Masoumeh Salehi is associated professor of National Salinity Research Center (NSRC), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) under Umbrella of Agriculture Ministry. She eager to work on halophytes as new food and feed crop for improving food security in marginal area. She accepted as Ph.D student in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2006. She worked on drought and salinity stress effect on Kochia scoparia in Ph.D thesis. Since January, 2010, she was a Visiting Scientist with Dr. Harold Steppuhn at the Swift Current Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Dr. Margaret Gruber at the Saskatoon Research Centre. Since 2011 in NSRC She worked on Panicum antidotale breeding as new forage crop, quinoa as promising crop for using saline water. She also candidate other species to work as a new sources of forage crop.
Salinity, Halophytes, Quinoa, forages, Panicum
Department of Irrigation and Agricultural Structures in Çukurova University, Turkey
Prof. Dr. S. Metin Sezen has been working as a Full Professor at Department of Irrigation and Agricultural Structures in Çukurova University since 2018. He has worked on land and water resources management in agriculture, irrigation and water resources development and agricultural systems analysis and modelling more than 30 years of experience. He has BSc, MSc and PhD in Department of Irrigation and Agricultural Structures in Çukurova University, Adana, Turkey. He served as an Associate Professor in Soil and Water Resources Tarsus Research Institute (2006-2011) and Directorate of Horticultural Research Station, Soil and Water Resources Location (2011 -2015) in the Department of Water Management. After these positions, he started his career in Çukurova University in 2015. He was coordinator and collaborator of several national and international projects (TUBITAK, TAGEM and European Union projects). He has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed international journals, and book chapters in the field of his expertise.
Agricultural Systems Analysis and Modelling, Land and Water Resources Management in Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Resources Development, Precision Agriculture
Department of Natural Resources & Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), Jordan
Professor: Department of Natural Resources & Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST). Munir has Ph.D. (Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition) from Washington State Univ. USA. Earlier to his current position, Munir was Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, JUST, Irbid, Jordan.
Fertigation, plant nutrition, irrigation, Water Use Efficiency, Crop Yield.
Meddich Abdelilah is a Professor of Plant Physiology and Biotechnology at Cadi Ayyad University (CAU) in Marrakech, Morocco. He contributed to more than 20 projects, in relation to sustainable agriculture and the use of natural biostimulants to improve crop yields under abiotic stresses. Prof. Meddich published more than 190 scientific papers, including 149 articles indexed in Scopus & Web of Science (Clarivate), with an h-index of 29 (Scopus). Additionally, he developed and filed seven patents in order to improve the yield of date palm, cereal, vegetable, and legume crops. Winner of the 3rd place in Morocco and internationally at the Hassan II Grand Prize for Invention and Research in Agriculture, 12th edition in the year 2020/2021. In 2021, he authored a book published internationally on Biostimulants for sustainable agriculture in the oasis ecosystem. Edition: Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, United Arab Emirates. Previously, he worked for 12 years as a responsible technical monitoring officer at the local level on behalf of the Mohammed IV Foundation for Environmental Protection in Morocco (2002–2014). He was responsible for the installation and functioning of a municipal nursery covering 15 ha from 2003 to 2014 for the production of date palms and other ornamental plants with low water needs. Furthermore, Prof. Meddich was ranked on October 04, 2023 among the 03 most cited CAU researchers in the world by Stanford University based on Elsevier data and the impact of research and development work.
Abiotic stress, biostimulants, legume crop, cereals, date palm, yield
African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco
Abdelaziz Nilahyane is currently working as assistant professor at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University-African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute in Laayoune. He obtained his agronomic engineering degree (M.S in Agronomy, plant pathology) from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine in Morocco and his Ph. D. in Agronomy from Department of Plant Sciences at University of Wyoming, USA. He worked as a Forage Research Assistant at the same University and worked as Postdoctoral Research Associate at Montana State University and New Mexico State University, USA. He has a passion for teaching and research. Currently, he is teaching Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition at post graduate level of UM6P-ESAFE school. His main research interests focus on irrigation, fertilization, abiotic stress, crop physiology, crop modeling and quality of forage crops. He has published several peer-reviewed research articles about agronomy and crop science, irrigation, fertilization and crop modeling. He also led and contributed in several funded research projects and he has supervised postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students and agricultural technicians.
irrigation, fertilization, abiotic stress, crop physiology, crop modeling and quality of forage crops.
Former President of Desert Research Center, Vice-president of the Egyptian Center of Excellence for Saline Agriculture, Egypt
Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali Youssef is a Prof. of geophysics and groundwater, Desert Reserch Center (DRC), Egypt. He was born on 13 August, 1958. He has 43 year's experience in the field of geophysics & groundwater exploration, assessment and evaluation. He got the B.Sc. degree in Geology, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams universty (1980) and got the M.Sc. (1993) & Ph.D (1996) degrees in geophysics, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University. He is the Former President of DRC, head of Remote sensing and GIS unit at Desert Research Center (DRC). Moreover, He is a Member of the Egyptian Center of Excellence for Biosaline Agriculture at DRC.
geophysics & groundwater exploration, assessment and evaluation
Department of Economics and Management of the University of Florence, Italy
He is a commited GIS researcher to environmental and social-economic equality and policy development issues. My research interests fall within the broad field of environmental humanities and could be characterized as Social-Ecological Systems’ Sustainability. He obtained my PhD in Political and Economic Geography from the University of Trieste in 2010, including one year as an invited visiting researcher to conduct joint research activities at UCSB (University of Califronia . Santa Barbara). My research interests focus on human/environment interactions, with a main specialization being the "sustainability of socio-ecological systems." I am particularly interested in studying land development and resource consumption over time, especially concerning the complex dynamics related to global climate change, which, unfortunately, often involves critical territorial dynamics with harmful consequences for both the population and the environment. In 2010, he was awarded the prestigious CBIE Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Canadian Government to conduct research on sustainability at McGill University. His themes include land use changes, sustainable development, spatial justice, energy vulnerability, GIS analysis in environmental and economic fields, and scenario development and modeling for assessing potential impacts of human/environment interactions. In conclusion, his academic activities are primarily influenced by questions about how to adapt lifestyles underlying modern development to more sustainable paradigms, in order to promote and support equitable, sustainable, and resilient development policies. He is currently Associate Professor of Economic-Political Geography and GIS at the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Florence.
land use changes, sustainable development, spatial justice, energy vulnerability, GIS analysis in environmental and economic fields, and scenario development and modeling for assessing potential impacts of human/environment interactions.
Center for Remote Sensing Applications (CRSA), College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco
Ahmed Laamrani is currently a professor at the Center for Remote Sensing Applications (CRSA), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Ben Guerir, Morocco. He is also an Adjunct Professor in forest and agricultural soils Remote sensing (RS) and applied geographic information systems (GIS) with both the and the University of Abitibi (UQAT), Rouyn-Noranda, QC, Canada and the university of Guelph, Ontario/Canada, respectively. Dr. Laamrani received the Ph.D. degree in environmental sciences from the Universities of Quebec in Montreal and UQAT. He joined the CRSA/UM6P in 2019 as a professor specializing in soil RS and GIS. Prior to joining UM6P, he was a Researcher in RS and GIS with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Guelph on agricultural soil RS and GIS projects. He has a solid foundation in the uses of RS and GIS for natural resources management and soil degradation which includes advanced academic and research training. His research interests during the last five years sit at a crossroads between RS, GIS, drones, and agricultural soil cover with a focus on developing solutions for agricultural best management practices. Prof. Laamrani is currently leading an interdisciplinary research/project which aims to achieve innovative ways of saline soils and water management and to improve crop productivity in Sehb El Masjoune area, Rhamna and Kelaat-Sraghna regions, Morocco.
Remote sensing, salinity mapping, GIS, drones
Dr. Jamal Hallam is a Moroccan soil scientist affiliated with the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA) in Morocco, specifically at the Regional Center for Agricultural Research in Agadir, where he also manages the soil-water-plant laboratory. His research mainly explores the interactions between plant roots, water stress and quality, soil physical properties, and soil fauna. His work includes studies on soil salinity under innovative irrigation practices and alternative crops. Currently, he is particularly focused on assessing carbon sequestration in the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve ecosystems and establishing the CO2 balance within the argan oil sector.
interactions between plant roots, water stress and quality, soil physical properties, and soil fauna, carbon sequestration
Dr. Mohammad Shahid is a scientist with more than 22 years of experience in agricultural research. He has expertise in germplasm collection, seed production, plant breeding, and screening of salt-tolerant crops. He has worked with many crops including quinoa, barley, wheat pearl millet, sorghum, sunflower, safflower and others. He also has done an extensive study of barley and wheat landraces of the Arabian Peninsula. Before joining ICBA, he worked as research officer at Rice Research Institute, Lahore, Pakistan, where he worked to produce high-yielding, disease-resistant and aromatic rice varieties.
Genetic control of growth, adaptation, salinity tolerance, Biotechnology, date palm
International Water Reseach Institute (IWRI), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco
Dr Yassine Ait-Brahim is a professor specialising in climate science and integrated water resources management, with a focus on the application of isotopic and chemical tracers in arid regions. After completing a PhD (2014–2016) at Ibn Zohr University in Morocco, Dr Ait Brahim embarked on collaborative research ventures across Germany, the USA, China, Switzerland, and Canada. Upon returning to Morocco in 2022, he progressed to his current position as a professor at the International Water Research Institute (IWRI) of University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P). With an academic portfolio boasting over 60 peer-reviewed publications, Dr Ait Brahim has mentored numerous undergraduate and postgraduate students, organised impactful international scientific events, and served as a Steering Committee Member and Regional Coordinator in international working groups. Most recently, Dr Ait Brahim has secured significant funding from the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area and the Swiss LH-MENA scheme to undertake water and climate research focusing on Morocco and the broader African context.
climate change, water pollution, salinity, water use
Department of Soil Resources Management, CSIR-College of Science and Technology (CCST), CSIR - Soil Research Institute, Kwadaso-Kumasi, Ghana
Dr. Francis Marthy Tetteh is a Principal Research Scientist of the CSIR-Soil Research Institute (SRI). He is a Soil Scientist by training. He has been working at SRI for 33 years. He has been the head of the soil testing laboratory for over 25 years. He was the President of the Soil Science Society for 10 years and a member of the African Soil Partnership. He is currently the head of the Department of Soil Resources Management of the CSIR College of Science and Technology. Over the years, he has successfully implemented donor funded projects: 1) Optimizing Fertilizer Recommendations for Africa (OFRA)/Ghana through which crop and agroecology specific fertilizer recommendations for maize, rice, cassava, soybean and sorghum were developed for the middle and northern belts of Ghana, 2) Soil health policy project-Promoting enabling soil health policy environment in Ghana. 3) Validating fertilizer recommendation within the breadbasket zone of Ghana which validated fertilizer blends for the policy initiatives of Ghana. He coordinated the OCP Foundation of Morocco 100,000ha pilot digital soil fertility mapping of the Ashanti Region which is part of the 2.0 million ha soil fertility mapping for Ghana. He coordinated the validation of OCP Africa fertilizer products (NPKS 11-22-21+TE, and NPS-14-31+S) on maize and rice for adoption into the Ghana Fertilizer Market in 2019.
soil fertility, fertilisation, soil health, policy
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Group of Fruit Biotechnology, Dpt. Fruit Breeding, CEBAS-CSIC, Campus de Espinardo, Murcia, Spain
Feeding a growing population in a context of shortage of arable land and water supply, while protecting the environment, is a challenge that agriculture must meet at multiple levels. My research deals with these aspects, linking basic research in plant physiology and biochemistry with practical agronomical and biotechnological solutions. I have 58 publications (45 SCI articles) and over 1,850 citations (Scopus, h-index 25). I hold a degree in Biology (UMU, 2006) and I conducted my PhD studies at CEBAS-CSIC (2008-2011) in the characterization of the antioxidant metabolism of pea plants during germination and response to salt stress. I have a long international trajectory which comprises 2 pre-doctoral stays at Bayer CropScience (Lyon) and at the University of Leeds, and almost 6 years in Denmark as a postdoc researcher: first at the DTU (2 years) and later at the University of Copenhagen (4 years months, of which 2 years as Assistant Professor and PI of a project). I obtained 4 projects as Principal Investigator through highly competitive calls, e.g. at the University of Copenhagen (309,000€, Danish Ministry of Science), and at CEBAS-CSIC through the Saavedra Fajardo excellence call funded by The Science and Technology Agency of Region of Murcia. I am the main inventor of 2 European patent applications (2018 and 2019). I have conducted research in seven different departments and co-authored papers with over 100 scientists. From 2017, I have supervised 19 students including 3 Doctoral Thesis and 5 MSc thesis, most of them being nowadays active investigators in the public or private sectors. Nowadays, my research focus on the utilization of halophytes in saline agriculture, by which (1) we evaluate the use of halophytes in intercropping with cash crops (2) we develop an in vitro propagation platform for halophyte species.
Salinity, halophytes, intercropping, plant physiology, biochemistry
José Ramón Acosta Motos is a postdoctoral researcher with extensive expertise in plant physiology, particularly in relation to abiotic stress factors. Academic Background: José Ramón Acosta Motos holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences and a degree in Biology. His expertise focuses on plant physiology, with a particular emphasis on understanding how plants respond to stressors such as salinity and drought. Current Role: He currently serves as a researcher and educator at the Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM). He is involved in the biotechnology degree program and is a member of the scientific committee of the UCAM-Santander Chair of Entrepreneurship in the Agri-Food sector. Additionally, he is the Principal Investigator of the Plant Biotechnology for Agriculture and Food (BioVegA2) research group and the Lead Researcher for UCAM in the Plant Biotechnology, Agriculture, and Climate Resilience research group, an Associated Unit established in collaboration with CEBAS-CSIC. His teaching responsibilities include plant physiology, in vitro cultivation and genetic transformation of plants, and statistics within the master’s degree program in Nutrition and Food Safety.
Salinity, crop productivity, plant physiology, halophytes
Cadi Ayyad University (UCA), Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Marrakech, Morocco,
affiliate professor at Agrobiosciences Program of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguérir, Morocco
Cherki GHOULAM is a full professor at Cadi Ayyad University (UCA), Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Marrakech and affiliate professor at Agrobiosciences Program of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguérir. He is specialist in agroecology and crop physiology. He is member of agrobiotechnology & bioengineering laboratory. He is conducting research works on grain and forage legumes, their nitrogen fixing symbiosis with soil rhizobacteria and their interactions with the most prevailing abiotic stresses in Morocco and Africa. His research experiments are based on laboratory, greenhouse and field trials with focus on the selection of legume genotype-rhizobia strains more performing for biological Nitrogen Fixation mainly under the abiotic constraints (water deficit, salinity, P deficiency) and the study of their beneficial agroecological roles for the agrosystem. Development of efficient farming practices for saline agriculture and deciphering the agro-physiological and molecular mechanisms involved in the tolerance of legumes, their rhizobacterial partners and other alternative crops to abiotic stress, imposed by climate change, is one of the main components of his research activities. He coordinated about 15 projects on these research thematic and is collaborating with many national institutions and international organisms throughout the world.
abiotic stress, forages, legumes, nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with soil rhizobacteria
Agricultural Innovation and Technology Transfer Center (AITTC), College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco
Dr Chirinda is a distinguished agroecologist and Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco, specializing in climate action and sustainability. He holds a PhD in Agriculture from the University of Copenhagen. With extensive experience leading research projects and supervising teams, he has authored about 70 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and has served as a Lead Author for the IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventory methodologies. Dr Chirinda is also a member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility and is dedicated to driving transformative climate initiatives, fostering collaboration, and advancing impactful environmental policies worldwide.
Climate change, carbon farming, sequestration
Nadia Bazihizina is an Assistant Professor in Plant Physiology at the Biology Department of the University of Florence. For 20 years she has been involved in research related to the development of a sustainable saline agriculture, with her research is embedded in the field of plant and halophyte physiology, transport biology and electrophysiology. She has been awarded several EU and Australian-funded fellowships (OECD, Marie Curie and Endeavour fellowships) and has a long-standing interest in understanding plant responses to salinities and halophyte eco-physiology. She has been involved in many outreach activities with different stakeholders, with two-way interactions with farmers in salt-affected land.
Salinity, halophytes, eco-physiology, abiotic stresses
Juan Pablo Rodriguez (JPR) is researcher on sustainable farming and climate-resistant crops. He also develops and assesses sustainable plant protection technologies at the JKI, Germany. He was a researcher in biosaline agriculture at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture in Dubai, UAE. He worked on new crops and native forages, also on crops that can survive in harsh environments. He has experience in Africa, the Middle East, South America and Europe. He also worked for the Korea International Cooperation Agency in Bolivia. JPR holds a PhD in Crop Science from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and two master's degrees in Rural Development and Science, Biology, Geosciences, Agroresources and Environment from HUB, Germany and SupAgro, France. He is an Agronomist from Universidad Mayor de San Andres, Bolivia. He has written over 30 scientific papers and coordinated large international projects.
sustainable farming, climate-resistant crops, plant protection, biosaline agriculture, quinoa, forages
African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco
Arid Land Research Center, Totttori University, Japan,
Institute of Botany, ANAS, Baku, Azerbaijan
Soil and water management, salt-affected soils, abiotic stresses, plant allometry, soil-plant relation, irrigation and water quality, agricultural contamination
Mohammed Vi Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco
African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco
Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science and Techniques – Mohammedia, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco
Professor (Associate) of Plant Physiology and Biotechnology at the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science and Techniques – Mohammedia, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco. He's investigating the effect of biostimulants/biofertilizers on plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition, he is working on water harvesting technologies and glass fertilizers valorization. He is the author of publications (more than 70) in distinguished scientific journals and books in the field of drought and salt stresses, plant disease, plant nutrition, plant tolerance mechanisms to biotic and abiotic stress, soil arbuscular mycorrhizal infectivity, and soil fertility. He is an Associate Editor in Frontiers in Sustainable Food System where he edited “Biostimulants for Climate-Smart and Sustainable Agriculture”, a book of 12 articles. He is also an Editor in BMC in Plant Biology and is handling many research topics in Frontiers in Sustainable Food System, Plants, and Metabolites. He has contributed to more than 8 projects related to sustainable agriculture, soil fertility, biofertilizers, glass fertilizers, and abiotic stress mitigation. He is also a reviewer for many scientific journals including Frontiers in Plant Science, Scientific Reports, Plants, International Journal of Molecular Science, Plant stress, Journal of Fungi, Agriculture, Cells, Microorganisms, Horticulturae, Agronomy, Sustainability, Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Plant Growth Regulation, ...
sustainable agriculture, soil fertility, biofertilizers, glass fertilizers, and abiotic stress mitigation
African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Laayoune, Morocco
African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Laayoune, Morocco
Breeding
Senior Scientist at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Morocco
Dr. Krishna Devkota is a distinguished agronomist with over 20 years of experience in agricultural science across different countries of Africa and Asia. Currently, he is a Senior Scientist at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), where he leads research on dryland farming, sustainable intensification, and climate-smart agricultural practices. His expertise spans ecological intensification, resilient agri-food systems, biosaline agriculture, and climate-smart technologies, among other areas. Dr. Devkota holds a PhD in Agriculture (Agronomy) from the University of Bonn, Germany where he focused on the sustainability of conservation-based rice-wheat cropping systems in Central Asia. He has extensive experience in leading international research projects aimed at improving agricultural productivity and sustainability, particularly in dryland and saline environments. His recent work involves decomposing yield gaps and enhance crop management using experimental and modeling approaches in challenging regions. Dr. Devkota is a prolific author, with over 70 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals, focusing on topics such as crop diversification, sustainable intensification, and agronomic modeling. His work has garnered international recognition, contributing to global efforts in food security and environmental sustainability. More detail can be found here: ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2179-8395 Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2zCNgdsAAAAJ&hl=en
ecological intensification, resilient agri-food systems, biosaline agriculture, and climate-smart technologies
Senior Scientist (Agronomist) at the International Center for Agriculture Research for Dry Areas (ICARDA), Morocco
Mina Devkota is Senior Scientist (Agronomist) at the International Center for Agriculture Research for Dry Areas (ICARDA), based in Morocco. She has more than seventeen years of research and development experience in the field of soil and agronomy with a major focus on Resilient farming system intensification, crop diversification, conservation agriculture-based soil and crop management from different parts of the world (South and Central Asia, North Africa, and MENA region). Dr. Devkota has published over 100 scientific articles in high impact journals.
Resilient farming system intensification, crop diversification, conservation agriculture-based soil and crop management
African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), College of Agriculture and Environmental Science (CAES), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Laayoune, Morocco.
Abdel Aziz H. Sidikou is a postdoctoral fellow at the African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI) in Laayoune. He obtained an agronomic engineering degree and a Ph.D. in Agronomy from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine in Morocco. He is currently working on different projects related to agriculture under abiotic stress, mainly in the Moroccan Sahara. His main research interests include forage crops, cropping systems, and biosaline agriculture.
forages crops, biosaline agriculture, abiotic stress, cropping systems
Sessions
SESSION 2. Salinity mapping and characterization
SESSION 3. Crop responses to salinity and water stress
SESSION 4. Breeding and genetic improvement of crops under marginal environments
SESSION 5. Agricultural water management in marginal environment
SESSION 6. Agricultural use of Soil amendment, fertilization and microbe’s association
SESSION 7. Best cropping practices to cope with abiotic stress
SESSION 8. Crop valorization and value chain
SESSION 9. Food-water-energy nexus in marginal environment
SESSION 10. Climate change and sustainability aspects
SESSION 11. Socio-economic and policy aspects related to agriculture in saline and arid land agriculture
Event Schedule
| May 20 | May 21 | May 22 |
|---|---|---|
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09:00 - 10:00
Registration
10:00 - 10:30
Welcome and Opening Address
-President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco
-Secretary General of Phosboucraa Foundation, Morocco
-Director of the African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI), UM6P Laayoune, Morocco
-Conference chair, Introductory speech about LAFOBA3 forum
10:30 - 12:00
Panel Discussion 1: How can we achieve food security in marginal environments
12:00 - 12:30
Poster session
12:30 - 13:00
Keynote speech 1
13:00 - 14:00
Farming on the frontlines of salt affected and arid lands
Gauging the impact of farming in marginal environments in the face global challenges
15:30 - 17:00
Field visit
Visit to biosaline farm and ASARI experiemental platform
20:00 - 23:00
Gala dinner
gala dinner in the desert tent in the middle of sand dunes
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09:00 - 17:00
Technical sessions for the 1st day
Oral presentations in parallel sessions
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09:00 - 17:00
Technical session for the 2nd day
Oral presentation in parallel sessions
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Registration
Payment instructions missing
Cancellation policy
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Instructions for Authors
To submit an abstract, include the following information:
• Name(s) of the Author(s)
• Contact details, affiliation
• Proposed title
• A 200-500 word abstract
• 3-5 keywords
Venue, Travel and Accommodation
African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute (ASARI)
by flight from: Mohammed V Casablanca International Airport (CMN) | Agadir-Al Massira International Airport (AGA)| Gran Canaria Airport (LPA)
Recommended hotels
| Hotel/Accommodation | Address | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel Al Massira | Avenue de la Meque, 70000 Laâyoune, Maroc, 70000, Laâyoune, Morocco | Located in Laayoune, Hotel Al Massira offers an outdoor swimming pool, a nightclub, 2 restaurants, free Wi-Fi throughout the building and a tour desk that organizes walks and excursions. All units at Hotel Al Massira feature air conditioning, a minibar, |
| Hotel Parador | Avenue Oukba Ibn Nafiaa, 70000 Laâyoune, Maroc, 70000, LAAYOUNE, Morocco | Hotel Parador has a garden, shared lounge, terrace and bar in Laayoune. This 4-star hotel offers a concierge service and a tour desk. The accommodation provides a 24-hour front desk, airport transfers, room service and free WiFi throughout the property. |
| Résidence La Place | Place Oum Essaad, Avenue Afghanistan, 70000 Laâyoune, Maroc, 70000, Laâyoune, Morocco | Located in Laayoune, Résidence La Place offers accommodation with a balcony. It offers a 24-hour front desk, a lift and free WiFi throughout the property. This aparthotel features on-site parking, a spa and security throughout the day. The units are equi |
| Hotel Emilio Moretti | Avenue Afghanistan, Place Oum Saad, 70000 Laâyoune, Maroc, 70000, Laâyoune, Morocco | Offering a restaurant, Hotel Emilio Moretti is located in Laayoune. An array of activities can be enjoyed on site or in the surroundings, including diving. Free WiFi access is available. Each room here will provide you with a TV, air conditioning and a b |
Event Awards
To acknowledge the support of the conference’s esteemed authors and recognize their outstanding scientific accomplishments, we are pleased to offer awards for best oral presentation, poster and champion farmer.
The Awards
Number of Awards Available: 1
Terms and Conditions:
Only full papers submitted to LAFOBA3 will be considered. Papers will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Originality/novelty of the paper;
- Significance of content;
- Scientific soundness;
- Interest to the readers.
Evaluation
- Each Evaluation Committee members will assess each entry in terms of the criteria outlined above;
- Total scores for each presentation will be ranked, from highest to lowest;
- If two or more authors get the same score, further evaluation will be carried out;
- All decisions made by the Evaluation Committee are final.
Number of Awards Available: 1
Terms and Conditions:
Only full papers submitted to LAFOBA3 will be considered. Papers will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Originality/novelty of the paper;
- Significance of content;
- Scientific soundness;
- Interest to the readers.
Evaluation
- Each Evaluation Committee members will assess each entry in terms of the criteria outlined above;
- Total scores for each presentation will be ranked, from highest to lowest;
- If two or more authors get the same score, further evaluation will be carried out;
- All decisions made by the Evaluation Committee are final.
Number of Awards Available: 3
To acknowledge the support of farmers and recognize their outstanding contribution to different research projects conducted by UM6P, we are pleased to offer the best farmer award to one of the champion farmers involved in our research projects.
Sponsors and Partners
LAFOBA3 offers a variety of sponsorship opportunities suitable for organizations of all sizes. Sponsors of LAFOBA3 gain visibility for their companies and contribute to the conference's success. Your sponsorship will be mainly used to cover the publications fees of high-quality papers and to cover the participation of researchers from developing countries as well as other organizational matters.
Three levels of sponsorship are available at LAFOBA3 and bring the following benefits:
Platinum (>10000 USD)
- Opportunity to place company logo in the conference banner
- Opportunity to place a company video in the conference website
- Advance recognition as Platinum sponsor on the conference website
- Opportunity to place a company logo in the presentations
- Acknowledgement in the conference program booklet
Gold (5000-10000 USD)
- Advance recognition as Gold sponsor on the conference website
- Opportunity to place a company video in the conference website
- Opportunity to place a company logo in the presentations
- Acknowledgement in the conference program booklet
Silver (< 5000 USD)
- Advance recognition as Silver sponsor on the conference website
- Opportunity to place a company logo in the presentations
- Acknowledgement in the conference program booklet
Should you be interested in sponsoring this event, please contact the conference chair at: abdelaziz.hirich@um6p.ma
Thank you very much, in advance, for your support
Organizing committee (UM6P)
Pr. Abdelaziz Hirich
abdelaziz.hirich@um6p.ma
Pr. Abdelaziz Nilahyane
abdelaziz.nilahyane@um6p.ma
Pr. Berhanu Amsalu Fenta
berhanu.fenta@um6p.ma
Miss. Ihssane Mnaouer
ihssane.mnaouer@um6p.ma
M. Hamdi Dounia
Hamdi.DOUNIA@um6p.ma
Miss. Ezzahra Hammad
Ezzahra.HAMMAD@um6p.ma
Miss. Hafsa Debbagh-Nour
hafsa.debbagh-nour@um6p.ma
M. Youssef Jbilou
youssef.jbilou@um6p.ma
M. Mohammed Errachak
mohamed.errachak@um6p.ma
M. Mohamed Daoui
mohammed.daoui@um6p.ma
M. Driss Zouine
driss.zouine@um6p.ma
Organizing committee (Phosboucraa foundation)
M. Abdelghani Yatribi
abdelghani.yatribi@ocpgroup.ma
Miss. Jihane Moumine
jihane.moumine@ocpgroup.ma
LAFOBA 2 best moments
Special issue "Advances in biosaline and arid land agriculture" in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Dear authors
In line with the 3rd Laayoune Forum for Biosaline and Arid Land Agriculture, We have the privilege of organising a new Special Issue titled ‘Advances in biosaline and arid land agriculture’, which will be hosted by the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (IF: 3.3). We think your excellent publication record and expertise in the field of agriculture reflects the high standards we are seeking for a Special Issue on this important topic.
This special issue aims to explore the latest research, technological innovations, and practical applications in the field of biosaline and arid land agriculture. As global challenges such as climate change, soil degradation, salinity and water scarcity intensify, the need for sustainable agricultural practices in saline and arid regions has become more critical than ever. Research on novel cropping systems, irrigation techniques, and soil management practices that improve yield and sustainability in saline and arid environments become an urgent need. Furthermore, studies on the development and utilization of salt-tolerant and drought-resistant crop varieties, including genetic editing, traditional breeding, genomic and biotechnological approaches could be the key to further improve crop productivity in marginal environments. exploring interactions and synergies within the climate-food-water-energy is necessary to develop and implement adaptive strategies to mitigate impacts of the climate change on agricultural and food systems. This issue will serve as a platform for sharing knowledge, strategies, and advancements that enhance productivity, resilience, and sustainability in these challenging environments.
the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture is a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the Society of Chemical Industry, a science society based in London that convenes a global network of innovators to accelerate science out of the lab and into industry. The journal publishes international, interdisciplinary peer-reviewed content concerned with interdisciplinary studies at the agriculture/ food interface.
The journal is [hybrid, with the option to publish under an Open Access or Subscription model OR fully Open Access]. Over 1,700 institutions are eligible to publish their research Open Access in the journal at no charge. You can check the eligibility of your institution here.
We will ensure a stream-lined and rapid submission and review process for all papers submitted to this issue. Only accepted and selected papers from the conference will be invited to be submitted to this special issue.
Deadlines:
o Submission Deadline: 1 July 2025
o Final Manuscript Decisions: 1 October 2025
o Target Publication Date: 1 December 2025
