1.
ICBA focuses on carrying high-quality applied
research that is critical to increasing food and
nutritional security, improving water security,
and helping building more resilient
environments and income in the marginal
environment areas it targets.
Since its founding in 1999, ICBA has become a
reference and a global Center of Excellence for
innovative agriculture in saline and marginal
environments. With a team of international
scientists, ICBA’s main mission is to work in
partnership to deliver agricultural, water and
nutrient scarcity solutions in marginal
environments.

2.
Marginal agroecosystems

3.
Biophysical constraints
•- Soil constraints (texture, low fertility, poor drainage,
shallowness, salinity, and sodicity).
•- Water constraints (saline and other non-
conventional water resources, insufficient water
access and quantity).
•- Landscape constraints (steep terrain).
•- Unfavorable climatic conditions.

4.
Socioeconomic constraints
•- Absence of markets, difficult access.
•- Restrictive land tenure, smallholdings.
•- Poor infrastructure.
•- Unfavorable output/input ratios.

5.
Research themes
1.Natural Resources Assessment & Management
1. Water Resources and Uses
2. Soil Management
2.Climate Change Impacts and Management
1. Regional and country-level predictions of change on climate, water and crop production
2. Adaptation solutions in water, cropping and policy ideas
3.Crop Productivity and Diversification
1. Salt-tolerant Crops and Halophytes
2. Plant Genetic Resources
3. Molecular Biology
4. Crop Modeling
4.Aquaculture And Bio-energy
5.Policies for Resilience
6.Special Initiatives
1. Knowledge Hub
2. Women Scientists and Leaders Program
3. Alliances
4. Technology Incubator
5. Young Arab Women Scientist Program

6.
Salinization is the accumulation of water-soluble salts in the soil solum (the upper part of a
soil profile, including the A and B horizons) or regolith (the layer or mantle of fragmental
and unconsolidated rock material, whether residual or transported) to a level that impacts
on agricultural production, environmental health, and economic welfare.
Salinization
Buringh (1979) estimated that the world as a whole is losing at least ten hectare of arable
land every minute, five because of soil erosion, three from soil salinization, one from other
soil degradation processes and one from non-agricultural uses.
Nearly 50 percent of the irrigated land in the arid and semi-arid regions have some
degree of soil salinization problems. This figure indicates the magnitude of the problem
that must be tackled in order to meet future global food needs.

7.
Salt-affected soils
Salt-affected soils occur in all continents and under almost all climatic conditions. Their
distribution, however, is relatively more extensive in the arid and semi-arid regions compared
to the humid regions.
For any long-term solutions, it is, necessary to understand the mode of origin of salt-affected
soils and to classify them, keeping in view the physico-chemical characteristics, processes
leading to their formation and the likely approaches for their reclamation and successful
management.

8.
Salt affected soils distribution
Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 57, No. 5, pp.
1017–1023, 2006

9.
Classes of soil suitability in regard to salinity
A soil is considered saline if the electrical conductivity
of its saturation extract (ECe) is above 4 dSm-1 (US
Salinity Laboratory Staff, 1954).
S0 (Non Saline) S1 (Slightly Saline) S2 (Moderately Saline) S3 (Highly
Saline) S4 (Extremely Saline)
Soil Salinity Class Ranges

10.
Strategies for saline soils management
Management of saline
soils
Soil reclamation Management of
agricultural
practices
Adaption to saline
agriculture
• Leaching
• Improving soil
texture through
amandements
• Bioremediation
• Drainage
projects
• Transfer soils
and excavation
• improve
fertilization
• improve
irrigation
• Improve
drainage
• Maintain
rootzone with
low salt content
• Increase soil
Organic matter
• Cultivate
salinity tolerant
crops
• Breeding of salt
tolerance
cultivars
• halophyte
• Accepted
economical
yield

11.
Topography

12.
Land Use

13.
Objectives
The main objectives of the initiative
•Improve and develop national capacities on
estimating spatial variability of soil salinity
•Produce a country-driven global map of soil
salinity
•Improve national capacities on salt affected soil
management

14.
Expected outputs
•National soil salinity maps and reports
•Global Soil Salinity Map
•Global assessment report on salt affected areas
•Baseline for soil salinity monitoring

15.
Soil Salinity mapping
soil salinity can be mapped on a national scale based on
strategies that fit best with the existing data of a given
country.
Ground truth data is always needed in order to create
reliable maps.
The prediction of soil salinity can be further improved by
taking into consideration other predictive variables, like
elevation, meteorological data and the topographic wetness
index.

16.
Data Products and Collaboration Levels
Option 1 (mandatory): National topsoil salinity
and uncertainty maps ( 0-30 cm), created with
digital soil mapping and/or remote sensing
approaches based on measured electrical
conductivity (EC).
Option 2 (optional): National topsoil (0-30 cm)
pH, ESP and/or SAR maps, created with digital
soil mapping based on measured date.
Option 3 (optional): National subsoil salinity and
uncertainty maps (30-100cm), created with digital
soil mapping based on measured electrical
conductivity (EC).

17.
The proposed timeline for milestones and tasks
15/06/2018
Task (GSP 6th Plenary Assembly)
08/11/2018
4th INSII Working Session
15/02/2019
Contact Member Countries - Information
28/02/2019
Contact Member Countries - Data Request
17/05/2019
10th Session of ITPS
05/06/2019
GSP 7th Plenary Assembly
05/12/2019
GSSmap Public Launch