Soil organic matter amendments in date palm groves of the Middle Eastern and North African region: a mini-review

Mlih, Rawan; Bol, Roland; Amelung, Wulf; Brahim, Nadhem

doi:10.1007/s40333-015-0054-8

Cited by 26 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(50 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, by including rain fed crops in the rotation, effective leaching of the solutes can be achieved by the rain events while no more solutes are transported into the field by irrigation water. Another practice that may help to accommodate soil salinization is the addition of organic matter to the soil [139,140]. Organic matter stabilizes soil structure, prevents dispersion and swelling processes and maintains a high infiltration capacity [141], which improves soil leaching and solute transport beyond the root zone.…”

Section: Cultivation Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cropland Soil Salinization and Associated Hydrology: Trends, Processes and Examples

Nachshon

2018

Water

131

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While global food demand and world population are rapidly growing, land potential for cropping is steadily declining due to various soil degradation processes, a major one of them being soil salinization. Currently, approximately 20% of total cropland and 33% of irrigated agricultural land are salinized as a result of poor agricultural practices and it is expected that by 2050, half of the croplands worldwide will become salinized. Thus, there is a real need to better understand soil salinization processes and to develop agricultural practices that will enable production of the needed amount of food to feed humanity, while minimizing soil salinization and other degradation processes. The major sources of solutes in agricultural environments are: (i) the soil itself, and the parent geological material; (ii) shallow and salt rich groundwater; and (iii) salt rich irrigation water. The salinization of soil is a combination of transport of solutes towards the root zone to replenish evaporation and transpiration and limited washing of the soil by rain or irrigation. Therefore, most salinized soils are present in arid and semi-arid environments where precipitation is low and evaporation is high. In this manuscript, examples of soil salinization processes from croplands around the world will be presented and discussed to bring attention to this important topic, to present the latest scientific insights and to highlight the gaps that should be filled, from both scientific and practical perspectives.

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Section: Cultivation Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cropland Soil Salinization and Associated Hydrology: Trends, Processes and Examples

Nachshon

2018

Water

131

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“…They withstand moderately alkaline soils, with a pH ranging from 7 to 8.5, but extremely high alkalinity can be detrimental to their growth (Alotaibi et al, 2023;Sanka Loganathachetti and Mundra, 2023). They are adapted to soils with low organic matter levels, ranging from 0.1 to 1 (Mlih et al, 2016(Mlih et al, , 2019, while proper fertilization is essential to ensure their optimal growth. Furthermore, date palms exhibit a notable tolerance to salinity levels, commonly ranging from 4 to 8 dS/m or even higher under specific conditions (Muller et al, 2017;Alotaibi et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing rhizospheric core microbiomes from arid regions for enhancing date palm resilience to climate change effects

Ben Zineb,

Lamine,

Khallef

et al. 2024

Front. Microbiol.

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Date palm cultivation has thrived in the Gulf Cooperation Council region since ancient times, where it represents a vital sector in agricultural and socio-economic development. However, climate change conditions prevailing for decades in this area, next to rarefication of rain, hot temperatures, intense evapotranspiration, rise of sea level, salinization of groundwater, and intensification of cultivation, contributed to increase salinity in the soil as well as in irrigation water and to seriously threaten date palm cultivation sustainability. There are also growing concerns about soil erosion and its repercussions on date palm oases. While several reviews have reported on solutions to sustain date productivity, including genetic selection of suitable cultivars for the local harsh environmental conditions and the implementation of efficient management practices, no systematic review of the desertic plants’ below-ground microbial communities and their potential contributions to date palm adaptation to climate change has been reported yet. Indeed, desert microorganisms are expected to address critical agricultural challenges and economic issues. Therefore, the primary objectives of the present critical review are to (1) analyze and synthesize current knowledge and scientific advances on desert plant-associated microorganisms, (2) review and summarize the impacts of their application on date palm, and (3) identify possible gaps and suggest relevant guidance for desert plant microbes’ inoculation approach to sustain date palm cultivation within the Gulf Cooperation Council in general and in Qatar in particular.

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“…The depletion of soil organic matter is a noticeable phenomenon in these agro-systems as they do not support a thick vegetation cover that provides the organic matter input (Plaza et al 2018). Additionally, natural challenges such as drought events and wind erosion coupled with mismanagement practices have contributed significantly to this loss in organic matter and soil infertility (Mlih et al 2016). Traditionally, animal or plant sources of organic matter have been used as fertilizers in oasis agro-systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farm manure and bentonite clay amendments enhance the date palm morphology and yield

Karbout

Mlih

Dhaouidi³

et al. 2021

Arab J Geosci

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Date palm production contributes significantly to socio-economic development and food security in the dryland areas of Southern Tunisia. Soil degradation and nutrient depletion have dramatically increased in recent years. This is leading to a decline in date palm yields in these oases-based production systems. Locally derived bentonite clay has been identified as a new soil amendment to improve date morphological characteristics and date production. In this study, a 3-year field experimental study was carried out on 3-year-old Deglet Nour date palms growing in sandy soil of a Tunisian oasis (Fatnassa, Southern Tunisia). The study's aim was to compare the effect of two amendment types: (i) sand (S) mixed with farm manure (M) and bentonite clay (B) (=BSM) and (ii) sand mixed with farm manure (SM) on the soil characteristics and morphological features of date palm. The results indicated that soil macro-and micronutrient contents were enhanced under BSM. Soil water retention in BSM also increased to 290 ± 0.3 mm m −1 compared to 70 ± 0.2 and 50 ± 0.5 mm m −1 for an untreated (no amendment) and SM treatment, respectively. The amelioration of morphological characteristics was observed for the canopy diameter reaching 226 ± 0.6 cm in BSM treatment compared to 172 ± 0.6 cm in untreated palm trees. The height of the palms increased by 69 ± 0.8 cm from 29 ± 0.1cm in the control treatment, and leaf number increased from 40 leaves palm −1 in BS to 60 leaves palm −1 in BSM treatment. The leaf mineral content was significantly been improved in the third year, and the leaf NPK contents were 220 ± 0.6 mg kg −1 , 17 ± 0.1 mg kg −1 , and 200 ± 0.04 mg kg −1 , respectively, in BSM treatments. The effect of the farm manure and bentonite clay was noticeable for the yield production, and the SM and BSM treatments offered yields of 70 ± 0.9 kg palm −1 and 80 ± 0.5 kg palm −1 , respectively. It could partly ameliorate the alternate year bearing phenomenon of the Deglet Nour date variety. We conclude that the joint application of farm manure and bentonite clay does represent a viable option to further improve the production and resilience of date palms in dryland areas.

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Soil organic matter amendments in date palm groves of the Middle Eastern and North African region: a mini-review

Cited by 26 publications

References 51 publications

Cropland Soil Salinization and Associated Hydrology: Trends, Processes and Examples

Cropland Soil Salinization and Associated Hydrology: Trends, Processes and Examples

Harnessing rhizospheric core microbiomes from arid regions for enhancing date palm resilience to climate change effects

Farm manure and bentonite clay amendments enhance the date palm morphology and yield

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