Creating opportunities for salt-affected farmland
We help to improve crop yield under saline conditions
and bring solutions into the hands of farmers
The Salt Doctors specialize in creating and implementing resilient farming systems
for salt-affected areas.
We achieve this by research and consultancy, providing practical training in the field
and assisting with the implementation from sowing to harvesting.
Salinity levels are increasing all over the world. As a result, yields are decreasing and the livelihood of millions of farmers and global food security is under pressure already.
The Salt Doctors often act as an implementation partner to realize climate resilient agriculture and help farmers to adapt to the ever-increasing salinity levels.
We focus on an integrated approach that provides practical guidelines, training
and demonstration in the field on how to deal with salinity and improve the crop yields
in a sustainable way.
Key Focus:
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Salinity assessments and mapping of opportunities
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Research, training (of trainers) and capacity building
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Developing, demonstrating and implementing scalable solutions under saline conditions
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Why Saline Agriculture?
Up to 833 million hectares are salt affected globally and this often leads to reduced crop yields.
Saline agriculture makes use of salt tolerant crops to improve yields under saline conditions.
Helping farmers to adapt to the ever-increasing salinity levels
can have a major impact on the food security and livelihoods of 1.5 billion people!
Our projects
Salinity assessment:
Saline farming assessment mission
in Morocco
Identifying salt affected farms that are suitable for future demonstration activities and identify local partners who are willing to be part of future activities to help Moroccan farmers to become more resilient to increasing salinity levels under (fresh)water scarce conditions.
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Training and capacity building:
Training potato cultivation under saline conditions in Iraq
The Salt Doctors performed a practical training, regarding potato cultivation under saline conditions, for the staff of Basrah University in Iraq.During classroom training sessions different aspects of crop salt tolerance and soil and water management were covered as well.
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Scalable solutions:
Developing scalable solutions
in Egypt
The project focusses on creating business cases for saline agriculture and build capacity for the further implementation of sustainable saline agricultural practices. Creating business cases is important to show farmers that saline agriculture is possible and profitable.
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Latest news
17-02-2023
Nice to be back in Bangladesh and see the progress of the field trials and the project itself. For the "Climate Smart Agriculture for a Resilient Coastal Bangladesh", #RECSA, we have been working together with Patuakhali Science and Technology University (PSTU), Wageningen University & Research, Acacia Water and Saline R&D, Rampal, Bagerhat, LTSL of Lal Teer Seed Limited. These activities resulted in new research into saline agriculture, cooperation between the knowledge institutes, the private sector and farmers as well as the set up of a new climate smart agriculture curriculum at PSTU!
This project is supported by Nuffic Global Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
06-02-2023
For our SALAD - Saline AgricuLture project we visited our Egyptian project partner Kafrelsheikh University to assess various fields that can be used for demonstration and training. Close to the Mediterranean Sea in the #Nile delta, farmers face various challenges with salinity, but they have developed resilient farming systems already. Sharing experiences and setting up new demo's are an important part of the project activities, that also includes partners from Morocco, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy. The SALAD project focuses on promoting innovative technology deployment and improving climate resilience through saline agricultural practices.
Thank you Prof. Farouk Elaidy for organizing this visit!
07-02-2023
Dr. Bas Bruning of The Salt Doctors will provide a keynote speech at the FAO #WASAG forum in Cabo Verde. We have been working with an international consortium to provide updated guidelines for farmers on how to deal with salinity. These guidelines will be published soon! For those who want to join the forum, please see the details below.
31-01-2023
The Dutch seed potato company HZPC is harvesting their #salinity trial in #Egypt. In total, 51 potato varieties are tested at three salinity levels. New breeding lines from existing salt tolerant varieties show good potential to provide farmers with even better varieties soon! This is of great importance to the millions of farmers who have to deal with salinity, but it also offers new opportunities for breeding companies, among others. Nice to see different stakeholders from the public and the private sector visiting the field day. The Salt Doctors are assisting HZPC with the salinity trial, which is part of the #DeSalt project, which is supported by Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO). Next steps include validation at farm level and showcasing the market opportunities!