Workshop Climate changes and salinity - Tomato workshop in Baltim, Egypt
SALAD researchers of Kafr El Sheikh University hosted on the 15th of August a tomato workshop about saline agriculture in Baltim. Baltim is considered as a central location in the north River Nile Delta that is close to the Mediterranean Sea coast. Due to the significant impact of climate change on all human activities generally and the agricultural field specifically, Baltim has received increased attention in recent decades. During this workshop, the project team met almost 20 farmers who are growing various kinds of crops, mainly tomato & watermelon and had a discussion with them about how climate changes affect their agriculture activities.
The farmers mentioned that they suffer from:
- High salinity level of soil and water
- Low water quality and scarcity
- High heat stress during summer and high cold stress during winter
- Strong effect of climate changes on the common crops at this area
- Yield and quality reduction
- High pests and nematode infections
- Replaced crops by another ones
- Reduction in agriculture profit
The project team recommended:
- Use more resistant cultivars
- Change irrigation systems and replace surface irrigation by drip irrigation to save irrigation water
- Use gypsum
- Use soil mulch
- Increase organic fertilizer and high-quality compost
- Use the recommended pesticides at the right dose at the right time
- Use of growth bio-activators and anti-stressors
- To analyse periodically soil and water.
- To diagnose early and correct pests and diseases