Selection of Crops for Sustainable Utilization of Land and Water Resources in Kuwait

Plant growth and yields are decreased by salinity, drought and other environmental stress conditions. Soil salinization is one of man’s oldest environmental disasters. The historic records show that many human civilizations declined because of the destruction of crop production by salinization of arable lands. Recent estimates suggest that about 20-25% of the world’s irrigated land is destroyed through salinity. Only few crops have moderate salt tolerance and there can be wide variations in salt tolerance among varieties or genetic lines within the same crop species and under different environmental conditions. The combined effects of aridity and soil salinity limit the range of crops that can be grown in Kuwait. Consequently there is considerable government support for research in salinity and drought tolerance in crop and greenery plants. In addition, the present practice of using desalinated sea water to irrigate in Kuwait is an expensive option and hence, research efforts on the use of brackish and treated water for irrigation are the need of the hour. In view of these facts, KISR has conducted several projects in the past two decades to select and promote salt-tolerant plants and technologies for using brackish water. Findings of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research studies on salinityand drought-tolerance are presented in this paper.