Soil fertility, crop nutrition, and cropping systems: Research for Mediterranean dryland agriculture

Abstract

The mission of the Consortium on Global International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is to reduce poverty and enhance food, water, nutritional security, and environmental health in the face of global challenges, including climate change. It operates worldwide through a network of 15 international research centers. One of these institutions, The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has focused on dryland agriculture in the Mediterranean region, specifically in West Asia–North Africa (WANA). Soil fertility, agronomy, and crop nutrition were key areas of its research program. This mini review highlights the research achievements at ICARDA with respect to nitrogen, phosphorus, micronutrients, nutrient dynamics, fertilizer use, soil testing, sustainable cropping and/or crop rotations, and conservation tillage. Despite the destruction of the Center's headquarters in the ongoing civil war and its dispersion in the region, the legacy of ICARDA will survive through documentation of its research in the international literature.