Announcement: Global Forum on Innovations for Marginal Environments

Friday, May 31, 2019

Announcement: Global Forum on Innovations for Marginal Environments

20-21 November 2019. Dubai, UAE. The Global Forum on Innovations for Marginal Environments is organized in view of enormous impact of soil and water salinization and climate change on ecosystems, agricultural productivity, livelihoods and food security worldwide. It is important to clearly map the marginal areas already afflicted by salinity, poor quality water, very high temperature posing risks on a global scale and develop and implement the adaptation and mitigation strategies with robust policy support to effectively and efficiently address the adverse effects.

Themes and Priorities: The forum will be structured around the following themes:

Analysis and assessment of environmental, social and economic impact of abiotic stresses in marginal environments;
Current best practices for adaptation to and mitigation of salinity, drought and heat, and poor quality water in marginal environments;
Solutions to increase utility of salt-affected soil and water resources in food, feed and biofuel production;
Policies and strategies to promote and encourage adoption of best practices, suitable approaches, technologies and crops among farmers and other natural resource users.

Sub-themes

Salinity management and innovative monitoring technologies;
Sustainable use of natural resources from field to watershed level;
Climate change downscaling and forecasting;
Harnessing crop diversity involving conventional and non-conventional breeding approaches;
Novel biotechnological tools and applications;
Fodder insecurity and alternate land uses;
Aquaculture production systems for saline areas;
Precision agriculture;
Gender equality and socio-economic studies for different regions;
Policies defining ecological/environmental services.