West Asia And North Africa Region Research Articles

Review of Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use in West Asia and North Africa

Ensuring global food security in the face of climate change is critical to human survival. With a predicted human population of 9.6 billion in 2050 and the demand for food supplies expected to increase by 60% globally, but with a parallel potential reduction in crop production for wheat by 6.0%, rice by 3.2%, maize by 7.4%, and soybean by 3.1% by the end of the century, maintaining future food security will be a challenge. One potential solution is new climate-smart varieties created using the breadth of diversity inherent in crop wild relatives (CWRs). Yet CWRs are threatened, with 16–35% regarded as threatened and a significantly higher percentage suffering genetic erosion. Additionally, they are under-conserved, 95% requiring additional ex situ collections and less than 1% being actively conserved in situ; they also often grow naturally in disturbed habitats limiting standard conservation measures. The urgent requirement for active CWR conservation is widely recognized in the global policy context (Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, UN Sustainable Development Goals, the FAO Second Global Plan of Action for PGRFA, and the FAO Framework for Action on Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture) and breeders highlight that the lack of CWR diversity is unnecessarily limiting crop improvement. CWRs are not spread evenly across the globe; they are focused in hotspots and the hottest region for CWR diversity is in West Asia and North Africa (WANA). The region has about 40% of global priority taxa and the top 17 countries with maximum numbers of CWR taxa per unit area are all in WANA. Therefore, improved CWR active conservation in WANA is not only a regional but a critical global priority. To assist in the achievement of this goal, we will review the following topics for CWRs in the WANA region: (1) conservation status, (2) community-based conservation, (3) threat status, (4) diversity use, (5) CURE—CWR hub: (ICARDA Centre of Excellence), and (6) recommendations for research priorities. The implementation of the recommendations is likely to significantly improve CWRs in situ and ex situ conservation and will potentially at least double the availability of the full breadth of CWR diversity found in WANA to breeders, and so enhance regional and global food and nutritional security.

West Asia and North Africa: A Sustainability Analysis

The concept of sustainability can be analyzed from different viewpoints, including sustaining a high rate without which other goals of a “good life,” particularly the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are not achievable. Alternatively, the need for reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is employed to assess sustainability. This essay discusses economic progress in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) relative to other developing regions, its success in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and progress toward achieving the SDGs before discussing the region’s emissions of GHGs and CO2. The WANA region has performed relatively poorly economically and its performance has deteriorated since 2008, and the oil countries perform worse than nonoil ones. Low investment rates and worsening external balance bedevil its economic prospects. Prospects for the region achieving the SDGs are much worse than other regions and have become bleaker since COVID-19. The region is a relatively high emitter of GHGs.

Dialectics of Post-1979 Iranian Foreign Policy in West Asia

The article focuses on Iran’s foreign relations with the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region since the Islamic Revolution. It looks at interplay of domestic and transnational variables. The domestic factors include the beliefs system of the policymakers, interest of political survival, political economy, the geopolitics of Persia and also geographical realm. The transnational variables consist of the global order, symmetrical and asymmetrical interdependence as well as the regional systemic status. These major components are vital in Persia’s relationships with the regional and trans-regional players in the WANA region. Unlike the Iranian negative or conflictual dialectics, the Iranian positive or cooperative dialectics is the main consequence of the agent–structure’s interactions in this region.

Fertilizer Best Management Practices: A Perspective from the Dryland West Asia–North Africa Region

AbstractChemical fertilizer use has contributed significantly to increased global food output in the past half century, especially in climatically favourable regions of the world. However, in drier agro‐ecological zones, such as in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) with a Mediterranean‐type climate, fertilizer use has been low but has increased rapidly in the past few decades. Chemical fertilizer use is now widely adopted in rainfed and irrigated agriculture. As elsewhere, fertilizer use is underpinned by concerns about biological and economic efficiency. Fertilizer use efficiency is central to the current concept of fertilizer best management practices (FBMP), which embraces right source, right place, right timing and right application method. In this brief review, we highlight such FBMP concepts as related to agriculture of the WANA region, with emphasis on the key nutrients for crop production. Rainfall has a dominant influence on dryland crop yields. Nitrogen (N) use efficiency increases with increasing rainfall and is influenced by crop rotation. Under rainfed conditions, modest N losses by volatilization can occur. Leaching losses are usually minimal. Phosphorus use (P) efficiency is higher with band application than with broadcasting. Balanced fertilization, especially involving potassium (K) and micronutrients, is fundamental to efficient nutrient use. Fertilizer efficiency is also influenced by soil test values and agronomic factors that influence crop yields, e.g. sowing date and varietal differences. Rational fertilizer application rates are guided by calibration–response trials. Effective fertilizer use in the region is also dictated by external factors such as government policies and a functioning extension service. In contrast to other regions of the world, environmental impacts from the overuse of fertilizers are relatively minor, while developments in fertilizer formulations that promote efficiency have yet to have impact. Despite the relatively low fertilizer use intensity in dryland areas such as the WANA region, the FBMP comprehensive approach is a logical framework within which to achieve the most efficient management and use of fertilizer in the region’s agriculture.

Genetic diversity and population structure of wild and cultivated barley from West Asia and North Africa

AbstractPopulation structure and relationships within and among 185 accessions of wild (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) and cultivated barley (H. v. ssp. vulgare) from five countries in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region were studied using 36 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The accessions were divided into subspecies/origin (S/O)‐groups and marker results were analysed in relation to genetic diversity and genetic structure. Wild barley from WANA was found to be highly diverse. The landraces from different countries of the Near East showed genetic diversity that was nearly as high as the wild barley from the same country. Further analyses showed that wild barley from Palestine/Israel represented the group with the highest diversity and the most complex structure. However, this group was distantly related to the cultivated barley in WANA, while the wild barley from the rest of the WANA region was closely related to the cultivated WANA barley. The high diversity and the close relationship to the wild barley make the WANA landraces an interesting genetic resource for both conservation and exploitation.

Epidemiology and integrated management of persistently transmitted aphid-borne viruses of legume and cereal crops in West Asia and North Africa

Cool-season food legumes (faba bean, lentil, chickpea and pea) and cereals (bread and durum wheat and barley) are the most important and widely cultivated crops in West Asia and North Africa (WANA), where they are the main source of carbohydrates and protein for the majority of the population. Persistently transmitted aphid-borne viruses pose a significant limitation to legume and cereal production worldwide. Surveys conducted in many countries in WANA during the last three decades established that the most important of these viruses are: Faba bean necrotic yellows virus (FBNYV: genus Nanovirus; family Nanoviridae), Bean leafroll virus (BLRV: genus Luteovirus; family Luteoviridae), Beet western yellows virus (BWYV: genus Polerovirus; family Luteoviridae), Soybean dwarf virus (SbDV: genus Luteovirus; family Luteoviridae) and Chickpea chlorotic stunt virus (CpCSV: genus Polerovirus; family Luteoviridae) which affect legume crops, and Barley yellow dwarf virus-PAV (BYDV-PAV: genus Luteovirus; family Luteoviridae), Barley yellow dwarf virus-MAV (BYDV-MAV: genus Luteovirus; family Luteoviridae) and Cereal yellow dwarf virus-RPV (CYDV-RPV: genus Polerovirus; family Luteoviridae) which affect cereal crops. Loss in yield caused by these viruses is usually high when infection occurs early in the growing season. Many aphid vector species for the above-mentioned viruses are reported to be prevalent in the WANA region. In addition, in this region many wild species (annual or perennial) were found infected with these viruses and may play an important role in their ecology and spread. Fast spread of these diseases was always associated with high aphid vector populations and activity. Although virus disease management can be achieved by combining several control measures, development of resistant genotypes is undoubtedly one of the most appropriate control methods. Over the last three decades barley and wheat genotypes resistant to BYDV, faba bean genotypes resistant to BLRV, and lentil genotypes resistant to BLRV, FBNYV and SbDV have been successfully identified. Moreover, progress has been made in disease management of some of these viruses using a combination of management options. Experience gathered over the last few decades clearly showed that no single method of virus disease control suffices to reduce yield losses in legume and cereal crops.

Effect of nitrogen application timing on dry matter and nitrogen assimilation and partitioning in six wheat cultivars under rain-fed conditions of Jordan

The current study was implemented to assess the effect of nitrogen (N) timing application and cultivars and their interaction on grain yield, and the amount of pre-anthesis dry matter (DM) and N accumulation as well as the remobilization of the assimilates to sink (i.e. grain) under rain-fed conditions of West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region. The treatments comprised of six wheat cultivars and two methods of N application timing (single and split N application). Nitrogen was applied at a rate of 40 kg N ha−1 (the recommended rate in Jordan) as diamonumphosphate (DAP) just before planting (i.e. single N application) or 20 kg ha−1 before planting as DAP plus 20 kg ha−1 top dressed at early boot stage as urea (i.e. split N application). The results suggest that single N application was relatively better than split N application in improving DM accumulation in vegetative parts at anthesis and maturity stages, grain and biological yield and N translocation efficiency (NTE). Cultivar NTE ranged from 73–80%, and the contribution of pre-anthesis assimilates to grain from 26–63%, indicating the importance of pre-anthesis accumulated assimilates for attaining high yield under semi-arid rain-fed-conditions of WANA region.

Prospects for nuclear energy in West Asia and North Africa

Population and economic growth in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) continue to drive upward the demand for energy services and freshwater. Currently, oil and gas are the principal fuels for electricity generation and desalination, but this is expected to change in the future. Demand expectations, high oil and gas prices, export revenue maximisation, energy supply security considerations and strategic geo-political factors but also the cumulative advancements in operational safety and techno-economic performance have put nuclear power back on the energy agendas of many countries in the WANA region. This paper reviews the short- and medium-term prospects of nuclear power in a diverse region with energy rich and energy poor sub-regions. Key challenges include the development of prerequisite nuclear infrastructures, finance and proliferation issues.

Assessment of soil and plant analysis laboratories in the West Asia‐North Africa Region

Although limited amount of water is the primary constraint to agricultural productivity in the rainfed area of West Asia and North Africa (WANA), yields are also low because of the poor mineral nutrient status of soils. Yields can, therefore, be considerably increased by judicious fertilizer use. Laboratories for soil and plant analysis are essential for identifying nutrient constraints and providing a basis for efficient fertilizer use, through correlation studies to establish suitable soil testing extractants and calibration studies with crop responses. The Soils Laboratory at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has initiated a quality control program among the national agricultural research systems (NARS) in the countries of the WANA region. The efforts include linkages with the Wageningen International Soil Analytical Exchange Program, in‐country training courses, and a laboratory analysis manual. Continued improvement in laboratory performance is dependent upon knowledge of the capabilities of such laboratories and identification of their constraints. This presentation reports a fact‐finding survey of laboratories from 16 countries of the WANA region—mainly public, from universities and ministries of agriculture, and some private or commercial ones—based on a questionnaire about analyses, facilities, methodologies, quality assurance, personnel training, and management. Future efforts to improve the quantity and quality output from of these laboratories will address such deficiencies.