Soil & land restoration efforts

One important aspect of the desertification process is the loss of the soil's productivity. Soil erosion, resulting both from hi-intensity rain storms and from improper irrigation practices, is probably the most important cause for loss of soil productivity. One expected outcome of global warming is an increase in the intensity of rainstorms (albeit accompanied by a reduced frequency of storms). A higher intensity implies a higher risk of erosion.
Poor agronomic practices will result in damage to soil structure. Soil structure is often rather fragile in arid zones. Thus, the introduction of cultivation to desert areas by itself may be the source of loss of productivity. Destroying the structure of a soil will not only adversely affect the soil's hydraulic properties and its aeration, but will also render the land less stable and more susceptible to both water and wind erosion.
Other important processes that bring about a reduction in soil productivity are salinization and sodification. Improper irrigation practices may bring about the increased salinity of the soil solution and accumulation of specific species which may further deteriorate the soil's structure (e.g., sodium), or be toxic to plants (e.g., boron).
Restoration of affected soils is possible, for example by leaching soil with calcium containing water to counter sodification. A better policy is, however, to prevent deterioration of productivity, for example by planting plants that may serve as efficient wind breakers to stop wind erosion or by using mini-dams to reduce flow rates during rain storms and thus to minimize erosion. Soil-additives that improve soil infiltrability (e.g., additives that hinder the formation of crust in loessial soils) are also efficient tools for reducing flooding and erosion.
Land restoration may at times be accomplished by spreading cover soil over the affected area. This was done in the Arava region, where sand was spread over a gravelly bed.

Themes of interest:

• Afforestation and mini-dams construction to prevent soil degradation (KKL)
• Use of marginal water for irrigation while avoiding land deterioration
• Restoration of sodium-affected soils and prevention of sodification (e.g., by chemical means).
• Use of soil additives to maintain soil productivity (e.g., improve infiltrability or prevent erosion).


Theme Organizers:
Prof. Uri Minglegrin
Israel Agricultural Research Organization, past chief scientist, Ministry of Environment, Israel



Invited Guests:
Prof. Rattan Lal
Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, United States

Title Of Abstract: Land Stewardship and Ethics for Desertification Control




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Prof. Rattan Lal is a professor of soil physics in the School of Environment and Natural Resources and is Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, FAES/OARDC at The Ohio State University. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Iceland and is the recipient of an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Punjab Agricultural University, India and of the Norwegian University of life Sciences, Aas, Norway. Prof. Lal is past president of the World Association of the Soil and Water Conservation (1987-1990), the International Soil Tillage Research Organization (1988-1991), and the Soil Science Society of America (2007). He is a member of the U.S. National Committee on Soil Science of the National Academy of Sciences (1998-2002) and (2007-todate) and lead author of IPCC (1998-2000), which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize Certificate. He received the Norman Borlaug Award in 2005, the Liebig Award from the IUSS in 2006, and the M.S. Swaminathan Award in 2009. Prof. Lal has served on the Panel on Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment in the Humid Tropics at the National Academy of Sciences, and has also been a consultant to FAO, World Bank, UNEP, GEF, UNDP, USAID and many other international organizations. He was Scientific Liaison Officer of USAID for the CGIAR system from 1990 to 1995, and member of the review team of all CRSPs in 1994. Prof. Lal has mentored 89 graduate students and 93 postdoctoral researchers and visiting scholars. He has hosted about 25 short term trainees/visiting scholars from India. He has authored and co-authored a total of 1411 research publications, comprising of his 13 books authored, and 45 books edited or co-edited. Prof. Lal has published 562 journal articles, 310 book chapters, and presented 283 invited keynote lectures.


Mrs. Nina Kulakova
Institute of Forest Science, RAS, Russia

Title of Abstract: Influence of Forest Plantations on the Nitrogen State of Soils in the Northern Cis-Caspian Semi-Desert


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Dr. Nina Kulakova has been a researcher at the Institute of Forest Science, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Laboratory of Protective Afforestation since 1985. She received her MS in Geography in 1985 from M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University and received her Ph.D. in 2008 from the Institute of Forest Science, RAS. Dr. Kulakova's field of research includes: forest stands in semi-desert zones, silviculture amelioration, nutrient regime, soil fertility and zoogenic nitrogen. One of her main research projects is that of RFBR (?09-04-00030) "Modern processes of natural -anthropogenous transformations of ecosystems in clay semi-desert of Northern Prikaspija." Dr. Kulakova's work has been published in more than thirty scientific papers, including twenty refereed articles in scientific journals.


Dr. Michael Singer
University of California Davis, United States

Title of Abstract: Arid Land Reclamation: Two California Stories




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Dr. Michael Singer is a professor of soil sciences at the University of California, Davis. Singer graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Agronomy. He then received an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Minnesota. After a post doc at the University of Washington, College of Forest Resources, he had a thirty-six year career at the University of California, Davis. At UC Davis, Singer has taught classes and conducted research in soil management with a focus on erosion and conservation of soil. One current Singer project seeks to understand the processes and consequences of soil compaction in forests. Another project investigates the rates and mechanisms of iron transformations in soils. Singer also has studied the reasons why some soils are more susceptible to wind and water erosion than others and how best to control soil erosion. Singer is a former President of the Soil Science Society of America (2003) and is currently a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, a position which he has held since 1995. On a sabbatical leave from 1997 to 1998 Singer was a Lady Davis Fellow at the Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew University, Rehovot.