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Cycle 7 (2018 Deadline)
Developing organic soil management technologies to enhance carbon capture, climate adaptability, and sustainability of smallholder farms in Tunisia
PI: Khaled Sassi (khaledsassi1@gmail.com), National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia
U.S. Partner: Anil Somenahally, Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Dates: November 2018 - March 2023
Project Overview
Among many constraints for sustainable agriculture production on smallholder farms in Tunisia is the declining quality of soil resources and unsustainability and vulnerability of smallholder farms to yield loss and climate change effects. While there are some larger farms, most Tunisian farmers have around 10 acres or less. This project addressed water management, soil conservation, land management, biodiversity, and energy diversification in Tunisia. The researchers sought to develop novel soil management technologies to increase soil quality, carbon capture, and climate adaptability on smallholder farms of Tunisia, integrated with locally relevant crop rotations.
Final Summary of Project Activities
Dr. Sassi and his colleagues set up experiments in four different locations: Manouba, Sidi Bouzid, Sousse, and Gabes. In each location, they constructed three different kinds of composting windrows in pyramidal form and evaluated them for physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics. The composition of each windrow varied according to the most common agricultural wastes found in various study site locations. Among the findings were the multiple effects of date palm compost on the proteomic pattern of barley crops. The PEER team’s results showed a complex regulatory network triggered by compost and provided new insight into the molecular mechanisms of plant responses to use of this organic fertilizer.
In a separate study, the researchers found date palm waste compost application resulted in significantly higher bacterial and fungal abundance, especially at the tillering and ripening barley growth stages. Greater fungal diversity and abundance of bacterial and fungal communities could play an important role in the capacity of compost-treated soils to inhibit soilborne plant diseases and promote beneficial microorganisms, in turn increasing the availability of essential nutrients to barley plants.
The researchers also evaluated the effects of two soil management systems—conservation agriculture (CA) and conventional tillage (CT)—on the grain composition and nutritional value of two durum wheat varieties grown over two cropping seasons. During the 2021-2022 cropping season, they worked on ten demonstration plots in two regions in northwest Tunisia: six plots under conservation agriculture based on no-tillage and minimum tillage in Gueboulat region and four plots for forage mixtures all including the vetch plant (vetch-triticale, vetch-oat and vetch-triticale-oat) in the Seres region. The team monitored soil organic carbon, soil microbial activity, soil moisture, biomass, and yield components. Among their results were enhanced soil fertility in conservation agriculture compared to conventional agriculture and an improvement in water use efficiency of cereal crops (wheat and barley) by 20%.
The PEER team published several papers on their findings and the PI presented the project results at the first U.S.-Africa Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine symposium. The PEER team and the PI’s institution held a training on organic fertilization and composting in organic agriculture, which 35 people attended. There were also significant capacity building opportunities for individual team members. In November 2022, Dr. Yassine Hidri visited the U.S. partners at Texas A&M University for two weeks of training on the investigation and measurement of chemical, physical, and biological properties of soil that can be used to better design sustainable agricultural systems. He also participated in a soil sampling campaign using a specialized mechanical coring drill. PEER funds also supported two month-long research visits in 2021 and 2023 by Dr. Ghassen Abid to the Walloon Agricultural Research Center in Belgium. U.S. partners Dr. Anil Somenahally and Dr. Jeffrey Brady also visited Tunisia in January 2023 to visit demonstration fields and discuss the project and potential continued collaborations. The results from the project were integrated into four courses across three universities.
The PEER team has also begun collaborations with several NGOs and regional agricultural centers in Tunisia to work on developing new agricultural strategies and disseminating knowledge from the project. The equipment purchased with PEER support (a large compost grinder and a windrow turner) have enhanced the infrastructure available for continuing the work in the future.
Publications
Imene Kerbouai, Dorra Sfayhi, Khaled Sassi, Hatem Cheikh M’hamed, Houda Jenfaoui, Jouhaina Riahi, Slim Arfaoui, Moncef Chouaibi, and Hanen Ben Ismail. 2023. Influence of conservation agriculture on durum wheat grain, dough texture profile and pasta quality in a Mediterranean region. Agriculture 2023, 13, 908. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13040908
Emna Ghouili, Khaled Sassi, Yassine Hidri, Hatem Cheikh M’Hamed, Anil Somenahally, Qingwu Xue, Moez Jebara, Rim Nefissi Ouertani, Jouhaina Riahi, Ana Caroline de Oliveira, Ghassen Abid, and Yordan Muhovski. 2023. Effects of date palm waste compost application on root proteome changes of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Plants 2023, 12, 526. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12030526
Marwa Laribi, Amor Hassine Yahyaoui, Wided Abdedayem, Hajer Kouki, Khaled Sassi, and Sarrah Ben M’Barek. 2023. Characterization of Mediterranean durum wheat for resistance to Pyrenophora tritici-repentis. Genes 2022, 13, 336. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13020336
Emna Ghouili, Ghassen Abid, Moez Jebara, Rim Nefissi Ouertani, Ana Caroline de Oliveira, Mohamed El Ayed, and Yordan Muhovski. 2022. Proteomic analysis of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) leaves in response to date palm waste compost application. Plants 2022, 11, 3287. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11233287
Emna Ghouili, Yassine Hidri, Hatem Cheikh M'Hamed, Anil Somenahally, Qingwu Xue, Ibrahim El Akram Znaïdi, Moez Jebara, Rim Nefissi Ouertani, Yordan Muhovski, Jouhaina Riahi, Ghassen Abid, and Khaled Sassi. 2022. Date palm waste compost promotes plant growth and nutrient transporter genes expression in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). South African Journal of Botany 149: 247-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2022.06.018
Imene Kerbouai, Hatem Cheikh M'hamed, Houda Jenfaoui, Jouhaina Riahi, Khaoula Mokrani, Sarra Jribi, Slim Arfaoui, Khaled Sassi, and Hanen Ben Ismail. 2022. Long-term effect of conservation agriculture on the composition and nutritional value of durum wheat grains grown over 2 years in a Mediterranean environment. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 102(15): 7379-7386. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.12105
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