Alternative Crops for Diversifying Production Systems in the Arabian Peninsula PDF

Keywords

Alternative crops, Arabian Peninsula, desert farming, Quinoa, Cowpea, Pigeonpea, Mustard.

Abstract

Pilot studies were conducted at the Dubai based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture with the objective to identify alternative crops with potential for diversification of production systems in the Arabian Peninsula. Among the many crops examined, quinoa, cowpea, pigeonpea and mustard showed good adaptation to the environment and produced yields comparable to those reported from highly productive environments. Thus, maximum seed yield recorded was 2.58 t ha-1 in quinoa (Ames 13761), 3.09 t ha-1 in cowpea (TVu 9725), 3.56 t ha-1 in pigeonpea (ICP 995) and 3.04 t ha-1 in mustard (ATC 93142). These crops are tolerant to drought and salinity and have a wide range of uses, thus making them promising alternative crops for diversification of production systems and the economic use of marginal land and water resources. The ten best performing accessions were selected in each crop for further evaluation and development of suitable agronomic practices to introduce them to the farmers in the region.