UAEU Plant Physiology Research Team Addressing SDG 13: Climate Change

Climate change is the buzzword for many researches worldwide that are looking at solutions to save the environment. The UAEU Research team from College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine is conducting a research that evaluates the performance of crop genotypes using morphological and physiological parameters under induced environmental stress factors, including temperature, drought, salinity, UV radiation, and carbon dioxide, which influence the growth of crop cultivars. The research identifies traits and varieties tolerant to a combination of stress situations, provides novel insight into the mechanisms of tolerance and adaptation, and give insight into strategies for the development of improved crop varieties suitable for this region through breeding programs and genetic engineering.

‏The study is currently being held at the Open Top Chamber (OTC) Facility that is a controlled environment research facility located on the UAE University's Al Foah Farm. OTC has a set of eight outdoor, naturally-lit chambers, with computer control of the environmental factors making it the right environment for such a research.

‏Using treated wastewater (TWW) for agricultural irrigation purposes is an excellent approach for rendering wastewater beneficial. Reuse of TWW effectively for irrigation in agriculture and other sectors could help Arab countries to minimize water scarcity. The study was focused on designing experiments using TWW resources from Abu Dhabi and Al Ain treatment plants. Three different experiments were employed for this study, including the field experiment of hydroponic system  and the open top chamber method. The experiments were conducted to study the effect of climate change on wheat and barley production and improve its production through municipal treated wastewater utilization. The results will also advance our understanding by elucidating the various physiological and biochemical mechanisms responsible for the abiotic stress tolerant characteristics among the forage crop genotypes. The identified wheat and barley genotypes and traits tolerant to abiotic stresses will be valuable assets to the recommendations for growers and for breeders to develop new varieties suited for the UAE growing conditions and encourage the forage farmers to adopt and utilize the treated wastewater as a valuable source for irrigation.

‏The research team consists of Dr. Mohammed Abdul Mohsen Alyafei ,Dr. Abdul Jaleel Cheruth, Dr. Karthishwaran Kandhan, and graduate student Ms. Drishya Nishanth in the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine