Saline Agriculture

In this course, Dr. Bas Bruning and Mr. Pim van Tongeren will introduce you to the topic of salinity and saline agriculture. The course will take a global multi-disciplinary approach. Ecological, geological, hydroclimatic, social and economic perspectives will all be discussed. First, multiple concepts related to salinity will be addressed, including causes and effects. Afterwards, practical solutions for mitigating and adapting to salinity that are grounded in science will be provided. Finally, multiple case studies and examples from the field will be discussed, in order to understand the subject in pragmatic fashion.
After each lesson, there will be some quiz questions to evaluate the content of that lesson. Furthermore, reading materials will be provided to supplement the lessons. After completion of the course, additional resource materials can be accessed to learn about for your continuous skill development. This material is not mandatory to finish the course and the completion of it will not be taken into account in calculating the pass grading of your course.

STUDENT REQUIREMENTS

No specific skills and knowledge required. Though some general understanding and interest in food systems and climate change scenarios will help to put things in proper perspective.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the causes and effects of salinisation on ecological, social and economic levels
• Learn about different implications of salinisation in different regional and climatic contexts
• Apply the United Nations’ framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the topic of salinity
• Understand the differences between salinity mitigation and salinity adaptation
• Know of different practical field level problems and applications in order to successfully practise saline agriculture
• Understand about how saline agriculture can be integrated into mixed farming systems
• Know of many successful, impactful saline agriculture practical examples from the field across the globe

ABOUT INSTRUCTORS

Bas Bruning has more than ten years of experience in the field of crop salt tolerance, and the practical implementation of saline agriculture. It is his goal to help farmers worldwide to increase their yields under saline conditions through the means of a social enterprise: the Salt Doctors. Through his extensive international experience, he knows what is needed to get the right knowledge in the hands of those who need it most: the farmers.

Pim van Tongeren is a researcher in the department of Environmental Policy Analysis of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. He works on the SALAD project (Saline Agriculture as a Strategy to Adapt to Climate Change). It addresses the research area of food security under climate change through saline agriculture, aligning vision, research and practice among European and African countries focusing on saline agriculture upscaling.

CERTIFICATION

This course is a part of the certificate program named ‘WE are Water Eduction (Myanmar)’. Learn more about the program here.