74
M. A. S. Abdel Monem and I. A. El Ghandour
• Sugar Cane: The results of studies on the climate change impact on the production
of sugar from sugar cane indicate a 24.5% drop in productivity, and a 2.3% increase
in water consumption. There will be a 25.6% drop in crop return, per unit of water.
8 Improved Crop Varieties and Livestock Breeds
Advances in crop breeding using different methodologies and techniques can produce
varieties that are can resist temperature extremes, drought, and disease. Science can
also be harnessed to breed hardy, more resilience livestock breeds that are capable
of adapting to the harsh conditions that characterize dryland regions, particularly
marginal areas.
Genetic engineering has been widely used in Egypt to produce drought, heat and
salinity crop varieties. Scientists at the Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research
Institute (AGERI) were able to produced drought-tolerant wheat by transferring a
gene ‘HVAI1’ from barley into a local wheat variety. The new breed is consuming
less irrigation water.
Aboul-Naga et al. [51], Studied the performance of crosses of Damascus goat
with the local Barki raised by Bedouins at the arid coastal zone of Egypt. The study
covered 159 breeders in the area from Borg-Arab to Barani in the North West Coast
of Egypt. Results indicated that the Damascus crossbred are well adapted to the
prevailing conditions, poor ranges and harsh management conditions in the arid area
of the North West Coast of Egypt. The 25% Damascus crossbred does give more
than double milk production than the native Barki, and their kids performed better
at the market.
Management of forage crops for livestock in Egypt under heat, drought and salinity stress had been studied by El-Nahrawy [52]. He identified several forage crop
species that can tolerate the harsh conditions of soil salinity as well as low water
quality. He recommended several management options to alleviate degradation of
the pasture lands in the Northwest Coast and North Sinai due to drought are to (a)
Developing a tree seedling nursery capacity in the villages, and planting, in cooperation with local land users, of improved fodder trees and shrubs. (b) Enhance soil
stabilization by the planting of windbreaks, using trees or shrubs with nutritive value.
(c) Identifying useful local grassland species, developing seed collection and multiplication and over-seeding selected rangelands with seeds of good nutritive local
grasses and legumes species.
M. A. S. Abdel Monem and I. A. El Ghandour
• Sugar Cane: The results of studies on the climate change impact on the production
of sugar from sugar cane indicate a 24.5% drop in productivity, and a 2.3% increase
in water consumption. There will be a 25.6% drop in crop return, per unit of water.
8 Improved Crop Varieties and Livestock Breeds
Advances in crop breeding using different methodologies and techniques can produce
varieties that are can resist temperature extremes, drought, and disease. Science can
also be harnessed to breed hardy, more resilience livestock breeds that are capable
of adapting to the harsh conditions that characterize dryland regions, particularly
marginal areas.
Genetic engineering has been widely used in Egypt to produce drought, heat and
salinity crop varieties. Scientists at the Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research
Institute (AGERI) were able to produced drought-tolerant wheat by transferring a
gene ‘HVAI1’ from barley into a local wheat variety. The new breed is consuming
less irrigation water.
Aboul-Naga et al. [51], Studied the performance of crosses of Damascus goat
with the local Barki raised by Bedouins at the arid coastal zone of Egypt. The study
covered 159 breeders in the area from Borg-Arab to Barani in the North West Coast
of Egypt. Results indicated that the Damascus crossbred are well adapted to the
prevailing conditions, poor ranges and harsh management conditions in the arid area
of the North West Coast of Egypt. The 25% Damascus crossbred does give more
than double milk production than the native Barki, and their kids performed better
at the market.
Management of forage crops for livestock in Egypt under heat, drought and salinity stress had been studied by El-Nahrawy [52]. He identified several forage crop
species that can tolerate the harsh conditions of soil salinity as well as low water
quality. He recommended several management options to alleviate degradation of
the pasture lands in the Northwest Coast and North Sinai due to drought are to (a)
Developing a tree seedling nursery capacity in the villages, and planting, in cooperation with local land users, of improved fodder trees and shrubs. (b) Enhance soil
stabilization by the planting of windbreaks, using trees or shrubs with nutritive value.
(c) Identifying useful local grassland species, developing seed collection and multiplication and over-seeding selected rangelands with seeds of good nutritive local
grasses and legumes species.