Environmental Radionuclides as Indicators of Land Degradation in Latin American, Caribbean and Antarctic Ecosystems (ARCAL C) RLA/5/051

Transcription

1 Environmental Radionuclides as Indicators of Land Degradation in Latin American, Caribbean and Antarctic Ecosystems (ARCAL C) RLA/5/051 First Coordination Meeting 4-8 May 2009 Universidad Nacional de San Luis San Luis, Argentina JOINT FAO / IAEA DIVISION OF NUCLEAR TECHNIQUES IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

2 Joint FAO/IAEA Division Created 40 years ago Application of nuclear techniques for increased production of better and safer food products, while protecting the natural resource base Five sections: Soil, water and nutrient management Plant breeding and genetics Animal productions Insect pest control Food and environmental protection Vienna-Seibersdorf

3 Soil, water and nutrient management subprogramme Operational mode Soil Water Management & Crop Nutrition Section (SWMCN) Implementation of Coordinated Research Projects (CRP) Support to Technical Cooperation Projects (TCP) Soil Science Unit (SSU) Development and testing new methodologies Support to CRPs (data processing) Fellowship training & training courses Providing analytical services & external quality assurance

4 Nuclear Techniques? Both stable and radioactive isotopes can be used as tracers in research on soil and water management & crop nutrition issues. Isotopes are atoms with the same chemical properties, but different atomic weight (mass number). Isotopes can be either stable or radioactive stable isotopes: different masses (18O and 16O; 13C and 12C; 15N and 14N). radioactive isotopes: emit radiation by radioactive decay (32P, 137Cs, 7Be, 210Pb). Other techniques such as Soil Moisture Neutron Probe, Gamma Density Soil Probe

5 Nuclear Techniques? 14N 31 P 31P 12CO2 14N 31 P O 18O 12CO2 18O P O 13C 12C

6 ex Fallout radionuclides Pb years Cs years Be-7 1 month Key Features of the Approach RETROSPECTIVE SINGLE SITE VISIT Adapted from SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED Walling, 2007 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

7 Approaches and strategies Coordinated Research Projects (CRP) Ongoing CRP code and title Period Participating countries D Integrated soil, water and nutrient management in conservation agriculture ARG, BRA, IND, MOR, PAK, TUR, UZB, CHI, AUL, CIMMYT and TSBF-KEN D Managing irrigation water to enhance crop productivity under waterlimiting conditions: A role for isotopic techniques CPR (2), BKF, MLW, MOR, PAK, TUR, VIE, ZAM, USA (2), AUS and SPA D Selection for greater agronomic water-use efficiency in wheat (drought) and rice (salinity) using carbon isotope discrimination ALG, BGD, CPR (2), IND, MOR, PAK, SYR, YEM, AUL, GCP, USA and IRRI D Selection and evaluation of food (cereal and legume) crop genotypes tolerant to low nitrogen and phosphorus soils through the use of isotopic and nuclear-related techniques BKF, BRA, CMR, CPR, CUB, GHA, MAL, MEX, MOZ, SIL, USA, AUL, FRA, WARDA, TSBFCIAT and IITA

8 Approaches and strategies Technical Cooperation Projects (TCP) Tracking soil movement and developing costeffective soil conservation measures (up from 15 in 2000 to 41 countries today); Identifying land and water management practices to improve nutrient and water use efficiency for crop productivity and environmental sustainability (up from 75 in 2000 to 95 today); Assessing crop genotypes for drought and salinity tolerance Evaluate soil organic carbon accumulation and storage for improving soil quality and land productivity (up from 27 in 2000 to 64 today).

9 Training course and individual training activities on erosion in Seibersdorf

10 Environmental Radionuclides as Indicators of Land Degradation in Latin American, Caribbean and Antarctic Ecosystems (ARCAL C) RLA/5/051 First Coordination Meeting 4-8 May 2009 Universidad Nacional de San Luis San Luis, Argentina JOINT FAO / IAEA DIVISION OF NUCLEAR TECHNIQUES IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

11 The 1998 projections from the United Nations Population Division trace three paths, largely depending on how fertility changes.

12 Population growth

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14 Approaches and strategies Source: FAO, UNDP

15 Approaches and strategies Land degradation Temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land (FAO definition). Soil degradation is an indicator of land degradation (erosion, soil fertility decline, compaction, waterlogging, increase in salts, sedimentation). Combating land degradation (zerotolerance) for sustainable intensification of crop production requires an integrated soil-water-plant-nutrient approach (at field and catchment level).

16 Living planet index ( )

17 Land degradation affects about 300 million ha of land in the Latin American and Caribbean region, out of this 51% of agricultural land (180 million hectares).

18 Conservation agriculture elimination or reduction of tillage year-round preservation of soil cover with crops or crop residues crop rotations including, where possible, contrasting crops and N2-fixing legumes and/or Cruciferae

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20 No tillage in the world from the 70s up to now Country 1973/74 (ha) 1983/84 (ha) 1999/2000 (ha) 2004/2005 (ha) 2,200,000 4,800,000 19,750,000 25,000,000 1, ,000 13,470,000 24,000,000 9,250,000 18,000,000 8,640,000 9,000,000 4,080,000 13,000,000 Paraguay 800,000 1,700,000 Mexico 650,000 Bolivia 200, ,000 Chile 96, ,000 Colombia 70, ,000 Uruguay 50, ,000 Venezuela 50, ,000 USA Brazil Argentina Australia Canada 100, ,000 (China: 1,000,000; IndoGangetic Plains: 4,000,000) Organization of655,000 the United Nations 1,000,000 International Atomic Energy Agency Others Food and Agriculture 527,000 6,800,000

21 Impacts of CA systems SOM Aggregation Compaction Ion/water holding capacity Nutrient loss/ imbalance Pesticide carryover Surface crusting Infiltration Biological activity Porosity Runoff/Erosion/ Sedimentation Weeds, insects, pathogens Air, water quality

22 Interlinkage of processes Loss of organic matter Structure degradation Compaction Erosion Loss of sediments, carbon, nutrients, pesticides.. Reduction of soil productivity Water, air pollution

23 General objective of RLA/5/051 To enhance soil conservation and environmental protection in Latin American, Caribbean and Antarctic environments. Countries involved: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela

24 Main expected outcomes of RLA/5/051 Enhanced regional capacity for sound assessment of land degradation Improved national and regional policies for soil conservation and environmental protection in Latin America, Caribbean and Antarctic ecosystems Through the measurement of environmental radionuclide inventories

25 More information? Many publications in peer-reviewed journals, guidelines, TECDOCs, On our website: Keep informed about our most recent activities: To subscribe to the SWMCN Newsletter, simply send a message to B.Liepold@iaea.org G.Dercon@iaea.org