Saudi Arabia 2020

The city of Al-Khobar hosted the ninth Meeting of the G20 Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) chaired by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as G20 President on 18th and 19th February 2020 with 65 participants from G20 members, guest countries, and international organizations. Key global issues covered by the meeting included sustainable agriculture development in drylands, promoting agricultural productivity and sustainability through a wide range of innovative approaches including cutting-edge technologies, and the Water, Energy and Food (WEF) nexus. MACS members recognized the need to co-create tailor made approaches, adapted to the local needs of farmers, rural communities, value chains and consumers.

Prior to the meeting, a field trip to Al-Hassa Oasis was organized on 17th February 2020. The participants visited: Saudi Irrigation Organization (SIO) to observe irrigation maintenance and management activities; herd and production factory of Nada Dairy Company; and Land of Civilizations (Al-Qara Mountain) one of the most prominent natural tourist attraction in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Presentations

Activities

International Virtual Experts Meeting on Promoting Sustainable Agriculture Development in Drylands

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 10th August 2020

TIME	Session	presenter	Duration
14:00 – 14:05	OPENING SESSION (5 min)
	1. Welcoming Address (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)	Prof. Suliman Ali Al-Khateeb	3 min
14:05 – 14:40	Session 1. Key Risks, opportunities and system approach for sustainable agricultural development In drylands (35 min)
	1. Systems agronomy in northern Australia's maturing agriculture	Dr. David Lawrence (Australia)	7 min
	2. Innovations to enhance agroecosystem resilience and adaptationto climate change in drylands of China	Prof. Wang Yaosheng (China)	7 min
	3. Modelling dry farming systems: a roadmap for tool development	Dr. Marcello Donatelli (Italy)	7 min
	4. Holistic View and Future opportunities to Promote Sustainable Agriculture Development in Drylands: The Case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	Dr. Mohammad Almutari (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)	7 min
	5. Collaborative US research highlights: Providing a range of tools and resources for sustainable agriculture in drylands	Dr. Laura Schreeg (USA)	7 min
14:40 – 16:05	Session 2. Enabling tools for sustainable agricultural development In drylands (85 min)
	1. Genome editing for drought tolerance and crop production sustainability	Dr. Sergio Feingold (Argentina)	7 min
	2. Breeding for diversified cropping systems: Example of sorghum based systems in Central North zone ofBurkina Faso	Dr. Myriam Adam (France)	7 min
	3. Enhancing drought stress tolerance by harnessing genetic resources	Dr. GwendolinWehner (Germany)	7 min
	4. Genetic enhancement and natural resources management for enhancing productivity, sustainability and resilience in drylands	Dr. D.K. Yadava (India)	7 min
	5. Developing drought-tolerant legume crops by agro-ecological and genomic approaches	Dr. Paolo Annicchiarico & Dr. Luciano Pecetti (Italy)	7 min
	6. Drought tolerance improvement in plants: An integrated view from breeding to genomics	Mr. Enes YAKIŞIR (Turkey)	7 min
	7. Agricultural transformation in the drylands: Role of Data & Disruptive technologies	Prof. Wayne Powell (UK)	7 min
	8. Crop breeding for drought-resistance varieties using smart sensors	Dr. Shamal Mohammed (UK)	7 min
	9. Appropriate Technologies for Soil and Water Management: South African Examples	Prof. Sue Walker (South Africa)	7 min
	10. Artificial soil for urban greening and urban farming	Mr. Konstantin Romanenko (Russia)	7 min
	11. Soil & water researches in adaptation to climate change: Turkey Case	Mr. Alican EREN (Turkey)	7 min
	12. Irrigation in Canada: Improving water productivity through Research and Development	Mr. Evan Derdall (Canada)	7 min
16:05 – 16:25	Session 3. biotic factors affecting sustainable agricultural development In drylands (20 min)
	1. Emerging biotic stresses affecting crops and animals and their management under drylands	Dr. N. Bakthavatsalam (India)	7 min
	2. Pests & Diseases Challenging Animal’s Health in Drylands: ARC-OVR Perspectives	Dr. Mohammed Sirdar (South Africa)	7 min
	3. Locust and grasshopper management in drylands: Can biological control be considered as a viable solution?	Dr. Ulrich Kuhlmann & Dr. Belinda Luke (CABI)	7 min
16:25 – 17:35	session 4. innovation, technology & adoption to enhance resource use efficiency (70 min)
	1. Exploring valuable traits in beneficial rhizobacteria for development of bio-inputs in Argentina: A Sustainable solution to enhance crop productivity in drylands	Dr. Julia García (Argentina)	7 min
	2. Australian rangelands – Towards resilient systems under climate change	Dr. Cécile Godde (Australia)	7 min
	3. Integrated systems in Brazilian semi-arid: tools for adapting to climate change	Dr. Diana Signor Deon (Brazil)	7 min
	4. Platforms for concerted territorial planning: Climate change adaptation programme for vulnerable rural territories (PACTE) of Tunisia	Dr. Sylvie Morardet (France)	7 min
	5. Upscaling potential of Organic farming to enhance resilience and contribute sustainability in the drylands	Prof. GeroldRahmann (Germany)	7 min
	6. Self-sustaining Food Producing Platform	Mr. David Enríquez (Mexico)	7 min
	7. Scenarios for climate smart livestock systems in drylands	Dr. Henning Steinfeld (FAO)	7 min
	8. Drylands of NENA Region: Integrated Approaches and Sustainable Natural Management to Enhance Resilience and Food Security	Mr. RachidSerraj and Ms. Vera Boerger (FAO)	7 min
	9. Integrating and scaling innovations for dryland agriculture	Prof. Jacques Wery (ICARDA)	7 min
	10. High and Low tech innovations to enhance resilience of small scale farmers	Mr. Shantanu Mathur (IFAD)	7 min
17:35 – 18:25	Discussion		50 min
18:25 – 18:30	closing session (5 min)
	Closing Remarks		5 min

Final Report

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International Virtual Workshop on Water, Energy, Food Nexus

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 31st August 2020

TIME	Session	presenter	Duration
14:00 – 14:05	OPENING SESSION (5 min)
	1. Welcoming Address (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)	Prof. Suliman Ali Al-Khateeb	5 min
14:05 – 15:30	Session 1. Nature-based and science-based solutions to protect ecosystems and enhance resource use efficiency for sustainable food system at a global scale (85 min)
	1. Climate Smart Practices for Crops Production with Minimum Water and Energy Inputs in Northern China	Prof. Gong Daozhi, (China)	10 min
	2. Connecting the Brazilian Agriculture to Ecosystem Services and Nexus Food-Water-Energy Security	Dr. Ana Paula Dias Turetta (Brazil)	10 min
	3. Irrigated Agro-ecosystem and Ecosystem Services: The Italian Application of Nature based Solutions	Ms. Raffaella Zucaro (Italy)	10 min
	4. Development of Aquaponics Combined with Open Culture Adapting to Arid Regions for Sustainable Food Production	Dr. Ilie Sava Racotta Dimitrov (Mexico)	10 min
	5. Utilizing Solar Energy Desalination to meet Local Growth on Agriculture Demand without Affecting the Environment	Prof. Hussam Khonkar (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)	10 min
	6. Harnessing Agricultural Ecosystem Services, Reducing Environmental Impacts, and Increasing the Resilience in Swiss Agriculture using Agroforestry Systems	Dr. Sonja Kay (Switzerland)	10 min
	7. The Water-Energy-Food Nexus: From Science to Implementation	Claudia Ringler (IFPRI)	10 min
	Discussion		15 min
15:30 – 17:25	Session 2. Innovative Tools and system approaches to optimise agricultural food production and reduce losses (115 min)
	1. Analysis of Nexus Water Energy Food in an Electro-depended Groundwater basin: The case of Antinaco-Los Colorados Valley (La Rioja, Argentina)	Dr. Esteban Miguel (Argentina)	10 min
	2. Energy Efficient Lighting for year-round Production	Dr. Hao Xiuming (Canada)	10 min
	3. SNAK (Smart Nexus for Agriculture in Korea), Experience of Korea on WEF Nexus	Dr. Hur Seung-oh (Korea)	10 min
	4. Soil-based Solutions for Combined Support of Food Security, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Safety in the Russian Federation	Prof. Pavel Krasilnikov & Dr. Olga Andreeva (Russia)	10 min
	5. Grasslands and climate change mitigation	Prof. Nina Buchmann (Switzerland)	10 min
	6. Dietary change and nutrition improvement of vulnerable people in rural China	Prof. Nie Fengying (China)	10 min
	7. Sustainability assessment of food waste prevention measures	Dr. Thomas Schmidt (Germany)	10 min
	8. Value from food chains and waste reduction: complementary approaches for global sustainable food systems and bio-based economy	Dr. Elisabetta Lupotto (Italy)	10 min
	9. How the UK has achieved a 27% reduction in food waste using innovative Public: Private Partnerships	Dr. Andrew Parry (UK)	10 min
	10. Food waste and the food-energy-water nexus	Dr. Kelly Kibler (USA)	10 min
	Discussion		15 min
17:25 – 18:55	SESSION 3. BRIDGING THE GAP OF PUBLIC POLICY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PRIVATE SECTOR WEF NEXUS INNOVATIONS (90 MIN)
	1. Brazilian Efforts to Provide Quality and Sustainable Foods	Dr. Virgínia Martins da Matta (Brazil)	10 min
	2. Nurturing Adaptive Nexus Compliant Water Policies	Dr. Caroline Lejars (France)	10 min
	3. Integrated Assessments of WEF nexus solutions	Prof. Frank Ewert & Prof. Katharina Helming (Germany)	10 min
	4. Indian Perspective on W-E-F Nexus for Sustainability	Dr. S.K. Ambast (India)	10 min
	5. Smart Farming On Dryland Management To Support Food Security	Dr. Ladiyani Retno Widowati (Indonesia)	10 min
	6. Geo-spatial technologies for land Productivity Assessment - from Plant to the Globe	Dr. Mohamed A. M. Abd Elbasit (South Africa)	10 min
	7. UAE Water, Food Energy Nexus: Bridging the Gap of Public Policy Development through Private sector WEF Nexus Innovations	Somayyah AlYammahi (UAE)	10 min
	8. Understanding the Nexus with a Complexity lens	Dr. Pete Barbrook-Johnson (UK)	10 min
	Discussion		10 min
18:55 – 19:00	closing session (5 min)
	Closing Remarks	Prof. Suliman Ali Al-Khateeb	5 min

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