The goal of this division is to develop and transfer agriculture management systems that insure environmental quality, sustainability, biodiversity, and natural resource conservation in desert and new lands.
Activities include:
1) studies on desert ecosystems
2) evaluation of natural plant cover
3) mapping of vegetation and rangelands
4) conservation of plant collections
5) production of cultivars and tolerant strains
6) increasing horticultural and field crop productivity by introducing new varieties
7) studies on medicinal and aromatic plants of the Egyptian deserts
8) biological and ecological studies on plant diseases and pests
9) studies on sand dune fixation
10) establishment of wind screens for protection of newly settled areas, towns, factories and desert roads, and
11) propagation of selected seedlings adaptable to desert environments.
 

This division is comprised of six research departments.

Plant Genetic Resources Department

Plant Production Research Department

Plant Ecology and Range Management Department

Sand Dune Research Department:

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Department

Plant Protection department

Plant Genetic Resources Department

This department is engaged in the following activities:
1) identification, classification, preservation, and testing of exotic and local germplasm under stress conditions, as well as identification of biochemical aspects responsible for plant adaptability to desert conditions
2) introduction of plants from different countries to be used as new cash crops in Egypt. These exotic genetic resources are used in breeding and diallel cross programs to take advantage of polygenic characteristics which are tolerant to stress conditions
3) saltbox techniques are used to raise salinity levels each growing cycle and thus select plants adaptable to saline conditions
4) cytogenetic indicators are identified for salt tolerances and different stress conditions
5) propagation of seedlings by using tissue culture techniques
6) germplasm preservation by tissue culture techniques to be available for exchange purposes.

Research Units:

        Plant Breeding
        Genetics And Cytology
        Tissue Culture
        Adaptation
        Biochemistry

Plant Production Research Department

The main activities of this department are:
1) identification of the best cultural practices and improved technologies to optimize yields per unit of land and water
2) identification of environmental impact assessment on pant productivity under desert conditions
3) improvement of water harvesting techniques and rational utilization of harvested water for establishing rain-fed farms in the north coastal desert
4) establishment of field experimental sites in the desert to evaluate local and imported strains of economic crops and to apply water harvesting techniques
5) selection of vegetable crop varieties resistant to salinity and drought
6) introduction of horticultural crops adaptable to desert conditions
7) use of wild weeds and plant byproducts to produce substances to be used as feed additives in processing.

Research Units:

        Vegetables
        Fruits
        Agronomy
        Agriculture Processing

Research Projects:

Evaluating the performance of some species and cultivars of fodder, vegetable and fruit crops to formulate proper agricultural practices and systems to assist plant production under different desert conditions .

Growing high-yieding cultirars, testing exotic introductions for resistance to drought and saline conditions, adopting up-to-date farm management technologies, improving water harvesting techniques and dry farming, establishing improved nurseries and propagation of trees for wind break and sand dune fixation as well as forage and fodder services.

Increasing the productivity of cereal crops under rain-fed conditions by using different methods of water harvesting in the northwestern coastal zone.

Monitoring the microclimate to convert weather data into information on farm management (irrigation scheduling, pesticide application, seeding, etc.)

Plant Ecology and Range Management Department

This department conducts studies on:
1) the natural vegetation of Egyptian deserts, including medicinal, aromatic and fibrous plants and other economically important species to estimate phytomass productivity
2) the deterioration of natural plant cover and methods for remedy
3) the autecologica responses of plant covers under different stress conditions to improve conventional crop responses
4) the establishment of representative sites for appropriate practices to optimize natural resources and improve rangelands and forage production
5) improvement of irrigated and natural pastures to increase animal production.

Research Units:

        Plant Ecology
        Range Management
        Plant Taxonomy
        Ecophysiology
        Pollution

Research Projects:

Conservation and improvement of range forage resources In the Sinai Peninsula The work aims at the protection and regeneration of natural range resources, reseeding of deteriorated rangelands by the appropriate native and exotic candidates, supplemental forage production through raising of suitable annual legumes and grasses, and increasing Soil fertility through the application of specialized rhizobium.

Forage production in salt-affected areas. Sat-tolerant native and exotic range plants were raised using brackish-saline well water on salt-affected strips in the southwestern coast of Sinai.

Studying the potential vegetation as a source of grazing and the current deterioration due to overgrazing and misuse.

Improvement of rangeland in the northwestern coastal zone by planting suitable range shrubs and reseeding the different annual palatable legumes under rain-fed conditions.

Improvement of range resources in selected areas along the High Dam Lake.

Sand Dune Research Department:

This department conducts studies on:
1) evaluation of environmental conditions that affect the dynamic processes of sand dunes and sand sheets, such as climate, plant cover, soil moisture content, soil temperature, and physical and chemical properties of sand,
2) monitoring and recording the movements of different sand bodies both through field observation and using aerial photos and remote sensing techniques
3) evaluating different mechanical, chemical, and biological sand dune fixation techniques and determining the resulting benefit/cost ratio if the technique is applied
4) training personnel and loca inhabitants on sand encroachment control.

Research Units:

        Sand Dune Ecology
        Sand Dune And Movement
        Biological Sand Dune Fixation

Research Projects:

The department participates in the following projects:

Sand dune stabilization at the eastern fringes of the Delta.

Sand dune stabilization at El-Khanka area.

Regional project for sand dune stabilization and afforestation.

Agriculture development of the northwestern coast of Egypt.

Sand dune stabilization in Siwa Oasis by the use of agricultural drainage water.

Biological drainage by the use of Eucalyptus trees in Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert.

Afforestation of Quatamia and Suez cement factories.

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Department

This department searches for new medicinal desert plants for cultivation in newly reclaimed areas. This involves conducting research on the ecology and biochemical constituents of medicinal desert plants and their behavior under stress conditions

Research Units:

        Medicinal And Aromatic Plants
        Phytochemistry
        Natural Products

Plant Protection department

This department conducts studies and research on agricultural pests, including Insects, weeds, nematodes fungi, and other causal agents to reduce losses. It works to prevent the transportation of pests to newly reclaimed lands, and to reduce environmental polluton with alternative agrochemicals Activities include:
1) selecting programs for pest control with minimum hazard to the environment
2) research on ecological, biological, and economical aspects of pest control
3) extension services to newly reclaimed lands
4) training of post graduate students from Egypt and Arab countries.

Research Units:

        Pesticides
        Economic Entomology
        Nematology
        Plant Pathology
        Animal Pests

Research Projects:

Evaluation of some herbicides in newly reclaimed soils ( 1987-1988, Ministry of Agriculture, MOA).

El-Qasr rural development project (1990- 1991, Gesellschaft fur technische Zusammenarbeit, GTZ).

Soil and water management in the new lands (1992-1994, National Agricultural Research Project, NARP).

Development of an integrated pest management program for olive pests in the northwestern coastal plain of Egypt (1994, MOA)

Control of annual and perennial weeds in orchards and field and vegetable crops in sandy, silty and calcareous soils (1994 MOA).