Sustainability of Agricultural Environment in Egypt: Part II

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Rapid Soil Analyses Using Modern Sensing Technology: Toward a More Sustainable Agriculture

   El-Sayed Ewis Omran

   Abstract

   Modern sensing technology must be utilized to provide farmers with rapid soil analysis in making farming more sustainable. Modern technologies in agriculture have been given an important role for the improvement of agricultural productions, e.g., sustainable agriculture, in order to maintain food security. It has been known that modern agricultural technology can sustainably improve agricultural production. Up-to-date information on soil properties is imperative for sustainable agriculture. Conventional soil analyses cannot efficiently give this information since they are slow and expensive and sometimes incorporate environmentally damaging chemicals. Soil spectroscopy is a well-known technique to assess soil properties quickly and quantitatively.

   To assess the utility of spectroscopy for soil characteristic (clay content, salinity, and OM) prediction, 35 soil samples collected from Bahr El Baqar, Egypt were scanned in the 350–2,500 nm region (FieldSpec Spectroradiometer). Reflectance spectroscopy gives an alternate method to nondestructively characterize key soil properties. Chemometrics techniques have been utilizing to estimate soil properties from visible and near-infrared (VNIR, 350–1,200 nm) and shortwave-infrared (SWIR, 1,200–2,500 nm) reflectance domains. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) was put in place to develop calibration models, which were independently tested for the predictions of soil organic carbon, salinity, and clay content from the soil spectra. Some spectral data pre-processing techniques were carried out to diminish noise, to offset effects, and to improve the linearity between measured absorbance and soil properties. These models were developed by the correlation between spectral characteristics and physicochemical soil properties separately for each soil property, using PLSR analysis. The continuum removal (CR) spectra yielded the best calibration models with respect to estimates of the soil salinity, which generated R ² values of 0.62. In the case of the clay content, the prediction capacity of the method proved to be high (R ² = 0.57) using CR. These results can be explained by the strong spectral activity of organic carbon and clay in the VNIR-SWIR region. The model accuracy (RMSE OM = 0.425) is low, indicating the need for improving the measurement protocol to achieve more reliable data and to test other pre-processing and modeling methods as well. The deviation of the arch (DOA) at 600 nm is indicative of the convex and concave features of the spectral curves generated by OM. The DOA contains the majority of information regarding OM and can be utilized to estimate OM.

3. Effect of Water Deficit on Food Productivity Under Saline Conditions: Case Study – North Sinai, Egypt

   Mohamed Abu-hashim, Khaled Shaban, Amani Sallam, Abdelazim Negm

   Abstract

   Egypt is dependent mainly on the surface water coming from the Nile River. The water demand is increasing because of the rapid growth of populations and the impacts of climate change. Egypt is highly vulnerable to climate change, which increases the water demand and causes a loss of crops. Thus, one of the main challenges facing the sequential government during the previous decades was to enhance the agriculture sector by increasing the efficiency of water use. In this context, a field trial in Saline Soil at Sahl El-Tina (North Sinai) was designed in a system of a completely randomized block design and this trial was carried out during two winter seasons, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, to study the response of economic crop (faba bean) yield to different water supply regimes. The experiment included three water irrigations, El-Salam Canal, schedules 3,600, 6,000, and 7,200 m³/ha (ha = 10,000 m²), and two varieties of faba bean. The results obtained showed a reduction in soil salinity values with increasing water supply. That is, applying the water regime of 7,200 m³/ha revealed decreased soil salinity on the experimental farm by 30% compared with using the water regime 3,600 m³/ha for both seasons. Nevertheless, the results of the yield quantity showed that the weight of seeds/plant (g) and plant height (cm) decreased with reduction of the water supply. For the yield quality, such as seed quality, carbohydrate percentage, high protein, seedling dry weight, and radical length were accompanied by low water application (3,600 m³/ha). The results relevant to the approach to water use efficiency were suitable with lower water supplies. In addition, using the water regime of 6,000 m³/ha with the Sakha 3 cultivar under saline soil conditions was more efficient according to the concepts of water saving, water use efficiency, seed quality, and yield.

4. Land, Air, and Water Resources on Sustainable Agricultural Development in Egypt

   Atef Ghandour

   Abstract

   The experiments were carried out at Moshtohor, Kalubia governorate (latitude, 30° 21′N; longitude, 31° 14′E; and elevation, 14 m), during 2015/2016 growing seasons to test model application of wheat under Egyptian conditions. A computer application program has been developed as Consumptive Use Program plus (CUP plus) as it is an application that can estimate crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and evapotranspiration of applied water (ETaw). The program uses daily and monthly measured weather data to estimate daily soil water balances for surfaces that account for evapotranspiration losses and water contributions from rainfall, seepage, and irrigation. Soil water-holding characteristics, effective rooting depths, and irrigation frequency were measured with rainfall and ETc data to calculate a daily water balance and determine rainfall and ETaw, which is equal to the seasonal cumulative ETc minus the effective rainfall. The main objective of this paper research is testing a mode for determining reference evapotranspiration (ETo), crop coefficient (Kc) values, crop evapotranspiration (ETc), and evapotranspiration of applied water (ETaw), which provides an estimate of the net irrigation water diversion needed to produce a crop. The obtained results show that ETo arrives to the maximum in May by 188.19 mm/month, but ETaw arrives at the maximum in April by 110.71 mm/month. The application outputs and includes a wide range of tables and charts that are useful for irrigation planning and decision-making.

5. Reclamation of Saline-Sodic Soils for Sustainable Agriculture in Egypt

   Mohamed K. Abdel-Fattah

   Abstract

   Soil salinity has emerged as the most significant problem of present agriculture of Egypt. Scanty rainfall coupled with high temperature is always conducive to the accumulation of salts. These conditions are predominantly found in Egypt. In Egypt, improving salt-affected soils is essential for ensuring secure agricultural productivity. The study involved leaching experiments on a saline-sodic soil using soil column techniques assessing the efficiency of soil amendments of phosphogypsum (a gypsum-rich material, a by-product of superphosphate manufacture), standard gypsum, sulfuric acid, and rice straw.

   The soil amendments used in this experiment were standard gypsum (NG), phosphogypsum (PG), sulfuric acid (SA), and rice straw (RS). Application of the above three amendments was based on the gypsum requirement (GR) equation according to USDA taking in consideration a required final value of exchangeable sodium percent (ESPf) of 12, and an actual exchangeable sodium percent (ESPi) of the initial value of 29.8 was found in the soil.

   Air-dried straw was chopped into shredded pieces less than 5 cm long using a suitable hand chopper. The shredded straw pieces at the rate of 130 g/column (60 Mg ha⁻¹) were homogenously incorporated into the soil before the beginning of the leaching process.

   The obtained data showed intermittent leaching 0.4 PV (L3) was more effective in decreasing EC, soluble ions, ESP, and exchangeable magnesium and increasing exchangeable calcium as well as improving physical properties (i.e., water-stable aggregates and hydraulic conductivity) than the other ones (i.e., intermittent leaching 0.1 PV or 0.2 PV). On the other hand, the intermittent leaching was more effective in decreasing EC, soluble ions, ESP, and exchangeable magnesium and increasing exchangeable calcium as well as improving physical properties than continuous.

   There was a decrease in pH, EC, and ESP values for the degraded soil reclaimed using all amendments. Also, infiltration rate of water increased due to amendments through enhancement of soil aggregation. Also, the thorough mixing application showed superiority over the surface application of gypsum, whether standard gypsum “NG” or phosphogypsum “PG” was used.

   All amendments proved to have higher efficiency compared to the control treatment. The efficiency of soil amendments will be presented in this chapter.

6. Impact of Plant Tissue Culture on Agricultural Sustainability

   Nahla A. El-Sherif

   Abstract

   Plant tissue culture is an important agricultural biotechnological tool that contributes in the production of crops with improved food, fiber, fuel, and feed. It is one way toward commercialization to face the food availability challenge in developing countries and allow them to cope with their fast-growing population in a restricted area of land. In addition, plant tissue culture enables some rare and nearly extinct plant species to be rescued and propagated. Conventional methods of propagation thus need to be supplemented with modern breeding techniques. In this way, higher levels of agriculture, afforestation, plant improvement as well as in vitro production of metabolites and plant secondary products can be reached and fulfilled on a year-round basis and under disease-free conditions. The main applications of plant tissue culture in the agricultural field, plant micropropagation, inducing new varieties and constrains of plant tissue culture and challenges this technique is facing as an industry helping the agricultural field, are discussed in this chapter.

7. Pesticide Alternatives Use in Egypt: The Concept and Potential

   Atef Mohamed Khedr Nassar

   Abstract

   Pest management programs include physical, mechanical, cultural, and legislative strategies, resistant varieties, activation of host plant defense mechanisms, biological control agents, and synthetic pesticides. Yet, the application of synthetic pesticides is the main control method, which heavily contaminates the environment and affects the quality of produced crops and the safety of humans. Therefore, scientists around the world and in Egypt are investigating numerous alternative approaches including plant natural extracts, specific secondary metabolites, intercropping crops (the allelopathic and/or defense inductive effects), and nanoformulations of secondary metabolites and/or pesticides. These alternatives showed promising potential as anti-pathogenic agents. The current chapter will accentuate the contribution of the Egyptian scientists in the area of using natural plant chemicals as pesticide alternatives or additives. Also, presented herein is a summary of the application of nanomaterials, nanoemulsions, nanoencapsulation, and nano-pesticides in the IPM systems. However, there are thousands of research articles and patents that describe the immense potential of nanotechnology and natural materials as alternatives to the synthetic pesticides. There is very limited number of registered commercial products either in Egypt or worldwide.

8. Biological Pest Control for Sustainable Agriculture in Egypt

   Mahmoud Saleh, Nabil El-Wakeil, Huda Elbehery, Nawal Gaafar, Shimaa Fahim

   Abstract

   Biological control is the use of beneficial organisms (predators, parasitoids, or pathogens) to decrease the population density of pest organisms (insects, mites, or plant pathogens). It is a main component of sustainable agriculture which is a system for maintaining the production on the long run without degrading the environmental resources. With the increased consciousness about the hazards of traditional chemicals in agriculture, it was noticed a remarkable decrease in the use of pesticides and an increase in the use of biological control agents (natural enemies). Biological control in any country depends on many factors, of the top importance are three namely: an abundance of natural enemies in the country, mass production, and field application of these natural enemies for the pest control. Egypt, like many other countries, has the potentiality to have a biological control industry. In this chapter, we discussed the status and potential of biological control in sustainable agriculture in Egypt through studying the abundance, the mass production, and the field application of natural enemies. Studied natural enemies included parasitoids, predators, predatory mites, and entomopathogenic nematodes.

9. Impacts of Climate Change on Insect Pests of Main Crops in Egypt

   Ali Ahmed El-Sayed, Mohamed Ahmed Nada, Said Moussa Abd El-Fattah

   Abstract

   Climate change is expected to have a negative or positive effect on the short and long term on the diversity of pest’s abundance, pest’s–host plant interactions, an abundance of natural enemies, and finally the extent of damage to the Egyptian economy due to the impact on agricultural economic crops. Under current and previous climatic conditions, major crops and their pests have adapted to climatic elements that help them to survive, grow, reproduce, and spread, based on host abundance and interaction. The significant change in climate is reflected in the increase in the average temperature of the globe, the change in precipitation amounts, their patterns, and their locations. These seasonal and long-term changes will affect the crops grown regarding production and components, the emergence of new plant species that were not previously known. In other words, any change in the components of the environment will be reflected in human lifestyles and the pests associated with their crops. In studies under laboratory conditions, climate components directly affected insect dynamics by modifying growth, survival, fertility, dispersion, and differentiation.

10. Integrated Pest Management for Sustainable Agriculture

    Ahmed Ali Romeh

    Abstract

    Widespread insecticide resistance has been a major problem in a sustainable agriculture such as the resistance of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) in tomato crops to some insecticides. Also, the increasing public concern over pesticide safety and possible damage to the environment has resulted in increasing attention being given to safety products for the control of agricultural pests. Integrated pest management (IPM) has become one of the major restricting factors for protected crop and vegetable cultivations in Egypt. The protections of human health, environment, ecosystems, and biodiversity have recently been considered as important elements in the application of agricultural practices. Integrated Pest management is carried out in a sustainable manner by combination of biological, cultural, mechanical, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks.

    Despite the importance of the biological control in IPM, the basic principles of IPM are scouting and thresholds. If scouting and thresholds were the only IPM methods practiced by a grower, pesticide-use could usually be reduced by 50% compared to spraying on a regular schedule. Advantages of the use of pest-resistant varieties include low cost, increased security to the grower, decreased use of insecticides, the potential to enhance biological control through conservation of natural Enemies, easy transferability to farmers’ fields, no danger to humans and domestic animals, and compatibility with all other control practices. Several new classes of insecticides became available and been registered in various crops. These compounds are highly efficient and very selective.

11. Organic and Biofertilization on Crop Production in Semiarid Regions

    Ayman M. Helmy

    Abstract

    Organic farming involves holistic production systems that avoid the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms, thereby minimizing their deleterious effect on the environment. Agriculture area under organic farming ranges from 0.03% in India to 11.3% in Austria. Organic agriculture is the system that favors the maximum use of organic matter and microbial fertilizers to improve soil health and increase yield. Organic agriculture has a long history, but it shows a recent and rapid rise. This article describes the importance of organic and biofertilizers in increasing the quality and productivity of developing crops under semiarid regions, especially in salt-stressed areas, and their role in improving the properties of these lands.

    The organic farming system is largely dependent on the cycle of crops, crop residues, legumes, green fertilization, organic residues from outside and inside the farm to maintain soil productivity, and organic agriculture, as pest control, insect, animal, fungal or weed. The use of organic fertilizers, natural and manufactured instead of using chemical fertilizers, and the use of alternatives to pesticides and green pesticides are safe and have a good impact on agricultural products in terms of production of clean agricultural crops that are safe to human health and pollution-free.

    In Egypt, the expansion of organic agriculture will be an added value in some areas of the project of reclamation of one and a half million acres, in addition to the state’s interest in the expansion of agricultural plantations. Also, Egyptian organic agriculture has a comparative advantage in terms of production dates and quality of European market countries. The number of organic farming in the world is growing rapidly. In terms of numbers, the area cultivated by organic methods increased from 1.15 million hectares in the early 1970s to 11 million hectares in 1999 and reached 43.7 million hectares in 2014, which nearly quadrupled in 15 years. Egypt is ranked third after Tunisia and Uganda among African countries, where the area organically grown in Egypt according to global statistics to 85.8 thousand hectares in 2014.

    Biofertilizers are preparations containing microorganisms that can supply plants with the necessary nutrients from natural sources, thus reducing dependence on different chemical fertilizers. These fertilizers can release nutrients continuously, making them sufficient to cover the needs of the treated plants. Biofertilizers are also sources of food for low-cost plants as a substitute for the use of mineral fertilizers, which have the effect of polluting the environment, whether for soil or water, when excessively used. These fertilizers are produced from microorganisms by selecting the desired microbes to multiply in suitable farms and then transferring the bacterial growth to a suitable liquid or solid carrier and are used as a vaccine, where they are added to the agricultural soil either as mixed with soil or mixed with plant seeds when planting. Only those microorganisms are used which have specific functions to enhance plant growth and reproduction by increasing the efficiency of nutrients and increasing their availability in soil.

    This chapter gives a quick picture of the important use of organic and biological fertilizers to increase the efficiency of the fertilizers of macroelements, especially the nitrogenous one, and the effect of this on the productivity and quality of barley grains growing under the conditions of semiarid regions, especially those suffering from salt stress.

12. Using Humic Substances and Foliar Spray with Moringa Leaf Extract to Alleviate Salinity Stress on Wheat

    Abdel-Rahman M. A. Merwad

    Abstract

    Worldwide, particularly in dry regions, soil salinity is one of the most important problems limiting plant growth and productivity of a wide range of horticulture and field crops. The adverse effect of salinity on plants may lead to disturbances in plant metabolism, which consequently lead to a reduction of the plant growth and productivity. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of humic substance with or without foliar spraying Moringa leaf extract (MLE) on wheat yield, photosynthetic pigments, nutrient uptake, and soil characteristics available N, P, and K in saline soil conditions. Results indicated that photosynthetic pigments, nutrient uptake, and available N, P, and K significantly decreased within each humic substance application and MLE with increasing salinity concentration. Under saline conditions, either humic materials or MLE increased growth, plant height and yield parameters (i.e., straw and grains yield, biological yield, weight of 1,000 grain), protein content of the leaf, harvest index, photosynthetic pigments, and proline and NPK-uptake of wheat plants compared to those in the untreated control plants. The highest values of biomass yield, the weight of 1,000 grain, chlorophyll, chlorophyll b, carotenoid concentrations, and NPK-uptake under different salinity levels were observed with application of HA and FA under spraying MLE. Soil pH and EC were decreased with the application of humus materials under soil salinity level. In contrast, organic matter and available nutrients (i.e., N, P, and K) were increased in soils treated with humic materials compared to those in untreated ones.

13. Importance of Forage Mixtures in Increasing Sustainable Food Supply in Egypt

    Hassan Awaad, Nehal El-Naggar, Hend Hassan

    Abstract

    The cultivation of forage mixtures has an important role in increasing the land use efficiency and utilization of environmental resources. Many farmers resort to forage mixtures to increase the productivity of green forage per unit area. Mixtures are used to increase forage quality and the nutritive value by increasing the proportion of fiber to avoid digestive problems. Cultivation of mixtures improves the mutually beneficial relationship. The most important of these forage mixtures are Sudan grass–cowpea, fodder maize–cowpea, fodder maize–guar, ryegrass–clover, barley–clover, and canary grass–clover, which succeed under Egyptian conditions. The use of nitrogen and phosphorus as fertilizers is also important because of their significant and clear impact on forage yield and quality for livestock.

14. Algae and Chain Aquaculture: An Approach Towards Sustainable Agriculture

    Nermin Adel El Semary

    Abstract

    Global warming, water scarcity and the rise of sea level have resulted in drastic changes that lead to shortage of living resources needed to meet the demands of the ever-increasing human population. Moreover, the contaminated and the poor quality of resources available represent challenges for any sustainable development plans. The major challenges that hinder the establishment of sustainable agriculture are the limited water resources, the limited fertilizer supply and the limited hospitable space (where edible food and water exist) for placing the population. Also, eco-friendly solutions that are not hazardous or polluting are needed to suffice the living and space demands of the increasing population. In Egypt, the population is mainly centred in the delta area and the narrow fertile Nile valley. This is uneven demographic distribution as most of Egypt’s area is uninhabited deserts. Desert lands that represent more than 95% of the total area of Egypt can provide a solution for the lack of hospitable space and establishing new sustainable communities. The present chapter discusses a proposed working model in which algae play major roles. Algae, the photosynthetic plantlike organisms, are important part of the different global ecosystems. Nevertheless, they have been underexploited in case of agriculture despite their indispensable role as primary producers and as a rich source of nutrients and bioactive compounds as well. Our model is based on using innovative strategy of integrating the culturing of algae, fish and plants in a sustainable aquatic chain. The unpolluted underground water, which is mostly brackish, provides a solution to the limited water resources and is to be used for establishing algal and fish cultures. Algae are to be used as fish feed in part and as biofertilizers for plants. The algae are to be mass cultured using an economic open culturing pond/system. Meanwhile, the fish wastewater would be reused for the irrigation of plants where the phosphorus, nitrogen and organic matter in the wastewater represent natural fertilizers for plants. The plants are also to be biofertilized using algal bioconcentrate/biomass. This integrated system in which algae play multiple roles would hopefully offer solutions to obstacles hindering sustainable agriculture.

15. Managerial and Nutritional Trends to Mitigate Heat Stress Risks in Poultry Farms

    Mohamed E. Abd El-Hack, Mahmoud Alagawany, Ahmed E. Noreldin

    Abstract

    Over the past years, developing genotypes of poultry is mainly driven objecting the best productive performance at optimal environmental conditions. Since recent elevation in extreme heat wave events and increased sensitivity of the modern genotypes of poultry to heat burden became an essential concern, heat burden led to remarkable economic losses in the poultry industry, particularly in arid (hot and dry over the year) and tropical (hot and wet over the year) regions in the world. Heat stress has been reported to cause marked adverse effects on poultry reproductive and productive performances. Many investigations have studied the harmful influences of heat burden on productivity and welfare of birds. The deleterious effects of heat stress on various species of poultry range from depressed body weight, the rate of growth, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio, egg yield, and egg weight to the impaired quality of egg and meat. Moreover, the deleterious impacts of heat burden on welfare and reproduction of birds have recently attracted increasing public awareness and concern. The earlier intervention strategies involving the nutritional additions and environmental management haven’t been consistent in poultry for mitigating heat stress. So, there is a scope for exploring innovative approaches, involving the application of molecular techniques in poultry breeding to enhance poultry productivity in a sustainable manner as well as a genetic marker-assisted selection of poultry breeds for elevated heat tolerance. Subsequently, keeping in view the current situation, it is important to well understand the different molecular and cellular mechanisms included in poultry production. These mechanisms are like immunological and physiological aspects of poultry birds exposed to heat stress.

16. Nutritional Strategies to Produce Organic and Healthy Poultry Products

    Mahmoud Alagawany, Mohamed E. Abd El-Hack, Mayada R. Farag

    Abstract

    Agricultural poultry products including eggs and meat are important sources of crude protein, lipids, minerals, and micronutrients that play a critical role in basic nutrition. Traditionally, meat and eggs are associated with negative factors in human health, mainly due to their content of triglyceride and cholesterol. It is well known that the response of serum cholesterol levels in human to dietary cholesterol consumption depends on many factors like hormonal factors, genetic makeup, ethnicity, and the nutritional condition of the consumer. Recently, there has been increasing demands for organic food, which are expected to continue to increase in the near future, due to their ability to reduce the risks of many diseases and enhance the physical and mental well-being of the consumer, besides satisfying hunger and supplying substantial nutrients. Organic foods of animal origin are produced by feeding the animal on a specific diet or by using some techniques, like induced genetic mutation, genetic engineering, cross-breeding, etc. with an aim to guarantee the presence of nutrients, which may be useful to human health. The organic foods of poultry origin may only include organic eggs and organic chickens. To produce organic/designer food, it is essential to study the available and sustainable nutritional strategies and evaluate knowledge-based alternatives of growth-enhancers as well as develop more efficient models and protocols for quantification of the bioavailability and bio-accessibility of bioactive compounds for health studies in animal and human. Organic eggs, viz., specialty, vegetarian, immune-powered, and functional and designer eggs, do have increased content of vitamins, minerals, and essential pigments like carotenoids, lowered cholesterol and fat, balanced ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, antibacterial active principles, and an additional boost of antibodies. On the other hand, organic meat contained a higher concentration of tocopherol and conjugated linoleic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and amino acids; all these factors contribute to the maintenance and the improvement of consumer health. This chapter offers a simple overview of the significance and health benefits of organic poultry products, and it explores the possibilities of the production and development of organic food by technological strategies.

17. Ways to Minimize Nitrogen Emissions in Agricultural Farms

    Mohamed E. Abd El-Hack, Ahmed E. Noreldin, Samir A. Mahgoub, Muhammad Arif

    Abstract

    The overwhelming scientific unanimity is that gases produced by a different agricultural system including poultry farms are affecting the climate of the globe. One of the ecological defiances is poultry manure elimination and/or utilization. Chicken manure and its nitrogenous compounds could be a prospective pollutant rising eutrophication, nitrite or nitrate impurity of water, acid precipitation in the air, and ammonia volatilization. Thus, lowering nitrogen excretion in fowl litter is necessary to keep an immaculate environment. Appropriate nutrition is a significant first step to optimize growth and performance in animals and to lower the negative effects on the environment. Amino acids are components of fowl nutrition that largely affect animal growth. However, deficient or surplus amino acid supplementations in diets elevate nitrogen emission. One way to lower this emission is to prohibit uricase vigor in the microflora in chicken manure. Egg yolk antibodies are economic alternates for supplementation in the diets of chickens. Administration of feed grade antibodies into poultry feed could be a probable program to reduce bacterial uricase action and minimize ammonia excretion from chicken manure. To utilize this dietary strategy efficiently, a well-balanced ration formulation and a more feasible method of delivering the antibodies in feeds need to be improved.

18. Policies That Work for Sustainable Agriculture in Egypt

    Moataz Elnemr

    Abstract

    Sustainable agriculture is economically, environmentally, and technically viable. Sustainable agriculture has different practices than traditional. Policies should be designed and planned to serve the goals of sustainable agriculture. Policies have to consider the local Egyptian environment and properties. There is a need for a framework lead to create a national policy for sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture planning should be in participatory way not in sectorial level. Farmers are essential in planning for sustainability as they are the source of the research and extension needs, and they are mainly concerned by implementing sustainable agriculture practices. Policies will be created depending on three main considerations acting sustainable agriculture elements that need to be integrated: reforming external institutions and professional approach, supporting local groups for community action, and supporting resource-conserving technologies and practices. There is a need for a framework of policies to attract investments to the agricultural sector. Application of these policies requires suitable implementation mechanisms and pack of laws and regulations. Promising impacts are expected to increase production and reach self-sufficiency from applying sustainable agriculture practices and supportive policies.

    This chapter suggests 22 policies that are suitable for the Egyptian agricultural sector to support transition to sustainable agriculture and self-reliance. It is recommended to monitor and evaluate the impacts of such policies to clarify the needs of modifications or replanning.

19. Update, Conclusions, and Recommendations for Sustainability of Agricultural Environment in Egypt: Soil–Water–Plant Nexus

    Abdelazim M. Negm, El-Sayed E. Omran, Mohamed Abu-hashim

    Abstract

    By 2050, agricultural production has to increase by 7% to face the population increase. This production increase should be attained in a system that preserves the environment and limits the use of pesticides and undesirable chemicals in agriculture. This chapter encapsulates the key sustainability challenges (in terms of conclusions and recommendations) of the existing main agri-food system and presents insights derived from the cases in the volume. In addition, some (update) findings from a few recently published research work are related to the sustainability covered themes. This chapter focuses on the sustainability of the agricultural environment concerning Soil-Water-Plant Nexus in Egypt that was documented in this volume. To this end, we identify four main contribution areas, which include Egyptian sustainable agriculture, the potential application of natural products on crop productivity, biological control potentiality for sustainable agriculture, and livestock contribution to sustaining farm production. Therefore, conclusions will be built on researcher visions gained concerning study findings and limitations. In addition, this chapter contains information on a set of recommendations to direct future research toward sustainability of the agriculture, which is a main strategic theme of the Egyptian government. The set of recommendations is presented for professionals interested in pursuing additional research to exceed the scope and findings of this volume.

20. Backmatter