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In view of the rapidly declining native plant cover due to existing harsh climate and uncontrolled grazing, Kuwait has undertaken initiatives to revegetate the desert land with native species to im...

Plant physiological and morphological attributes should be critically evaluated for selecting any species for landscaping projects. The selection of a species should be based on the evaluation of its adaptability, noninvasiveness, growth potential, and performance under the prevailing local arid conditions for their aesthetic looks, soil stabilization, and afforestation values. Chrysopogon zizanoides (Vetiver), is suitable for Kuwait because it can withstand fluctuating temperatures ranging from −14 to 55 °C with unique physical and physiological characteristics. Despite the successful growth performance of Vetiver in landscaping projects mostly in several tropical countries, it has not been utilized and evaluated in the Arabian Gulf region. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the performance of selected ten cultivars of Vetiver (ODV-1, 8, 9, 13, 17, 21, 23, Silent Valley, Urlikal, and Pannimedu) in the deficient soil and environmental conditions of Kuwait in urban landscape at minimal maintenance. It is suggested that based on visual greenery effect and overall growth performance cultivars, Pannimedu, Silent Valley, ODV-13, ODV-8 and ODV-9 can be considered for landscaping projects in Kuwait. To obtain the superior crown volume (which considers height and canopy) cultivar Pannimedu is suggested and to get a bushy growth (considering the number of tillers) cultivar ODV-13 and ODV-8 is found to be suitable.

Organic food production, a dynamic and rapidly growing global activity is still new to Kuwait. Therefore, investigations were conducted during 2006-09 to develop package of cultivation practices for producing organic greenhouse vegetables under Kuwait's environmental conditions. One of the objectives of these investigations was to select a suitable growing substrate for organic greenhouse vegetable production. A number of combinations of vermicompost, cocopeat, sphagnum peatmoss, perlite, farm yard manure and Avicumus were compared with ready- to-use organic substrate for producing tomato, cucumber and capsicum under greenhouse conditions. Vegetative growth parameters (average plant height, number of leaves, chlorophyll index) and fruit yield per plant were used to evaluate various growing substrates. Overall, substrates containing vermicompost, coco peat, perlite and sphagnum peat moss (2:1:1:1 or 1:1:1:1 v/v) produced significantly better growth, yield and quality in tomato, cucumber and capsicum than other substrate combinations and in some cases were better than ready-to-use mixes and conventional soil based growing system. The results of these experiments are discussed in this presentation.

Thirty five ornamental plants were introduced into the Ahmadi Bioremediated Soil Park to screen and closely monitor the growth performance of these new introductions under the local environmental conditions. Out of these 35 plant species, 15 were planted in both bioremediated and agricultural soils to assess their suitability for growing in bioremediated soils. Data on vegetative growth was recorded to assess the performance of newly-introduced plants, whereas, the heat stress was documented of Bauhinia blakeana, where no visible effects of petroleum pollutants on plant growth were observed. Performance of each plant group is discussed separately in the text. Overall, plant survival was 72.73% for all plant groups. Generally, plants that failed to grow in bioremediated soil also did not survive in the agricultural soil, indicating that they were sensitive to heat stress more than the presence of petroleum contaminants in the soil. New plant species that were able to establish and perform satisfactorily wi...

Soils of Kuwait contain little plant nutrients and organic matters to support plant growth and development. Soils water holding capacities are very small and need continuous irrigation to maintain water availability. Addition of organic matter in various soils of Kuwait in different time duration were observed and investigated. The effect of organic matter on soil physical and chemical properties were analysed and compared within the soil solution. High variation of macro and micronutrients were distinguished among different soil treatments with organic matter application. Plant nutrients increased in the soil solution with organic matter application enormously. Soil physical properties improved by the decreasing of soils bulk densities and increasing soil water holding capacities. Organic materials are available from many sources in Kuwait, mostly from animal, industrial and municipal waste. These materials can be utilized more efficiently for soil improvement and plants production. Most of organic mater...

At the conclusion of the Gulf War in 1991, more than 700 gushing wells discharged over 60 million barrels of crude oil, forming nearly 300 oil lakes that covered more than 49 km 2 of land surface. This contaminated approximately 40 million tons of soil. An additional 700 km 2 of terrestrial land was contaminated by oily mist fallout. Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research successfully tested and standardized bioremediation technology to significantly reduce petroleum oil contaminants in the soil. Preliminary results suggested that the bioremediated soil was capable of supporting plant growth without adverse effects. In the present study, growth of a number of ornamental plants in bioremediated soil was compared with that in normal agricultural soil to assess the suitability of bioremediated soil for use in landscape/greenery projects in Kuwait. Results indicated that the bioremediated soil did not affect the establishment of test plants, but influenced their growth to varying extents. Height increments ...

In the harsh environmental conditions of Kuwait, plants are frequently exposed to high temperatures, low relative humidity and drought. Because water resources available for agriculture are limited, an efficient irrigation strategy is vital for sustainable olive production. In view of these facts, a study to determine the behavior and water requirement of young olive plants under Kuwait's environmental conditions was carried out. The investigation included five cultivars (cvs. Arbequina, Barnea, Coratina, Koroneiki and UC13A6) and three levels of irrigation (50, 75 and 100% of ETc) with brackish water (ECe 5.0 dS m−1). One-year-old grafted plants were used in this study. With the exception of UC13A6, the cultivars showed good adaptation to the harsh weather conditions in Kuwait and to brackish water irrigation during the first 18 months after the beginning of the irrigation treatments. Indeed, they showed good height and shoot growth, with cultivars Barnea, Arbequina and Coratina showing the highest value...

The climate of Kuwait can be characterized as hot (maximumin excess of 45°C), and dry during the summers (May to October), with high evaporation (16 mm/d). Night-time temperatures also remain relatively high during these summer months. Rainfall over the course of the year is very low, usually being limited to less than 100 mm, which falls primarily during the winter months. Likewise, while the country's sand and dust storms occur primarily during the summer months, there may be occasional flurries at almost any time during the year, causing major additional problems with unprotected production of sensitive food crops, like strawberries. Water is also one of the country's most limiting resources, with all ground-water being highly brackish. Strawberry production, on a commercial basis is a relatively new development in Kuwait. Pre-war production (under protected and unprotected environments) had increased to over 125 tons, on approximately 5 ha of land, providing about 75% of the then existing demand. Strawberry growers set their plants in November and harvest fruit in May. If production could be maintained on a year round basis, at high quality levels, demand would presumably also be significantly higher. While yields had increased to about 25 tons per hectare, production problems include pests (including aphids), cultural practices and adapted cultivars. Current and planned work will be discussed.

Water resources for agricultural development and landscape enhancement in Kuwait are very scarce; the quality is saline (brackish), and the soil texture is sandy, incapable of holding nutrients and moisture. Most of the rainfall in Kuwait either evaporates due to the high temperatures or percolates through the soil. The rainfall is not sufficient to recharge the underground water supply. A variety of alternative water sources have been studied, including seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. Wastewater treatment proved to be convenient due to the relatively low salinity detected in the treated water. Furthermore, the amount of wastewater is expected to increase as more residential areas are connected to the sewage system as the population increases. The development of a greenery plan for Kuwait requires intensive water management. This goal can be achieved through manpower training in landscape development, selection of plants tolerant to arid environments, usage of appropriate irrigation and drainage systems, promotion of greenery programs within public and the governmental agencies for their direct participation in urban area beautification, and extension of wastewater treatment techniques.