Jordan also has a focus on forage crops and the trial site sets out to encourage farmers to adopt this direction and move away from vegetable and olive trees. Jordan imports 80% of its forage requirement, so there's a big demand on feed for them. With soil salinity going as high as 17dsm in the first metre, I could see the importance of the trial site.
Cactus is an interesting one. Known more for being a weed throughout northern Australia it was quite happily growing in the cooler climate of Northern Jordan. Capable of producing a staggering 200 green tons/ha. It is a very fleshy plant so it's dry matter production is quite low. There are 84 farms around Khaleia where the trial block is that are involved with the selection of future varieties. It's a great idea to get farmers involved giving them a sense of ownership.
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