Francesco Catalano

Management of water resources in East African river basins is a sensitive issue, linked both to food security and water management in agriculture. Water management is strictly interlinked with the sustainability of other natural resources, such as biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, soil, energy and with livelihoods of people. In many East-African areas, the benefits of agricultural resources are endangered by demographic pressure, unplanned rural development and lack of alternative livelihood opportunities causing deforestation, overgrazing, soil and water degradation and – on the socio-economic side – reduction of agricultural productivity and…

Bio-based solutions, such as Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR), are a sustainable agriculture practice to promote crop yield under increasing stress conditions caused by Climate change (CC). The Joint Lab project between Italy and Pakistan will assess the effects of PGPR strains selected from arid environments on the performance of model plants (i.e. wheat, pea and Arundo) subjected to water deficit also in interaction with [CO2] enrichment. Physiological, biochemical and molecular analyses will evaluate plant responses to CC-driven stress during PGPR colonization. Soil metagenomics will verify the impact on soil…