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Recent Submissions

Soil quality assessment for sustainable cultivation of Opuntia ficus-indica in Kutch (India): identifying key edaphic factors
Author(s): Louhaichi, Mounir; Naorem, Anandkumar; Hassan, Sawsan (ISHS Acta Horticulturae)
Date: 2026-04-10
Type: Conference Paper
Status: Open access
Soil quality plays a fundamental role in determining crop productivity, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where soil fertility constraints and salinity pose significant challenges. Opuntia ficus-indica (cactus pear) is a drought-resilient crop with considerable potential for sustainable agriculture, yet limited research has focused on the specific soil properties influencing its growth and biomass production. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between soil quality parameters and Opuntia ficus-indica growth performance in Bhuj, Kutch, an arid region with alkaline and nutrient-limited soils. Soil and plant samples were collected from eight farms, ensuring uniform sowing conditions. Five composite soil samples (0-30 cm depth) and five plant samples were collected per farm, and nine soil parameters (pH, electrical conductivity, soil organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and soil texture) were analyzed using standard laboratory methods. Plant growth metrics, including cladode number, cladode weight, and cladode length, were recorded. The results revealed that calcium (r=0.901, p<0.001), nitrogen (r=0.844, p<0.001), and potassium (r=0.918, p<0.001) were the most critical soil properties positively influencing plant growth, while high soil pH (r=-0.829, p<0.001) and electrical conductivity (r=-0.802, p<0.001) negatively impacted plant performance. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified soil fertility (Ca, N, K) and salinity (EC) as the most influential factors, explaining 79.3% of the total variance. Regression analysis further confirmed that soil fertility parameters significantly contributed to biomass accumulation (R2=0.78, p<0.001).
Cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica): the 5F crop for food, feed, fuel, fashion, and fertilizer enhancing sustainability in arid regions
Author(s): Hassan, Sawsan; Louhaichi, Mounir (ISHS Acta Horticulturae)
Date: 2026-04-10
Type: Conference Paper
Status: Open access
The cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) has gained increasing attention for its remarkable versatility as a “5F crop”, providing food, feed, fuel, fashion (bio-leather), and fertilizer. Adapted to arid and semi-arid regions, cactus pear is highly resilient to harsh environmental conditions, making it a promising candidate for sustainable agriculture. Despite its multifaceted potential, comprehensive assessments of its applications across these five domains and broader implications for food security and resource efficiency remain limited. This review systematically explores the role of OFI as a 5F crop and its impact on sustainable development in arid regions. Literature searches were conducted using multiple databases, search engines, and specialist websites to gather data on OFI across different sectors – agriculture, energy, textiles, and environmental sustainability. Articles were screened for relevance using predefined criteria, and bias was minimized through critical appraisal of the evidence. Data were extracted on various outcomes such as nutritional value, biomass yield, biofuel potential, textile applications, and soil enhancement properties. Comparative analyses were performed to evaluate the crop’s effectiveness in each of the five domains. Over 15,000 studies were identified, with 210 selected based on relevance and critical appraisal. Among the findings, cactus pear was shown to significantly contribute to food security through its high nutrient content, while its use as livestock feed reduced grazing pressure on natural rangelands, especially in arid regions. The biomass generated from cladodes was highlighted as a renewable energy source for biofuel production. In the fashion industry, cactus-derived fibers offered a sustainable alternative to synthetic materials. Furthermore, the resulting digestate from biofuel production serves as a biofertilizer, enhancing soil properties and crop productivity. Our review provides a comprehensive analysis of cactus pear’s multi-dimensional benefits, emphasizing its potential to enhance food and feed security, renewable energy, sustainable fashion, and soil health.
Determinants of adoption and impacts of spineless cactus for animal feed: a Tunisian case
Author(s): Yigezu, Yigezu; Hassan, Sawsan; Louhaichi, Mounir; Hamdeni, Imtinene (ISHS Acta Horticulturae)
Date: 2026-04-10
Type: Conference Paper
Status: Open access
With the advent and fast pace of climate change, finding suitable crop types and varieties that equip farming communities to better adapt and build their resilience deserves high attention. Cactus pear is one such crop, which not only can thrive under harsh conditions of moisture and heat stresses, but also provides various ecosystem services including food, feed, soil conservation, and habitat for wildlife. The spineless type eliminates one of the major challenges of cactus production – its spines on both the cladodes, which are used for food and feed, and on its fruits. Using data from 256 Tunisian farmers, this study attempted to identify the factors that influence farmers’ adoption of spineless cactus (SPLC) and the economic impacts on those who adopt. Results of a double hurdle model showed that farmers cultivating cactus for dual-purposes (for fruits and fodder) and at a high density have higher propensity to adopt SPLC while older cactus plantations are associated with cultivation of the spiny type. Once farmers decide to adopt SPLC, our results show that those with larger farm size tend to adopt it on a larger area while those who use higher fertilizer rates and can allocate more labor per hectare tend to devote smaller area for SPLC. Results of the treatment effects model show that the adoption of SPLC only for animal feed does not have a significant effect on the amount of forage that can be harvested and the associated profit. The only two variables that affect harvested quantity of forage and profit are fertilizer input and labor rates. One implication of our results is that enhanced adoption of the spineless cactus can be achieved by promoting it as a dual-purpose crop and targeting primarily those who already cultivate it as such, and more so on relatively larger areas.
MEL Plan for the C4RPWC Program
Author(s): Bikara, Innocent (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), 2026-06-15)
Date: 2026-06-15
Type: Manual
Status: Timeless limited access
The purpose of this MEL Plan is to detail how the C4RPWC Program will plan, monitor, evaluate, learn from, and report on its activities and results. This document describes the set-up and functioning of the program’s MEL system, including the results framework, performance indicators, data collection methods, evaluation plan, approaches to learning and adaptive management and roles and responsibilities for MEL. It serves as a guiding document for the program team and partners to ensure that monitoring and evaluation are conducted rigorously and consistently, and that insights from implementation are used to improve program effectiveness over time.
Consolidated Results Tracker for the C4RPWC Program
Author(s): Bikara, Innocent (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), 2026-06-15)
Date: 2026-06-15
Type: Tool
Status: Timeless limited access
Consolidated Results Tracker for the C4RPWC Program.