Identifying barley genomic regions influencing the response of yield and its components to water deficits will aid in our understanding of the genetics of drought tolerance and the development of more drought tolerant cultivars. We assembled a population of 192 genotypes that represented landraces, old, and contemporary cultivars sampling key regions around the Mediterranean basin and the rest of Europe. The population was genotyped with a stratified set of 50 genomic and EST derived molecular markers, 49 of which were Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs), which revealed an underlying population sub-structure that corresponded closely to the geographic regions in which the genotypes were grown. A more dense whole genome scan was generated by using Diversity Array Technology (DArT1) to generate 1130 biallelic markers for the population. The population was grown at two contrasting sites in each of seven Mediterranean countries for harvest 2004 and 2005 and grain yield data collected. Mean yield levels ranged from 0.3 to 6.2 t/ha, with highly significant genetic variation in low-yielding environments. Associations of yield with barley genomic regions were then detected by combining the DArT marker data with the yield data in mixed model analyses for the individual trials, followed by multiple regression of yield on markers to identify a multi-locus subset of significant markers/QTLs. QTLs exhibiting a predefined consistency across environments were detected in bins 4, 6, 6 and 7 on barley chromosomes 3H, 4H, 5H and 7H respectively.

Stabilizing or improving soil organic carbon content is essential for sustainable crop production under changing climate conditions. Therefore, soil organic carbon research is gaining momentum in the Mediterranean basin. Our objective is to quantify effects of no tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) on soil organic carbon stock (SOCs) in three soil types (Vertisol, Cambisol, and Luvisol) within Central Morocco. Chemical analyses were used to determine how tillage affected various humic substances. Our results showed that, after 5 years, surface horizon (0-30 cm) SOC stocks varied between tillage systems and with soil type. The SOCs was significantly higher in NT compared to CT (10% more in Vertisol and 8% more in Cambisol), but no significant difference was observed in the Luvisol. Average SOCs within the 0-30 cm depth was 29.35 and 27.36 Mg ha −1 under NT and CT, respectively. The highest SOCs (31.89 Mg ha −1 ) was found in Vertisols under NT. A comparison of humic substances showed that humic acids and humin were significantly higher under NT compared to CT, but fulvic acid concentrations were significantly lower. These studies confirm that NT does have beneficial effects on SOCs and quality in these soils.

In Morocco, conservation agriculture, particularly no tillage systems, has become an alternative strategy to mitigate land degradation caused by conventional tillage in semiarid to arid regions. This paper is based on behaviour to tillage treatments of two Vertisols in Morocco. After 11 years of testing, soil organic matter content results showed a significant difference (P<0.05) only at soil surface (0–10 cm) in favour of no tillage and a variation of 30% at this depth. The results obtained after 32 years of testing showed a significant soil profile difference (P<0.05), up to 40 cm under no tillage compared to conventional tillage, and a variation of 54% at 5–10 cm. For total nitrogen, there was no significant effect between no tillage and conventional tillage at the soil surface after 11 years unlike the result obtained after 32 years. There are no significant differences in bulk density between tillage treatments at soil surface for both sites. The measurement of soil structural stability showed a significant effect (P<0.05) for all three tests and for both sites. This means that no tillage helped Vertisols to resist different climatic constraints, preserving environmental soil quality.

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus subsp. culinaris) is one of the oldest food legumes and is the third most important one in Morocco. It provides a valuable and balanced protein source in the human diet and plays an important role in cropping systems because of its ability to fix nitrogen. The productivity of the crop suffers because of numerous biotic and abiotic factors. High‐yielding cultivars with improved characteristics are needed to increase lentil production and profitability. ‘Chakkouf’ (Reg. No. CV‐34, PI 663991) lentil was developed using both modified pedigree and bulk methods by the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Morocco in collaboration with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas. Tested as ILL 6001‐81, Chakkouf was approved for release in 2009 by the Office National de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits Alimentaires, Morocco. Chakkouf is a selection from an advanced F6 line, FLIP 86‐15L, which was derived from a cross of ‘Precoz’ (ILL 4605; PI 515969) with ‘Laird’ (ILL 4349; PI 471916). Chakkouf is an early‐flowering (∼88 d), early‐maturing (∼139 d), and high‐yielding (∼40% over the local check variety ‘L24’) lentil cultivar with high zinc (62 mg kg−1) and iron (76.7 mg kg−1) in the seeds. Chakkouf showed good agronomic performance under drought conditions and wide adaptation for the Moroccan semiarid environments. Chakkouf showed field resistance for rust [caused by Uromyces viciae‐fabae (Pers.) J. Schröt] and Ascochyta blight (caused by Ascochyta fabae Speg. f. sp. lentis) during the years of evaluation in replicated yield trials in all experimental stations. Chakkouf offers the producer an economic advantage in cropping systems where it is planted as a rainfed crop in moisture‐deficient soils, usually in rotation with cereals.

Nutrient imbalance and soil moisture stress are the major abiotic constraints limiting productivity of cool season food legumes. These constraints are more pronounced in the semi-arid tropics and sub-tropics which are the principal production zones of chickpea, lentil and faba bean. The legumes are generally grown on residual moisture as a mono crop and consequently face drought especially during the reproductive phase. In recent years, chickpea, lentil, peas and faba bean have been grown in some areas with an irrigated/assured water supply under intensive cropping to sustain cereal based systems. An increased water supply favourably influences productivity in dry environments. Faba bean, French beans and peas show a relatively better response to irrigation. The pod initiation stage is considered most critical with respect to moisture stress. Excessive moisture often has a negative effect on podding and seed yield. Eighty to ninety percent of the nitrogen requirements of leguminous crops is met from N2 fixation hence a dose of 15-25 kg N ha-I has been recommended. However, in new cropping systems like rice-chickpea, higher doses of 30-40 kg N ha-I are beneficial. Phosphorus deficiency is wide spread and good responses occur to 20 to 80 kg P20 S ha-I , depending on the nutrient status of soil, cropping systems and moisture availability. Response to potassium application is localized. The use of 20-30 kg S ha-I and some of the micronutrients such as Zn, B, Mo and Fe have improved productivity. Band placement of phosphatic fertilizers and use of bio-fertilizers has enhanced the efficiency of applied as well as native P. Foliar applications of some micronutrients have been effective in correcting deficiencies. Water use efficiency has been improved with some management practices such as changed sowing time, balanced nutrition, mulching and tillage.