Coordinator: Dr. Muhammad Farooq / College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences 

Abstract:

Biotic and abiotic stresses negatively influence the crop growth, productivity, and the quality of produce. This research group is aimed to study the plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses and develop integrated strategies for improving the tolerance of crop plants to abiotic stresses. In addition to characterization of local landraces of food and forage crops, for tolerance against biotic (pathogens) and abiotic (salinity, drought, heat, and industrial effluents), the research group will collect the promising genotypes of cereals, food legumes, and forage crops from different parts of the world. The introduced genotypes will also be characterized for tolerance against biotic (pathogens) and abiotic stresses. This will help improve the crop production under less than optimum conditions and enhance the situation of food security in the Sultanate of Oman.