Combating desertification in Cyprus and Greece through low-disturbance farming, composting and drought-resilient hedgerows

Minimum tillage, no-tillage and mulching were implemented in cereal fields, arable land and orchards prone to desertification, with the core approach being to avoid ploughing and instead keep protective plant biomass on the soil surface. In Cyprus, minimum tillage was introduced by limiting soil disturbance to a shallow, superficial cultivation only when needed before sowing. Farmers were asked to control weeds mechanically using a mower or stem cutter, including weeds emerging before wheat sowing and (when soil moisture allowed) vegetation appearing after harvest. The cut biomass was left in place to form a dry mulch layer, improving soil cover and reducing summer water loss and temperature extremes. To reduce the risk of future weed infestation, wild vegetation was monitored and cutting was timed before seed ripening. Because autumn cutting can leave viable roots that regrow rapidly after sowing, a light surface treatment (for example with a disc harrow) in the last week before sowing was recommended where necessary to disrupt roots and prepare the seedbed without resorting to ploughing. Similar weed-cutting and residue-retention practices were applied in orchards, where no-tillage could be fully adopted; vegetation between trees was cut and left as mulch within rows to limit evaporation, avoid disturbing surface roots, and reduce fire risk by removing standing stems that can carry flames into tree crowns. In the first year, Cypriot farmers began applying minimum tillage on 30 hectares of cereal fields. In Greece (Thessaly), fields were sown directly using a no-till seeder, building on prior successful testing, and 10 hectares in Karditsa were included in the first year. In olive groves in Crete, producers were instructed to cut weeds with mowers and leave the biomass on the soil surface; implementation there was scheduled to start in 2024. Practical constraints encountered included machinery access and costs (mowers and disc harrows may need renting or group purchase), limited farmer confidence in minimum/no-tillage effectiveness, and incompatibility with cropping systems that require mechanical soil cultivation (such as some rotation systems incorporating vetch or potato cultivation).

Resilient hedgerows were installed to protect and restore degraded field margins, roadsides connecting fields, and burnt or degraded orchard margins, using planting material specifically prepared for drought and heat stress. A dedicated nursery system was set up to produce deep-rooted seedlings using Deep Root Training Tubes (60 cm deep), developed through collaboration between the Department of Forests/Forestry Department and the KES Research Center. Seedling production prioritised indigenous genetic material by relying on seed collected from wild Cypriot plants, with final species selection constrained by seed stock availability. Eighteen drought-adapted species were selected and grouped into trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants; production planning also split species by bioclimatic zone, with an intended 70%–30% balance between Thermo-Mediterranean and Meso-Mediterranean requirements for the expected planting areas. The tube design used 60 cm x 10 cm PVC sections assembled into a cylinder, filled with topsoil plus amendments; each tube received attapulgite placed at the bottom and a beneficial microbe complex added beneath the seedling roots to support establishment. Nursery management deliberately acclimatised plants to water stress under direct sunlight using a staged drip-irrigation protocol that progressively reduced watering and then shifted to monthly irrigation until October, to promote deeper root growth where moisture is retained.

Quality control included parallel “control” plants grown in classic bags, moisture measurements at the top and bottom of containers, and periodic measurements of plant growth and biomass (including destructive sampling of control plants with careful uprooting, drying to constant weight, and calculation of shoot/root ratios). Operational problems and solutions included selecting tube installation timing after the start of the dry season to avoid excess rainfall and to enable thermal stress that discourages shallow rooting; addressing the need for specialised drip-control equipment; and adapting plans when propagating material was insufficient for certain species (deferring Ziziphus lotus to later phases, reducing early production of Thymbra/Thymus capitata, and allowing replacement by ecologically equivalent species if needed). In the first planting season (November 2023 to March 2024), 2,000 deep-rooted plants were planted in degraded agricultural land in Cyprus. Volunteer participation was organised by the Laona Foundation, which recruited and trained volunteers in the specialised planting method; implementation experience highlighted the need for early communication of planting schemes, pre-sorting of mixed-species consignments before transport, and repeated pre-planting field visits to finalise planting layouts and machinery needs. Practical obstacles included the time required for manual hole drilling (addressed by hiring contractors for mechanical drilling), the heavy weight of tube plants (necessitating transport on platforms and unloading close to planting lines, and excluding volunteers under 18), and the need to account for transportation and contractor costs. Post-planting monitoring was identified as necessary to ensure establishment, with potential need for irrigation immediately after planting, and state-owned land sometimes requiring prior permission.

Compost production and application were implemented through a pilot composting unit in Cyprus designed to increase soil organic matter and improve soil water and physical characteristics, while making use of underutilised organic waste streams. A pilot unit was established in October 2023 at the Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) farm with a capacity of 200 m³ per year. Following an agreement with Lakatamia Municipality, the unit received shredded green waste from parks and gardens delivered by truck. A low-tech windrow approach was selected to support replicability, with compost processing supported by locally manufactured equipment: a tractor-mounted compost turner (fitted with a watering system that sprays material during mixing) and a sieving machine. Operation required a waste management licence from the Department of Environment; ARI received an exemption from the normal licensing procedure because it was a pilot within a project, but this exemption came with conditions and obligations regarding environmental protection during operation. Composting was treated as controlled aerobic decomposition with regular mechanical mixing to maintain aeration and a self-checking and record-keeping system; compost production was intended to comply with quality and operational requirements set out in the special annex of emerging national fertiliser legislation and aligned with the new EU Fertiliser Regulation quality standards for material applied to fields.

ARI conducted regular compost sampling for analysis and, with KES Research Centre, developed a decision-support approach to match soil and crop needs with compost quantity and application method, including the aim of improving soil physical and water characteristics and/or reducing inorganic fertiliser use. Field selection for compost incorporation was guided by soil quality (including fertility, water relations, pollution, erosion), compost quality (stability and nutrient release potential), distance from the composting unit (transport costs and carbon footprint), and timing constraints between compost maturity and sowing/planting dates. Compost was applied in collaboration with cereal producers a few weeks before seeding, spread uniformly using machinery provided by farmers and incorporated into the soil, with a small control area in each field left under conventional management for comparison; incorporation in the same field was planned to repeat every two years. During the first year, delays in building/operating components of the composting unit led to an interim field application using spent mushroom substrate (126 m³) applied two weeks before cereal seeding on 2 hectares, with mature samples analysed to determine appropriate application rates (6 m³ per decare) and a 0.3-hectare control area retained. A second composting facility was planned to begin in 2024 near a poultry farm in Ora village, to produce 200 m³ annually from poultry manure and fire-affected prunings for use in nearby orchards. Key implementation constraints included dependency on continuous feedstock supply to sustain plant capacity, transport costs for field application, and the need for appropriate siting/land for composting operations.

To improve monitoring of weed management and support certification of active cultivation, the project planned to test and evaluate remote sensing approaches intended to be replicable for public authorities. Seasonal and monthly data were to be acquired from very high-resolution sources (including Copernicus Sentinel 2 and 3, Ikonos and drones). Analysis was to include photo-interpretation using object-based classification and spatial analysis tools (eCognition, ArcGIS, Pix4D), and evaluation of vegetation indices (including NDVI and EVI) and high-resolution imagery to identify and classify plot parameters relevant to weed management (including soil erosion, soil vegetation cover and soil moisture holding capacity). Results were to be field-validated, with supplementary farmer-contributed geotagged photos (via the DIONE framework being tested by the Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organisation) considered during calibration and validation. The intended output was a step-by-step methodology for national authorities, to be discussed with the European Soil Data Centre for potential integration into European monitoring tools such as DIS4ME.