Agronomy and Horticulture Department
Agronomy and Horticulture Department with nine faculty members and research experts has the highest percentage of projects in the NSRC. The Department follows two basic approaches, improvement crop salt tolerance and development of halophytes as new resources for sustainable and economic utilization of hyper-saline soil and water resources. The task works of the Department also are:

• Identifcation salt tolerant of feld and garden crops
• Determining crop salt tolerant
• Determining the salt sensitivity of crops at various growth stages
• Improvement crop salt tolerance by different agronomic, physiologic and biochemical approaches
• Use of high saline water for halophytes production in halo-culture systems
• Investment of forage crops in soil fertility under saline and sodic conditions
• Preparing different germplasm of halophytes
• Research on the local halophytes to identify effcient genomes for exploitation high water and soil resources

In addition to the research activities, the Crop Physiology Laboratory works also under the umbrella of the Department. The laboratory is fully furnished with the most up-to-date salinity research equipment including chlorophyll meter, photosynthesis meter (LCA-4), leaf area meter, pressure extractor, seed counter, and the ability to perform a variety of physiological and biochemical experiments.

Soil Chemistry and Plant Nutrition Department
Soluble salts irrigation water could be built up in the soil profle and the root zone, which could affect the chemical properties of soils and fertility/nutritional status of plants grown on these soils. The major effects of such an accumulation in soils are soil salinization, soil sodifcation, and malnutrition of plants. The measures to alleviate each of these hazards are quite different. By growing the demand
for the use of unconventional and hyper saline water resources in irrigation, the new environmental concerns have been raised, considering the fate of salts and pollutants added to the soil. Finding a proper solution for these questions at the present and for future is the vision of Soil Chemistry and Plant Nutrition Department, NSRC.
In addition to the research activities, the central laboratory works also under the umbrella of Soil chemistry and plant nutrition department. The laboratory is fully furnished with the most up-to-date salinity research equipment including ceramic suction cups, salinity bridge, EM-38, Teta Probe, four electrode, leaching apparatus, pressure plates apparatus, TRIME (TDR), soil and water samplers, flame photometer, spectrophotometer, electrical conductivity meter, pH meter, Oxygen meter, centrifuge, soils saturation extractor and shaker.
The missions of the Department are:

• Finding a solution for national/regional problems in salt affected soils (SAS) like dust storms
• Collaboration with Mega R&D projects at the national scale
• To predict the fate of solutes and pollutants in soils irrigated with unconventional water resources
• Classifcation of different salinity/sodicity categories based on the national/local data
• Assessment and monitoring of soil salinity at different scales
• Finding the economic and sustainable measures for alleviation of saline sodic soils
• Determination of fertilizer requirement of crops grown under saline conditions

Irrigation and Soil Physics Department
Being the research arm of the NSRC, the division of Irrigation and soil physics leads to the implementation of saline soil and water resource management practices and technologies in Iran. The department has three sub-disciplines of Irrigation, Soil Physics, and RS-GIS that aim to research, adapt, training and extension of research fndings to the subject areas. In coordination and association
with other NSRC departments, other AREEO research institutes, agricultural organizations, and NGOs, its prime vision is to enhance and sustain agricultural water productivity in saline areas of Iran, improve food security and increase farmers’ income. At present, DISP activities are focused on:

• Mapping and evaluation of actual evapotranspiration for major crops of target areas (that are mainly faced with salinity/drought/waterlogging stresses) with the aid of satellite-based energy balance algorithms and ground-based observations
• Mapping and evaluation of soil salinity with the help of EM38 coupling with satellite remote sensing and auxiliary data
• Generation of digital saline soil and water database at national scale
• Enhancement of water use effciency in saline irrigated felds through improvement of the surface irrigation system, land leveling and optimization of agricultural inputs
• Evaluation of different pressurized irrigation systems and also traditional clay pot irrigation system in saline areas of central Iran
• Coordination and association with provincial agricultural organizations, NGOs and international research centers (ICARDA)
• Dissemination of knowledge and extension of related research fndings by conducting national workshops, training courses and farm days