RIFR : Desert Research Division

Human intervention and mismanagement in the utilization of natural resources are normally leading to destruction of forests, woodlands and rangelands. Widespread land degradation is often resulted in desertification. Although desertification is recognized as a very serious problem in our country, its distribution and all parameters effective in this process are not well understood. Thus Desert Division was established to serve as a research tool to solve the problems in the field of desertification for decision-maker and planner at a national level.

To maintain a sustainable agricultural and natural resources in the whole region of Iran particularly in dry land areas, various disciplines have been encouraged as a research topics for this division at the national and regional level as fallow:

 Recognition and classification of Iranian natural deserts and desertified lands based on standard or acceptable criteria.

 Study and classification of the lands and water resources in dry land regions of Iran.

 Investigation of the parameters effective on water and wind erosion processes and assessment of their role on desertification.

 Investigation of the desertified lands and evaluation of the methods used to control desertification

 Evaluation of plant-production potential in desert areas and research on conservation management and sustainable development of the desert natural resources.

 Research on the original source of sand dune and investigation of the factors influencing the effects of different methods on sand dune stabilization.

 The role of development programs on desertification and its control.

 Research on the existence potential of the desert regions for predicting their productivity.

 Research on the water-balance between sand dune and desert plants.
This division equipped with a lab that was established in 1993. It capable of doing the most soil and plant analysis tests, both chemical and some physical characteristics of soil samples. Recently this division equipped with a Delta Lab Rainfall simulator and small tilted flume facilities for experiment in the field of water and soil erosion processes.