Bio-amelioration of Salt-Affected Soils Through Halophyte Plant Species

Agriculture is the principal lever of economic and social development. A significant amount of arable land is becoming lost to urban sprawl, forcing agricultural production into marginal areas. Salinity-related land degradation is becoming a serious challenge to food and nutritional security in developing countries. Many crops cannot be grown on salt-affected lands, but nature has provided us with a unique group of plants, that is, halophytes. Halophytes, plants that survive to reproduce in environments where the salt concentration is around 200 mM NaCl or more, constitute about 1 % of the world’s flora. Some halophytes show optimal growth in saline conditions; others grow optimally in the absence of salt. However, the tolerance of all halophytes to salinity relies on controlled uptake and compartmentalization of Na⁺, K⁺, and Cl⁻ and the synthesis of organic “compatible” solutes, even where salt glands are operative. The cultivation of economically useful halophytes has the potential to remediate saline wastelands and to meet the demands for fodder, fuel, etc., from saline lands, thereby helping the farming community to improve their livelihood.