Abstract
Soil salinization is a global and climatic phenomenon that affects various spheres of life. The present rate of salinization is perilously fast because of global climate change and associated events leading to enhanced land degradation, loss of soil fertility and crop productivity. In this chapter, we tried to focus on the arid and semiarid regions of India along with our coastal zone which are economically fragile regions and need much closer attention. In future, India will face extreme pressure on its land resources in agriculture because of likely rapid degradation of these resources. Thus, salt affected soils must be brought under cultivation by adopting site specific strategies to ensure national food and nutritional security. In this regard, a comprehensive review of the major halophytes of these ecological zones, its mechanism of salt tolerance, ecological and economic potential is done. The potential applications of saline land vegetation including halophytes in climate change mitigation, phytoremediation, desalination, food, secondary metabolite and nutraceutical production, medicine, and saline agriculture have been discussed. Further, we tried to focus on popular farmer adopted halophytic species including edible ones, their uses, products of economic significance etc. which is highly imperative for effective utilization of these saline soils leading to improved livelihood and sustenance of resource poor farmers along with improved ecological balance.
Highlights
Food security and ecological security are the two pillars of all societies
The results showed very high content of these ions in the bark and senescing leaf tissue and a comparatively low content in photosynthetically active leaves [53]
The first half of this section deals with the prime potential of halophytes that has to be harnessed from a national point of view, relating to replanting and ecological recovery of barren saline dry tracts, cheap biomass for renewable energy, climate change mitigation, CO2 sequestration and biological reclamation
Summary
Food security and ecological security are the two pillars of all societies. The incessant growth of human population across the world is evident from the United Nations projection of 9.7 billion people by 2050 [1]. These saline soils can further be brought in to cultivation through agroforestry, silvipasture, nonconventional crops including medicinal and aromatic plants and other high value crops. A systematic attempt has been made in bringing together critical aspects of saline agriculture, including major halophytes and other saline vegetation of India, its salt tolerance mechanisms coupled with ecological and economic potential of these plants. This is highly imperative for effective utilization of these saline soils leading to improved livelihood and sustenance of resource poor farmers along with improved ecological balance
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