The challenge of the food sufficiency through salt tolerant crops

Abstract

This work is focused on deserts, as extreme environments, because the year 2006 has been declared Year of Deserts and Desertification by the United Nations (IYDD Program 2006). The loss of vital resources such as fresh water and soil, and the depletion of biodiversity are emerging hazards, able to transform beneficial situations into extreme environments. Desertification is generated by land degradation: the loss of biological productivity is caused by nature or by human-induced factors and climate change. Nearby the desertification process there is the increasing process of salinisation of soil and water, induced by irrigation itself, or by salt water ingress derived by tsunamis or hurricanes. Increased research on the development of salt-tolerant cultivars could, with appropriate management, result in the broader use of saline soils. Although careful application is necessary, the combination of sand, seawater, sun and salt-tolerant plants presents a valuable opportunity for many developing countries. Cooperation among plant ecologists, plant physiologists, plant breeders, soil scientists, and agricultural engineers could accelerate the development of economic salt tolerant crops. If saline water is available, the introduction of salt tolerant plants in poor regions can improve food or fuel supplies, increase employment, help stem desertification, and contribute to soil reclamation.

Saline Agriculture in the 21st Century: Using Salt Contaminated Resources to Cope Food Requirements

“…This pressure is particularly high in developing countries". Agriculture is the first human activity and represents the major use of land across the world [5]. Agriculture can be defined as an "artificial management to enhance the food value of cultivated land" and represents "the major land use across the globe" [6].…”

“…However, in 2004, FAO also highlighted that despite in most places these hunger issues translate a real lack of food and deficient agricultural techniques. This problem is however the convergence of more complex problems [5]. This is evident by the statistical data pointing to approximately 9 million hungry people in industrialized countries where in theory there is no lack of food [10].…”

“…It is therefore recognised that food requirements are increasing quicker than crop production, and researchers and politicians increasingly highlight the urgent need to improve alternative agricultural strategies [5,6,11,12]. In other words, to produce more and better it is necessary to invest in better technology within the scopes of the Millennium Development Goals strengthening practices leading to sustainable agriculture without destroying lands and natural resources [5].…”

Effect of Sodicity on RWC, Proline and Yield of Different Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Genotypes

“…Selamat and Ismail (2008) reported that fifty per cent yield is being lost of the salt-sensitive rice genotypes due to salinity. Therefore, production of rice under saline condition is under pressure because salinity may cause plant demise, growth and development (Galvani, 2007;Roychoudhury et al, 2008) …”

The effect of irrigation water quality on soil properties under center pivot irrigation systems in central Saudi Arabia

“…Therefore, methods or practices that increase water use efficiency, soil productivity and reduce the excessive amount of water applied are of importance for conserving water. The effect of the quality of irrigation water on soil properties has been discussed by many researchers [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Ragab [14] found that soil electrical conductivity (EC s ) values increased with increasing salinity of irrigation water and decreased soil moisture depletion in calcareous soil.…”