Ecological And Economic Potential Of Major Halophytes And Salt Tolerant Vegetation In India

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 the potential of biosaline agriculture in a changing environment Covers all important topics related to halophyte biology including biochemistry, genetics and genomics Provides information on potential use of halophytes Each topic is explained in detail and examined from various angles More than 100 contributions by international experts

This book contains current knowledge and the most recent developments in the field of halophyte biology, ecology, and potential uses. Halophytes are characterised as plants that can survive and complete their life cycle in highly saline environments. This book explores the adaptive mechanisms and special features of halophytes that allow them to grow in environments that are unsuitable for conventional crops and considers their role as a source of food, fuel, fodder, fibre, essential oils, and medicines. Halophytes and Climate Change includes coverage of: - Special morphological, anatomical, and physiological features of halophytes - Ion accumulation patterns and homeostasis in halophytes - Potential use of halophytes in the remediation of saline soil - Growth and physiological response and tolerance to toxicity and drought - Mangrove ecology, physiology, and adaptation Written by a team of international authors and presented in full colour, this book is an essential resource for researchers in the fields of plant physiology, ecology, soil science, environmental science, botany, and agriculture.

Environmental insults such as extremes of temperature, extremes of water status, and deteriorating soil conditions pose major threats to agriculture and food security. Employing contemporary tools and techniques from all branches of science, attempts are being made worldwide to understand how plants respond to abiotic stresses with the aim to manipulate plant performance that is better suited to withstand these stresses. This book searches for possible answers to several basic questions related to plant responses towards abiotic stresses. Synthesizing developments in plant stress biology, the book offers strategies that can be used in breeding, including genomic, molecular, physiological, and biotechnological approaches that have the potential to develop resilient plants and improve crop productivity worldwide.

Salinity becomes a problem in Semiarid and arid and arid regions of the world, posing major challange to provide food for the rapidly increasing population. Inappropriate agricultural practies have resulted in increasing saline waters and saline lands, which are worthless for conventional agriculture. Excess salts accumulate in the root zone, prevents water absorption from surrounding soil and lowering the amount of water available to the plant. The most likely effect of salinity on plants is stunted growth, and physical damage or mortality may be caused at higher salt concentration. Researches conducted in last few decades reveal hundreds of salt tolerant plants in the world most of which could be utilized as cash crops using novel ideas and technologies. However, there is still a need to develop technology of saline agriculture suited to the different ecosystems of the world and major efforts are required to domesticate them using modern technology. This publication, through its 27 chapters exposes the difficulty of squeezing agricultural output, faced by mostly dry and saline parts of the world due to scarcity of clean water and fertile land for crop production. The volume also provides a facinating view on the safeguards and remedies to overcome this problem by means of modern techniques and natural resistant phenomenon of the flora in itself. The volume is chiefly based on the discussions and presentation during the International workshop on Crop and Forage Production using Saline Waters in Dry Areas held in Birjand, Iran during 7-10 May, 2006. The information presented herein would hopefully serve as a valuable reference material for the professionals and those who are actively involved in agriculture, research and management of crop production in dry and saline areas. Contents Chapter 1: Sustainable Utilization of Halophytes and the Significance of that Concept for Future Generation by Helmut Lieth; Chapter 2: Potentials of Using Saline Soils and Waters for Forage Production in Dry Regions by H Tavakoli, I Filehkesh, V Kashki and J Bashtini; Chapter 3: Gainful Utilization of Salt Affected Lands: Prospects and precautions by Raziuddin Ansair, M Ajmal Khan and Bilquees Gul; Chapter 4: Molecular View on Determinants and Effectors of Halophytic Salt Tolerance: A Case study on Suaeda aegyptiaca by H Askari and M Kafi; Chapter 5: Nuclear Techniques Aided Studies for Sustainable Bimass Production in Salt Affected Soils Using Haloculture Method by J Rastegari and M Farhangi-Sabet; Chapter 6: Water Uptake by Roots and Crops Salt Tolerance Under Brackish Irrigation as Affected by Root Environment by U W E Schleiff; Chapter 7: Investigation of Crop Production Potentiality of Saline Lands by M Dehghani, G Hadarbadi, A Nasrabady, Mohamad and E Kyham; Chapter 8: Ecosystems as Accelerators of the Energy Flow from the Earth Surface by Helmut Lieth; Chapter 9: Chemical Composition and Digestible Parameters of Various by A Riasi and M Danesh Mesgaran; Chapter 10: Halophytes Genetics of Tolerance to Water Stress and Salinity in Crop Plant by B Sharma; Chapter 11: Kochia (Kochia scoparia): To Be or Not To Be by M J Al-Ahmadi and M Kafi; Chapter 12: Effect of Nitrogen and Phosphorous Fertilizers on the Growth of Some Halophytic Forage by M Karimi, S A M Cheraghi, M H Banakar and S H Ismail; Chapter 13: Evaluation of Promising Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L) Lines/Varieties in Saline Condition by M H Saberi, A Azari Naserabad and H Tajalli; Chapter 14: Panicum antidotale: A Potential Grass for Salt Affected Soils by Mansoor Hameed and Muhammad Ashraf; Chapter 15: Salt Sensitivity of Wheat at Germination Stage by G H Ranjbar, S A M Cheraghi and M H Banakar; Chapter 16: Agriculture Sector of the Benenese Economy by A D T E Christophe; Chapter 17: Biosaline Agriculture in Pakistan by M Ajmal Khan; Chapter 18: Crop and Forage Production Using Saline Waters in Dry Areas by L Y Win; Chapter 19: Crop Production in Salinity Affected Areas in Sri Lanka by A A Y Amarasinghe; Chapter 20: Current Status of Saline Agriculture in Iran by M Kafi, M Jami Al Ahmadi and G R Zamani; Chapter 21: Ecology and Economic Potential of Halophytes: by A Case Study from Turkey by M Ozturk, A Guvensen and S Giicel; Chapter 22: Forage Production and Management in Dryland Areas of Uganda by E N Sabiiti, S K Mugasi and S Katuromunda; Chapter 23: Indigenous Knowledge and Agriculture Development in Semi-arid Southeastern Indonesia by Benyamin Lakitan; Chapter 24: Saline Water Use in Agriculture: Highlights of Indian Reseearch by R K Trivedy; Chapter 25: Salinity and Use of Saline Waters for Irrigation in Crops and Forages in Cuba by Aurelio Alvarez Menedez; Chapter 26: Salinity Development in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka: A Review by M M M Najim and K P K Jayakody; Chapter 27: Some Forage Substitutes for the State of Qatar by Yassin M Ibrahim

Ethnoecology has blossomed in recent years into an important science because of the realization that the vast body of knowledge contained in both indigenous and folk cultures is being rapidly lost as natural ecosystems and cultures are being destroyed by the encroachment of development. Ethnobotany and ethnozoology both began largely with direct observations about the ways in which people used plants and animals and consisted mainly of the compilation of lists. Recently, these subjects have adopted a much more scientific and quantitative methodology and have studied the ways in which people manage their environment and, as a consequence, have used a much more ecological approach. This manual of ethnobotanical methodology will become an essential tool for all ethnobiologists and ethnoecologists. It fills a significant gap in the literature and I only wish it had been available some years previously so that I could have given it to many of my students. I shall certainly recommend it to any future students who are interested in ethnoecology. I particularly like the sympathetic approach to local peoples which pervades this book. It is one which encourages the ethnobotanical work by both the local people themselves and by academically trained researchers. A study of this book will avoid many of the arrogant approaches of the past and encourage a fair deal for any group which is being studied. This manual promotes both the involvement oflocal people and the return to them of knowledge which has been studied by outsiders.

This edited volume focuses on the characterization, reclamation, bioremediation, and phytoremediation of salt affected soils and waterlogged sodic soils. Innovative technologies in managing marginal salt affected lands merit immediate attention in the light of climate change and its impact on crop productivity and environment. The decision-making process related to reclamation and management of vast areas of salt affected soils encompasses consideration of economic viability, environmental sustainability, and social acceptability of different approaches. The chapters in this book highlight the significant environmental and social impacts of different ameliorative techniques used to manage salt affected soils. Readers will discover new knowledge on the distribution, reactions, changes in bio-chemical properties and microbial ecology of salt affected soils through case studies exploring Indian soils. The contributions presented by experts shed new light on techniques such as the restoration of degraded lands by growing halophyte plant species, diversification of crops and introduction of microbes for remediation of salt infested soils, and the use of fluorescent pseudomonads for enhancing crop yields.

The land degradation due to salinity and waterlogging is a global phenomenon, afflicting about one billion hectares within the sovereign borders of at least 75 countries. Besides staring at the food security, it has far reaching and unacceptable socio-economic consequences since a large proportion of this land is inhabited by smallholder farmers. The anthropogenic-environmental changes and the climate change are further adding to the problem of salinity and waterlogging. The phenomenon of sea-level rise will bring more areas under waterlogged salinity due to inundation by sea water. Thus, dealing with the salinity in reality is becoming a highly onerous task owing to its complex nature, uncertainty and differential temporal and spatial impacts. Nevertheless, with the need to provide more food, feed, fuel, fodder and fiber to the expanding population, and non-availability of new productive land, there is a need for productivity enhancement of these lands. In fact, the salt-affected and waterlogged lands cannot be neglected since huge investments have been made throughout the world in the development of irrigation and drainage infrastructure. The social, economic and environmental costs being high for theon-and/off-farm reclamation techniques, saline agriculture including agroforestry inculcated with modern innovative techniques, is now emerging as a potential tool not only for arresting salinity and waterlogging but for other environmental services like mitigate climate change, sequester carbon and biodiversity restoration. This publication attempts to address a wide range of issues, principles and practices related to the salinity involved in rehabilitation of waterlogged saline soils and judicious use of saline waters including sea water. Many of the site specific case studies typical to the saline environment including coastal ecologies sustaining productivity, rendering environmental services, conserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change have been described in detail. Written by leading researchers and experts of their own fields, the book is a must, not only for salinity experts but also for policy makers, environmentalists, students and educationists alike. More importantly, it contributes to reversing the salinity trends and teaches to sustain with salinity ensuring the livelihood of resource-poor farming families leaving in harsh ecologies including coastal areas which are more vulnerable to climate change.

The Symposium on high salinity tolerant plants, held at the University of Al Ain in December 1990, dealt primarily with plants tolerating salinity levels exceeding that of ocean water and which at the same time are promising for utilization in agriculture or forestry. These plants could be very useful for a country like the UAE where fresh water resources are very scarce and the groundwater available at some places is already very salty. More than 60 million woody trees/shrubs have been planted so far and more are planned for the inland plains underlain with brackish groundwater. These species were no solution for the widely barren shoreline of the UAE. Here mangrove species were of potential use, and one species, Avicennia Marina, occurs widely and has been successfully planted for about a decade. Converting the tree plantations into economically useful cropping systems is still a problem requiring much research and development. The book deals in several sections with conventional irrigation systems using marginal water. The species used in these systems are mostly hybrids of conventional crops. The irrigation systems, however, have similar problems as may be expected for irrigation with seawater. Papers show the participants' experiments in this area. The volume serves as a link between scientists working for the improvement of classical irrigation systems and those interested in the application of a new dimension of salinity levels for irrigation water.