Arid saline lands: use of halophytes as unusual crops urged

The utilization of halophytes as unconventional crops for arid saline lands holds immense potential to ensure food security in future, Prof Xiaojing Liu of Chinese Academy of Sciences expressed while speaking at the second day of the three-day long international conference on 'Sustainable Development: Halophytes for Green Revolution'.
The Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilization (ISHU) of Karachi University (KU), has organized second international conference at the Karachi University Business School (KUBS), which will conclude today.
Prof Xiaojing Liu informed the audience about research of his group that can improve crop productivity and minimize the salt build up following salty water irrigation. He stressed on research-based amendments in soil structure and chemical composition that can prevent degradation of soil.
Prof Todd Egan from USA highlighted that salinization of lands is one of the major impediments for conventional agriculture especially in the arid and semiarid regions of the world. Lack of rain and high temperatures can further aggravate the situation in these areas.
Most of our conventional crops are salt-sensitive and can't endure even low levels of soil salinity. Hence, there is dire need for innovative approaches to overcome aforementioned problems. He said that his team has prepared a "super absorbent" that can retain about 90 percent of the soil moisture and essential nutrients, a pre-requisite for long-term crop productivity. Use of such material can be of immense aid for high saline agriculture.
Prof Hans Werner Koyro from the Giessen University, Germany, delivered lecture about global climate changes and use of 'Biochar' as a potential remedy to minimize harmful impacts of climate change on plants. Use of Biochar can be one of the solutions for enhancing productivity of our agricultural lands, he said. Biochar can sequester sodium and heavy metals, which are toxic for plants.
Islamic University Islamabad's Environmental Sciences professor Dr Irfan Khan presented his views about the use of halophytes for the success of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly of SDG-2, which aims to eliminate hunger from the world. Halophyte cultivation as non-conventional crops is also in accordance with Pakistan's National Sustainable Development Policy, he said.
He stressed on the fact that generally there is a gap between policy-making bodies and academia, which has to be bridged in order to make these policies successful. He also praised the organizers for holding the conference and declared it the need of the time.