Plants in remediating salinity-affected agricultural landscapes

Mohammad S I Bhuiyan, Anantanarayanan Raman, Dennis Hodgkins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
86 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Soil salinity is a widespread problem throughout the world. Salinization makes productive land unproductive. Thisproblem can be addressed by non-plant based, environment-friendly (e.g., leaching of salts, chemical amelioration of soils,structural engineering modifications) and plant-based remediation (e.g., phytoremediation). Non-plant based remediation provides rapid outcomes. However, they have several inherent problems, viz., they are energy and cost intensive, need tobe site specific, and are usually unsuitable in managing vast landscapes. In contrast, plant-based remediation, viz.,phytoremediation, is a slower process, but is economical and environment-friendly. Phytoremediation is applied in areasthat not only suffer salinity, but also in areas that include heavy-metal leachates such as mine areas and in landscapes thatsuffer sodicity. Further to improving soils by bringing them to near-natural conditions, phytoremediation, a worth while environment-friendly effort, provides many additional benefits such as improving nutrient availability in the restored soil.Keeping these in view, this article attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of salinity and its effect on plants,salinity-tolerance mechanisms in selected plants,various plant-based salinity remediation and management practices, suchas phytoextraction, phytostabilization, phytotransformation, phytovolatilization, and rhizodegradation, and their contextualrelevance. This overview while comprehensively summarizing the scientific bases in the historical and current developments in managing salinity-afflicted landscapes, should equip interested people in recruiting environmentally friendly managementof salt-affected agricultural landscapes especially in developing nations.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-16
Number of pages16
JournalProceedings of the Indian National Science Academy
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2016

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