Crop salt tolerance improvement-some enigmas and attainments

Salinity is one of the most challenging problems to the sustainable agricultural production at the global level. Approximately, 20 percent of the cultivated and 6.5% of total world area are affected by soil salinity. Now-a-days, an increase in agricultural production is an overwhelming task for food security due to a number of environmental constraints and high concentrations of soluble salts is one of them. A continuum of communications among plant morphology, biochemistry, physiology and biotechnology has been observed in the salt-affected plants, critical understanding of which is essential for its better management. Different approaches such as conventional breeding, shot-gun (exogenous application of nutrients, growth regulators, osmoprotectants and chemicals), and molecular biology are underway to improve salinity tolerance in different crops. Up till now, scientists have introduced different salt tolerant plants by introgression of key genes of interest involved in hormone metabolism, stress signaling, essential ions transport/balance, antioxidant metabolism and osmotic regulation. In spite of a significant appreciation received so far in producing transgenic salt tolerant plants, it is very rare that such attainments have been utilized at field levels. Overall, there is a dire need to move forward for cheaper, practical, rigorous and careful sustainable alternatives for the development of salt tolerant crops so as mitigate the impact of ever-increasing population growth on food insecurity.

کلیدواژه ها:

Salt tolerant crops ، Sustainable approaches ، Crop improvement