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Cash Crop Halophytes: The Ecologically and Economically Sustainable Use of Naturally Salt-Resistant Plants in the Context of Global Changes

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Physiological Mechanisms and Adaptation Strategies in Plants Under Changing Environment

Abstract

Global climate change—caused by rising atmospheric concentrations of trace gases such as CO2—brings about increased desertification, soil salinisation and degradation, which will lead to unhealthy living conditions. There will be a shortage of freshwater, especially in arid regions. Furthermore, artificial irrigation with saline water in an unprofessional manner leads to an increasing salinisation of usable areas and to economic damage. Increased soil salinity poses a serious threat to agriculture because most conventional crops are salt-sensitive glycophytes. A promising solution to these problems is the sustainable cultivation of halophytes (naturally salt-resistant plants) on salt-affected soils under saline irrigation.

This article reviews the most important aspects regarding the sustainable use of halophytes including the general problem of soil salinity, the biology and ecology of halophytes and the prerequisites and possibilities of halophyte utilisation and of saline production systems. For the first time, the cultivation of halophytes is reviewed in detail in the context of both NaCl salinity and global change/elevated CO2 concentration. The major points are the following: (1) Halophytes often show an enhanced salt resistance and/or productivity under future rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and their cultivation can sequester CO2, so these plants are very promising future crops and well suited to ameliorate the consequences of global change. (2) A precondition for the sustainable use of halophytes is detailed knowledge of individual resistance mechanisms, the food or fodder quality and the performance under new climate change scenarios. This information can be obtained by growing the species in question in a so-called quick check system. (3) Several promising projects regarding the sustainable use of halophytes are in progress worldwide, but they are still in their infancy and need to be further developed as their advantages are immense.

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Abbreviations

FAO:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

IPPC:

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

ppm:

Parts per million

UNEP:

United Nations Environment Programme

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mr. Jürgen Franz, Mr. Wolfgang Stein, Mr. Gerhard Mayer, Mrs. Angelika Bölke, Mrs. Gerlinde Lehr and Mrs. Nikol Strasilla for technical assistance regarding the quick check experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Justus Liebig University Giessen, Special Botany, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 38, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Nicole Geissler

  2. Institute of Environmental Systems Research (USF), University of Osnabrück, 49069, Osnabrück, Germany

    Helmut Lieth

  3. Institute of Plant Ecology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Hans-Werner Koyro

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  1. Nicole Geissler
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  2. Helmut Lieth
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  3. Hans-Werner Koyro
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Correspondence to Nicole Geissler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Sri Pratap College, Srinagar, Jammu und Kashmir, India

    Parvaiz Ahmad

  2. Department of Botany, Govt. Degree College (Boys), Anantnag, Jammu und Kashmir, India

    Mohd Rafiq Wani

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Geissler, N., Lieth, H., Koyro, HW. (2014). Cash Crop Halophytes: The Ecologically and Economically Sustainable Use of Naturally Salt-Resistant Plants in the Context of Global Changes. In: Ahmad, P., Wani, M. (eds) Physiological Mechanisms and Adaptation Strategies in Plants Under Changing Environment. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8591-9_7

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