Bioremediation of Salt-Affected Soil Through Plant-Based Strategies

Abstract

Soil salinity is a rising human concern and a significant challenge to biodiversity, since high salinity makes the soil inappropriate for most plants. The contamination of soils due to salinity damages almost one-fourth of agricultural land. Soil salinization is a natural process and is amplified by several anthropogenic practices. Saline soil affects the growth and development of the majority of the plants. The remediation of soil salinity is an economically expensive challenge of the present era. Since the last few decades, several approaches for amelioration of salt-affected soil have been used but among these techniques, few are less expensive. Though most of the plants are severely affected by soil salinization, some plants develop many tolerance mechanisms and detoxification strategies to remove excess salt from the soil. Plants are utilized to remove excess salt is nowadays considered as one of the effective and less expensive useful options. Such kind of remediation is also called as phytoremediation or green remediation. Plant-based remediation now has gained much attention as it facilitates benefit in various types of salt-affected habitats worldwide. This chapter reviews various plant-based strategies of bioremediation of salt-affected soil.