Biosalinity is the study and practice of using saline (

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantiti ...

y) water for irrigating agricultural crops. Many arid and semi-arid areas actually do have sources of water, but the available water is usually

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuar ...

(0.5–5g/L salt) or saline (30–50g/L salt). The water may be present in underground

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their character ...

s or as

seawater Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has app ...

along coastal deserts. With traditional farming practices, saline water results in soil salinization, rendering it unfit for raising most crop plants. Indeed, many arid and semi-arid areas were simply considered unsuitable for agriculture, and agricultural development of these areas was not systematically attempted until the second half of the 20th century. Research in biosalinity includes studies of the

biochemical Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

and

physiological Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

mechanisms of salt tolerance in plants,

breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...

and selection for salt tolerance (

halotolerance Halotolerance is the adaptation of living organisms to conditions of high salinity. Halotolerant species tend to live in areas such as hypersaline lakes, coastal dunes, saline deserts, salt marshes, and inland salt seas and springs. Haloph ...

), discovery of periods in a crop plant's life cycle when it may be less sensitive to salt, use of saline

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

water to increase desirable traits (such as

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

concentration in a fruit) or to control the ripening process, study of the interaction between salinity and

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...

properties, and development of naturally salt-tolerant plant species (

halophyte A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. Th ...

s) into useful agricultural crops. See also

halophile The halophiles, named after the Greek word for "salt-loving", are extremophiles that thrive in high salt concentrations. While most halophiles are classified into the domain Archaea, there are also bacterial halophiles and some eukaryotic species, ...

bacteria, which thrive under conditions of high salinity. When properly applied (watering well in excess of

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpira ...

, maintaining

soil structure Soil structure describes the arrangement or the way of soil in the solid parts of the soil and of the pore space located between them. It is determined by how individual soil granules clump, bind together, and aggregate, resulting in the arrangem ...

for excellent drainage), brackish-water irrigation does not result in increased salinization of the soil. Sometimes this means that farmers have to add extra water after a rainstorm, to carry salts back down to below the root zone.

External links

Organizations involved in biosaline research and development

CGIAR: Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

ICBA: International Center for Biosaline Agriculture

USDA's George E. Brown Jr. Salinity Laboratory

Salt Farm Texel

The Seawater Foundation

Popular reviews

*Glenn, E. P.; Brown, J. J.; O'Leary, J. W. (1998)
"Irrigating Crops with Seawater,"

Scientific American
', Vol. 279, no. 8, Aug. 1998, pp. 56–61. Irrigation Saline water