A research team is utilizing native plants that can survive in extremely salty conditions to create crop alternatives.
According to Phys.org, salt affects 30% of the land farmers can plow for crops worldwide, resulting in a salinity crisis. The salt jeopardizes crops and is a massive cost burden.
A team of researchers led by Dr. Vanessa Melino is studying salt-resistant plants, such as Salicornia species and its cousin, samphire. Both are comparable to asparagus and are known as sea asparagus.
The Salicornia species can be found in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Americas, while samphire grows in Australia.
Dr. Melino started studying Salicornia plants at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.
The team researched how salt-tolerant plants could cope in extreme environments. Dr. Melino said they use the data collected to breed crops that can survive in saline groundwater or seawater.
Dr. Melino said: "Salicornia can accumulate high concentrations of sodium in photosynthetically active succulent shoots while avoiding ion toxicity."
"No other existing crop can grow in these extreme conditions," she added.
The research gathered can help seawater-based agriculture in the future by developing salt-tolerant crops.
According to Dr. Melino, Salicornia has the potential to grow a high-protein plant and produce vegetable oil, which can be used as an alternative biofuel.
Dr. Melino, now at the University of Newcastle, is studying samphire. Evidence shows that the Western Australia Indigenous people used the plant for food. She wants to connect with the elders to learn about their uses of samphire.
There is a long way to go before these salt-tolerant plants yield abundant crops.
Dr. Melino said domesticating a wild plant is tedious, slow, and costly. Her team is using modern breeding tools to speed up the process.
Scientists are also using seawater in other ways to improve agriculture. Nemo's Garden has been growing fresh food underwater in biospheres on the coast of Noli, Italy, since 2012. The seawater controls the temperature of the biospheres.
The garden has produced beans, tomatoes, basil, green peas, herbs, okra, and flowers.
You can also use native plants in your yard by finding what plants are native to your area. These plants will thrive in whatever environment you live in because they've adapted to it. It will save you money because you won't need as much water or chemicals, and it will attract pollinators, which are essential for our crops.
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