ISHS Acta Horticulturae 323: Symposium on Soil and Soilless Media under Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates
DEVELOPING CROPS BETTER ADAPTED TO SALINE ENVIRONMENTS: PROGRESS, PUZZLES AND CONSTRAINTS |
| Author: | R.A. Jones |
| Abstract:
Few topics in recent times have captured the attention and dedication of researchers than the quest to reduce the impact that saline environments have on limiting agricultural productivity. This is reflected in the nearly exponential increase in publications over the last three decades on the topic of maintaining a viable agriculture under saline conditions. The pervasiveness of the problem, combined with the fact that most of the crops which were dependent upon are sensitive to salinity impositions, have been primary drivers to characterize and understand the basis of plant responsiveness, and utilize this information to design strategies to overcome their negative consequences. Considerable optimism was promoted on the possibility of breeding crops relatively resistant to saline conditions (Epstein et al, 1980) as an economic solution to the dilemma. Unfortunately, this optimism was not shared by most plant breeders (Jones and Qualset, 1984). The disparity resulted largely from an insufficient scientific base concerning the understanding of salinity in both physiological and genetic terms. Thus considerable uncertainty of what to breed for, the apparent complexities of salinities and responses, and economic considerations cast sufficient doubts to conclude that such efforts were indeed premature. | |
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