Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) for Sustainable Soil and Plant Health in Salt-Affected Soils

Abstract

Soil salinity is a serious problem for crop growth and productivity and is increasing day by day throughout the world particularly in arid and semiarid areas. The extent of salt-affected soils is highest in Asia Pacific region including Australia. Countries like Argentina, Australia, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Thailand, former Soviet Union and USA are predominantly affected by soil salinization. Salt-affected soils are occupying about 7 % of the earth’s land surface (Ruiz-Lozano and Azcón 2000) and about 5 % of the total cultivated land around the world, i.e. 1.5 billion hectares (Sheng et al. 2008). It is anticipated that the increased salinization of arable land will result in to 50 % land loss by the middle of the twenty-first century (Wang et al. 2003). Consequently, the total salt-affected area (6.74 mha) is likely to increase to 16.2 mha by 2050. Secondary salinization, dry land salinity, coastal salinity and sea water ingress are the major cause of concern in salt-affected regions in different continents. Since the nature and properties of the problem soils are diverse, specific approaches are needed to reclaim and manage these soils to maintain their long-term productivity. Continuous utilization of good quality land and water resources in the domestic and industrial sectors has already generated enhanced interest in the utilization of salt-affected soils and poor quality waters.