Bioremediation of Salt-Affected Soils: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

A lot of work has been done on improving practices for remediation of coastal and inland salt-affected soils. This has resulted in improving crop yields in these degraded lands and thereby improving the socioeconomic status of the resource-poor farmers. Keeping in view the limited availability of good quality waters for flushing out salts and scarce mineral gypsum availability for reclaiming sodic soils, vegetative and microbial bioremediation of salt-affected soils has emerged as a promising technique. Cultivation of economically useful halophytes, salt-tolerant plants, and crop varieties capable of growing under salt-stress environments has enabled conversion of saline and sodic wastelands. The high potential for bioremediation of salt-affected soils using applications of halophilic bacteria has been reported by some researchers. The applications of halophilic bacteria include recovery of saline soil by directly supporting the growth and stress tolerance of vegetation, thus indirectly increasing crop yields in saline soil. The biotic approach “plant-microbe interaction” to overcome salinity problems has received considerable attention from many workers throughout the world recently. Plant-microbe interactions are beneficial associations between plants and microorganisms and also a more efficient method for reclamation of salt-affected soils. However, there are many challenges to overcome for widespread adoption of these techniques and opportunities for the future to reclaim salt-affected soils through bioremediation approach.