Salinization of Soil – A Consequent of Climate Change Threatens Food Security: A Review

¹ Department of Food and Nutrition, Government General Degree College, Narayangarh, Rathipur, West Midnapore, West Bengal, India.
² School of Health Sciences and Technology, UPES, Dehradun, India

^* Correspondence author: chaitali.bose85@gmail.com

Abstract

Food security and agricultural production are still a global challenge amidst the dramatic alterations in conventional farming technology. Deforestation and emission of Green House Gases (GHGs) from several sources play the pivotal role in global warming and succeeding climate change. Primary or natural salinization of soil is again a detrimental outcome of this climate change. Excessive accumulation of soluble salts in soil makes the soil saline and causes degradation of soil affecting the production of plants and crops. Excess salt accumulation in land not only hampers the growth and development of plants in all possible ways (e.g. osmotic stress, nutrient stress) but also destroy the biodiversity in soil (flora and fauna inside the soil) transforming it into barren dry land. Such land is expanding across all the climate zones and continents thus leads to environmental, social, economic burden and endangers global food security. Innovative technologies, certain agricultural practices, policies of stakeholders have been adopted either to reclaim the salt affected soil or to encourage alternative plant cultivation (like salt resistant plant by genetically modified technology) in such lands but still it is not feasible to manage or use all such lands in agricultural purposes as it imposes economical burden hence extensive research is needed to ensure food security and sustainability in the light of persistent climate change.