Management/reclamation of salt affected soils using salt tolerant plant species having ability to accumulate large quantity of slats and/or able to produce large biomass under saline conditions for sustainable and economic returns is called bio-saline agriculture 

Management/reclamation of salt affected soils using salt tolerant plant species having ability to accumulate large quantity of slats and/or able to produce large biomass under saline conditions for sustainable and economic returns is called bio-saline agriculture 

Dear Sarwan Kumar Dubey

Bio-saline agriculture basically aims / practised to grow salinity / sodicity tolerant plants as the soil or irrigation water allows. The soil reclamation is indirect benefit that is realized although after a long time. Because as soon as agri practices are initiated, soil improvement starts, of course at  a very slow pace. In addition, time can shortened with the addition of external sources of calcium. 

Incorporation of rice straw at 4 t/ha (dry basis) for growing rice in saline areas found suitable.

Thanks dear all for your interesting answers. I will really appreciate some information on Bio amelioration of saline soils. Regards

It Is a very interest problems.

Biosaline agriculture is a method of  cropping systems for saline environments, using salt tolerant plant  to grow under saline conditions in combination with the use of saline soil- and water-resources.  To reclaimed the saline land we can use the salt loving plants i.e. halophytes. If you want to read more see my review paper on this topic. 

Halophyte agriculture: Success stories, Environmental and Experimental Botany, Volume 107, November 2014, Pages 71-83, ISSN 0098-8472, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2014.05.006.

Dr.Dubey,interesting discussion. Is biosaline agriculture and phytoremediation of salt affected soils same or different?I think along with salt-tolerant plants even some species of blue green algae also help in bio amelioration of salt affected soils.

Thanks Dr Rao for raising this interference, I was about to ask the same question whether bio amelioration of saline soil is the same as saline soil remediation.

Dear Sir @Annangi Subba Rao,  I do agree with you otherwise also the role of Blue green algae is reported very positive and significant. True Sir. Regards

@Suresh Panta, thanks for your answer and link. Thank you.

Bio-saline agriculture is a  remediative measure through growing of  halophytes in saline soils , but drainage has to be mandatory part. , if faster remediation is to be achieved.   

Yes My Dear Shrivastava ji. I agree .Thanks

You are most appropriate person to throw some latest developments on this  issue. Let us know from your experiences about the best strategy .

Dear Sir, I want to gain some advanced knowledge and research being done in the word. Thanks for your  kind words. Regards

Phytodesalination has also attracted much more interest in recent years.

Some of the work related to this has been already reported.

 This technique involves the use of plants having high salt accumulation capacity.  

Dear all, 

Can I refere to biosaline agriculture also as using brackish groundwater or wastewater to irrigate glycophyte species with some tolerance to salt  stress?

Very good discussion pertaining to an important problem of soils, waters, food production, lively-hood of land owners, socio-economic and socio-political scenarios in arid and semi-arid regions.

It is OK that bio-saline agriculture means or is taken as growing of salt-tolerant plants (glycophytes or halophytes as the conditions allow).

But it is optimistic rather mostly misleading/misguiding/misgiving that plant will remove enough salts to reclaim a saline and/or sodic soils within a period of 2-3 years. It is better to say that we select a plant to be able to grow in ambient salt-stressed or with brackish or good quality irrigation water.

It is very simple to calculate salts in soils and their removal in biomass; see 2-3 dS/m ECe means about 16-17 tons of salts in surface 15 cm layer. Plant biomass contains about 10 % dry matter, of which minor percentage is of inorganic salts. Now one can compare how much time will be required for plants to absorb and remove salts from soil in harvested biomass.

Along with drainage as mentioned by Dr. Sarivastava, plenty of water and time (6-8 years shown in many studies here in Pakistan, Middle East, Australia etc.) depending upon the gravity and intensity of problem is required. Small farmers usually disregard this way of soil reclamation, while big landlords may have this option to follow on their lands because such people are not resource-poo rather are financially sound.

Plenty of literature is available, just browse, identify the titles and ask the authors for a copy.

Some really good points like food for thought , Dr Ghafoor. I agree with you . disposal of salt carrying water is a huge socio-political and economic issue , often goes un-resolved, however , sub-surface drainage has eased out a bit , but again for resource -rich farmers only . There is an International Centre for Bio-saline agriculture at Dubai, UAE. This premier Institute has done some commendable work  , we can have a look at it ...

I enjoyed the discussions and benefited from the points

excellent comments by Dr. Ghafoor, and I agree

one might add that the amount of salt that is removed by even a halophyte plant, is much less that the amount of salt that is added by irrigation water.

thanks for great comments. 

does anybody have an idea about using microalgae strains in this field?

Dr. Nahidian,

salt tolerant microalgae can play an important and economic role in the efficiency of biosaline ag, and Haloculture. please search for haloculture or شورورزی

good luck.

Thanks Dr Farhad, Regards

Dear Nadeem Sarwar, Thanks for valuable reply.

Regards