Sindh: Halophyte research expected to tackle salinity problem

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Perwez Abdullah

Karachi

About 40,000 acres of land in Sindh is turning infertile owing to the salinity problem in the region, The News has learnt. The solution, say experts, lies in changing either the soil or the plants found in the area.

“It is difficult to change the soil so we decided to change the plants. This is Halophytes – plants that thrive on saline water — are central to our research,” Dr Raziuddin Ansari, a researcher in the Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilisation (ISHU), University of Karachi (KU), told The News.

Halophytes, explained Dr Ansari, are plants that tolerate or even demand sodium chloride concentrations in the soil water they absorb, and can thus survive on high salt content in the soil water.

In this regard, he Salinity Control and Reclamation Programme (SCARP), a government project to control the increasing salinity, had put forward an ambitious plan – the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) — that was supposed to drain salty water that surfaced on the ground to the Arabian Sea.

Unfortunately, however, the plan suffered a setback as saline water was mostly absorbed underground before it reached the sea. As a result, seawater entered the dry LBOD to fill the void, destroying large tracts of land in Thatta and Badin districts of Sindh. This mishap made it essential for scientists and researchers to cultivate halophytes in the brackish waters to counter the loss of crops such as maize, wheat and rice.

“We are determining the utility of halophytes to use them in many ways that could be beneficial to the country. These are least edible plants but their usefulness is emerging with research. For example, Salicornia europaea is a vegetable delicacy in Europe and North America. The other important use of the plants is in animal fodder such as Panicurn Turgidum, a halophyte, which is as good as maize for animal fodder,” Dr Ansari elaborated.

According to Dr Ansari, the institute has an arrangement with a caterer that supplies food to various companies. Researchers from the institute feed halophyte fodder to the animals and then check the meat after the livestock has been slaughtered to check for adverse reactions. They are also conducting research on the halophytes seeds to extract edible oil fit for human consumption.

The only conventional crops species that tolerates salinity to a certain extent and (and consumed by humans) are beets (Beta vulgaris), the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and barley (Hordeum vulgare). There are many other plants that are good as human food. The seed-bearing species, which are used as food include, among others, Salvadora oleoides and Salvadora persica. The production of vegetable oil from seed-bearing halophytes, according to Dr Ansari, appears promising but needs extensive screening to ascertain the quality and quantity of oil from various species. “Of special significance is the degree of saturation: the presence of unsaturated fatty acids in excess quantities makes a particular oil better for human consumption,” he said. Halophytic plants, says Dr Ansari, are known to provide relief in cold, flu and cough (Achillea mellifolleum, Microcephala, etc.)

Dr Ansari is conducting this research in collaboration with the institute’s Director, Dr Ajmal Khan.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=184022