Australian professor confident about salt resistant crops
Sergey Shalaba, professor at the University of Tasmania (Australia) says the development of salt resistant food crops is a step closer and could solve some of the problems of food security.
Shalaba says salinity levels in agricultural land are on the increase around the world with an estimated 3 hectares of land a minute being lost to agriculture through high salinity levels.
The professor says the research involves examining plants which tolerate salt and how they store the salt in special areas which means the plant can then cope with the increased salinity.
He believes plants like wheat and barley can use the same method without the need for any genetic modification and says their work means the development of salt resistant plants is only a few years away.
The professor is confident food crops will be grown in salt marsh areas or where there’s been a build-up of salinity levels.
[Source: ABC Rural]
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