TY - JOUR
T1 - Halophyte crop cultivation
T2 - The case for salicornia and sarcocornia
AU - Ventura, Yvonne
AU - Sagi, Moshe
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by (1) the Chief Scientist, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel , grant no. 857-0498-06 , (2) the 6th EU Envirophyte no. 032167 , PF6-2004 SME COOP , (3) Research Grant Award no. TB-8047-08 from TDA-TIE/BARD , the Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas Israel Exchange and the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) , and (4) Research grant no. TA-MOU-02-CA21-026 , funded by the U.S.-Israel Cooperative Development Research Program , Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade, U.S. Agency for International Development .
PY - 2013/8/1
Y1 - 2013/8/1
N2 - Increasing soil salinization and the growing scarcity of fresh water dictate the need for a creative solution to attain sustainable crop production. To accomplish this aim, the domestication of inherently salt tolerant plant species with economic value is proposed as a straightforward methodology. Most studies investigating salt tolerance mechanisms are linked to small, experimental systems that cannot be generalized to the real agricultural context. The crops Salicornia and Sarcocornia, however, with their extreme salt tolerance and long history of consumption by humans, make the ideal model plants on which to base a halophyte growth strategy. New applied technologies were developed for leafy vegetable production using small-scale greenhouse and in-field studies. Several cultivation systems adapted to the irrigation water salinity and the available soil conditions are described. Daylength manipulation and a repetitive harvest regime partially elucidated the flowering patterns of Salicornia and Sarcocornia and showed that flowering should be prevented for maximal vegetable production. Additionally, the beneficial effect of saline irrigation on quality parameters via the enhancement of stress-induced secondary metabolites with antioxidant capacity should be considered during cultivation. This review summarizes the recent developments in growing halophytes for food production with saline irrigation, using Salicornia and Sarcocornia as a case study.
AB - Increasing soil salinization and the growing scarcity of fresh water dictate the need for a creative solution to attain sustainable crop production. To accomplish this aim, the domestication of inherently salt tolerant plant species with economic value is proposed as a straightforward methodology. Most studies investigating salt tolerance mechanisms are linked to small, experimental systems that cannot be generalized to the real agricultural context. The crops Salicornia and Sarcocornia, however, with their extreme salt tolerance and long history of consumption by humans, make the ideal model plants on which to base a halophyte growth strategy. New applied technologies were developed for leafy vegetable production using small-scale greenhouse and in-field studies. Several cultivation systems adapted to the irrigation water salinity and the available soil conditions are described. Daylength manipulation and a repetitive harvest regime partially elucidated the flowering patterns of Salicornia and Sarcocornia and showed that flowering should be prevented for maximal vegetable production. Additionally, the beneficial effect of saline irrigation on quality parameters via the enhancement of stress-induced secondary metabolites with antioxidant capacity should be considered during cultivation. This review summarizes the recent developments in growing halophytes for food production with saline irrigation, using Salicornia and Sarcocornia as a case study.
KW - Agrotechniques
KW - Cash crop halophytes
KW - Cultivation systems
KW - Flowering
KW - Harvesting
KW - N-fertilization
KW - Nutritional value
KW - Salinity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878182331&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2012.07.010
DO - 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2012.07.010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84878182331
SN - 0098-8472
VL - 92
SP - 144
EP - 153
JO - Environmental and Experimental Botany
JF - Environmental and Experimental Botany
ER -