Salinity Stress on Plants

Salinity Stress on Plants

All plants are subjected to a multitude of stresses throughout their life cycle. Depending on the species of plant and the source of the stress, the plant will respond in different ways. When a certain tolerance level is reached, the plant will eventually die. When the plants in question are crop plants, then a problem arises. The two major environmental factors that currently reduce plant productivity are drought and salinity (Serrano, 1999), and these stresses cause similar reactions in plants due to water stress. These environmental concerns affect plants more than is commonly thought. For example, disease and insect loss typically decrease crop yields by less than ten percent, but severe environmental problems can be responsible for up to sixty-five percent reduction in yield (Serrano, 1999). There are global constraints on fresh water supplies, and this has led to a surge of interest in reusing water (Shannon and Grieve, 1999). However, in many cases the value of water has decreased because the water is salty. Salt stress can be a major challenge to plants. It limits agriculture all over the world, particularly on irrigated farmlands (Rausch, 1996). To farmers, salt tolerance is important in vegetables because of the cash value of crops (Shannon and Grieve, 1999). As more land becomes salinized by poor irrigation practices, the impact of salinity is becoming more important (Winicov, 1998). This is creating the need for salt tolerant plants. Salinity resistance is a quantitative trait, and it has been resistant to plant breeding (Winicov, 1998).

Many factors interact with salinity, and this complicates studies on the effects of salinity. For example, humidity, temperature, li...

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... Scientia Horticulturae 78, 261-269.

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