Use of Halophytes for Forage Production in Saline Areas

Anita Mann, Charu Lata, Ashwani Kumar, Parvender Sheoran, Pooja*and Raj Kumar
ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal 132001, Haryana
*ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Regional Centre, Karnal 132001, Haryana
The increase in soil and water salinity in many agricultural areas of the world has created
major challenges in the production of food crops, it has also presented some new prospects for
livestock agriculture. India shares 24% livestock population of the world and livestock production is
the backbone of Indian agriculture contributing around 7% to national growth domestic product. In
India, livestock population is expected to grow at the rate of 0.55% in the coming years and the
livestock population is likely to be around 781 million by 2050. The major concern is to ensure
availability of green fodder throughout the year as there is a net deficit of 35.6% of green fodder, 26%
of dry-crop residues and 41% of concentrate feed ingredients in India (Anon., 2013). Due to the
increasing industrialisation/urbanisation and ever increasing cultivation of cereals and cash crops
resulted in shrinking land for fodder cultivation which is the major constraint in production of green
fodder. One of the alternatives of the above problem is to cultivate the barren salt affected lands and
reclamation of these lands by cultivating salt tolerant crops and grasses which could be used as fodder
for grazing livestock or as components of mixed rations to replace roughage.
Soil salinity is an increasing problem for agriculture, affecting the most productive crop areas
of the world, those cultivated under irrigation in arid and semiarid regions. In India, salt affected soils
occupy an area of about 6.73 million ha of which saline and sodic soils constitute about 40 and 60%,
respectively (Singh et al., 2010). The shortage of water plus high salinity is major factor hindering
plant growth in these salty lands. Faced with the prospect of further dryness due to climate change,
urgent measures have been taken to identify, select and introduce species adapted to local conditions
to mitigate desertification. Owing to the extreme salinity characteristics associated with these soils,
salt tolerant halophytes forms predominant vegetation in the region. This ecosystem support many
flowering plants, shrubs, climbers, herbs, trees and grasses as reported by Ishnava et al. (2011) and
supply fuel, fodder and timber for local people and livestock. Saline lands are not suitable for growth
of traditional crops because of extreme salinity and other adverse factors. If plant salt tolerance cannot
be improved, then vast amounts of soils may be left uncultivated. This will severely threaten the
national food security and biomass energy production. To maximize crop productivity, these areas
should be brought under utilization where there are options for removing salinity or using the salttolerant crops. Use of salt-tolerant crops does not remove the salt whereas halophytes that have
capacity to accumulate and exclude the salt in an effective way.
There are plants that grow under saline conditions, and historically, they have been
opportunistically used as fodder for grazing livestock or as components of mixed rations to replace
roughage. Limited attempts have been made to make these plants more suitable for animals either
through agronomic or genetic manipulation of the plant or through identification of the species or

class of animal best suited to the plants. Salt-tolerant forages, especially halophytic grasses that could
grow well under saline irrigation, would be potentially valuable alternative forage resources and could
play a major role in sustaining livestock production (Masters et al., 2007). There are many halophytes
and salt-tolerant shrubs, grasses and legumes which could be established in saline lands for feeding
livestock (e.g. Kochia sp., Juncus sp., Leptochloa fusca, Acacia sp., Suaeda fruticosa, Nitraria retusa,
Salsola sp., Atriplex sp., Paspalum distichum and Scirpus litoralis). The fodder quality of these plants
depends on a combination of climatic, soil and plant factors. There are already several examples
known for the utilization of halophytes for industrial, ecological, or agricultural purposes. Halophytes
have been tested as vegetable, forage, and oilseed crops in agronomic field trials. The most productive
species yield 10 to 20tha 1 of biomass on seawater irrigation, equivalent to conventional crops.
Salicornia bigelovii, an oilseed halophyte, for example, yields 2t ha 1 of seed containing 28% oil and
31% protein, which is similar to soybean yield and seed quality (Glenn et al., 1999). Many plant
species have been used traditionally as herbs and vegetables and hence rediscovery of the potentials of
several promising halophytic plant species to be farmed as leafy vegetables is going on for a couple of
decades. Some of the halophytes are good fodder and hence can be used for animal feeding in salineprone areas. However, it is to be taken into consideration that some halophytes may cause nutritional
barrier due to partially high salt content and anti-nutritional compounds (Hasanuzzaman et al., 2014).

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