The global food system is underpinned by healthy soil systems. The cultivation of plantlife for food crops, animal feed, and even fuel sources rely on these staggeringly complex ecosystems. Threaded within these diverse deposits of silt, sand, and other particles are a wealth of interconnecting organisms that catalyse the healthy development of sustainable food systems. These systems, like most things in life, require balance. When the volume of one component ebbs and flows, so too does the robustness of the soil itself. Salt intrusion due to climate change has the potential to ravage areas of forest and agricultural lands leading to redundancy of the systems. CGIAR, and their associated institutions are looking at this problem actively and are working towards potential mitigation and adaptation measures where possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Partners at the IFPRI, and CCAFS have looked at the impact of salinity intrusion (SI) in South Asia. Rabbani (2013) noted that 6.7 million hectares in India, and 1.06 million hectares in Bangladesh are threatened by excess salinity. This endangers soil quality, infrastructure, fisherfolk and rice cultivators, and livelihoods in general. SI has been linked to a steady decline in the net cropped area in coastal Bangladesh (Baten, 2015), while similar groundwater contamination is widespread in India (Naidu et al. 2013). Progressive climate change is likely to see an increase in the extent and frequency of contamination, and solutions will need to be found to combat this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pathak et al. (2018) identified a multipronged approach as necessary for the development of AI tolerant cultivars. This approach consisted of the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Preservation and purification of traditional varieties. <\/li>
- Screening traditional landraces for salinity tolerance traits. <\/li>
- Biotechnological approaches towards modification of genetic characteristics of cultivars. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
This study identified mangroves as a potential gene donor for new crop varieties, due to their high salt tolerance. They noted the importance of establishing a deep understanding of stress response mechanisms at a molecular level in relevant plant species. This development should allow for progression towards the creation of cultivars that can withstand varied salinity levels. Benefits of such an approach include sustainability, ecologically beneficial, and cheap nature of salt-tolerant varieties to manage SI in vulnerable areas. The same study notes, however, that the worsening climate disaster is likely to lead to unpredictability in weather patterns. For this reason, any cultivars developed will need to be tolerant of other abiotic stresses in addition to salinity. They may be exposed to drought one season, and storm surges the next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Md-Awal-9\/publication\/290162715\/figure\/fig4\/AS:701810171985922@1544335992311\/A-sluice-gate-near-Bhabadaha-area-in-Abhainagar-Jessore-District.png\")