KARACHI: KU team reports success in halophyte trial
By Faiza Ilyas
KARACHI, Nov 3: A team of researchers of the Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilisation (ISHU), Karachi University, has successfully made use of a halophyte species, grown in saline soil on brackish water, as fodder on an experimental basis at a farm in Gaddani while further trials are under way to determine the other benefits of the different species of the highly salt tolerant plant family.
The achievement is significant considering the fact that Pakistan faces an acute shortage of fresh water and is predicted to become a water-deficient county in the next five years. It loses around 400,000 hectares of cultivated land to salinity every year.
These facts were highlighted at a seminar, ‘Domestication of Halophytes: Necessity and Challenges,’ held at the KU’s botany department on Saturday. ISHU Project Director Dr M.A. Ajmal Khan was the main speaker. Addressing a select gathering of students and professors, Dr Khan said the initial results at Gaddani were successful and the institute recommended to the government to initiate an experimental farming of the halophyte species grass Panicum turgidum in a new area.
“We have made significant progress in research on this subject and believe that we have a package that, if properly implemented, could contribute significantly in rehabilitating saline land and providing fodder to arid areas like coastal Balochistan that have plenty of saline water resources. The communities along the Balochistan coast are extremely poor and the introduction of this grass in that area would provide an economic uplift to local communities,” he said, while adding that the system could not only help Pakistan meet its meat and dairy product requirements but could also earn foreign exchange as this technology could be used in all the sub-tropical, arid regions of the world which share this problem and were carrying out research on halophytes extensively.
The comprehensive package, he said, developed by the team addresses several important factors that had so far restricted the use of halophytes in saline soil. They included soil degradation with saline water irrigation, making it saline-sodic, while the reseeding of crops every year was a waste of time and resources. A high salt load of fodder also increased thirst in animals, besides causing various health issues.
A salt accumulator halophyte species grown alongside the grass effectively addressed the problems of salinity and soil salinity, registering only a marginal increase during three years of irrigation.
Golden harvest
“Panicum turgidum is a perennial sown once and can be continually harvested to about 18,000 kg per hectare per year without reseeding. Tests on animals have shown no harmful effects and there was no problem convincing people to use it as fodder,” he said, adding that good management was required to grow the grass, which was probably the best fodder grass for the sub-tropical regions of the world as it can grow from coastal regions to inland regions.
Research was also underway at the institute to use halophytes as bio-fuel and to determine the oil quality of the seeds, he said, adding that the growing of halophytes was the most economical method to tackle salinity. They were used in food, forage, fodder, medicinal and ornamental purposes all over the world.
