KARACHI, May 16: If halophytes are introduced in the coastal areas that have high salt content in soil and where no ordinary crop can grow, the plant would not only reduce soil salinity but could also be used as fodder.

This was stated by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Karachi, Prof Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, while inaugurating the Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilisation.

The VC was shown around the institute’s building and high-tech equipment installed there.

Prof Siddiqui laid stress on cultivation of halophytes on a large scale, saying that it would help meet growers’ demand of fodder for their animals while the coastal land considered barren would become fertile.

The director of the institute, Prof M. Ajmal Khan, said that Rs50 million had been spent on the establishment of the institute, one of its kind in the world, and claimed that no other institute was specifically working only on halophytes. The institute would move to molecular research in the coming years.

“Salinity level in coastal areas may exceed four per cent,” he apprehended, and pointed out that ordinary plants could not grow in such conditions but halophytes could grow easily.

“There are 415 species of halophytes in Pakistan out of which 100 are found in the coastal region of the country,” he said. He, however, mentioned that it was researchers’ job to observe how well the plant suited the land and what modifications were needed for it. He also stressed that it was the government’s job to create awareness about it among the local farmers.