PLANT GROWTH AND MICROBIAL DIVERSITY AS STRESSED BY SOIL SALINITY WITH POSSIBLE REMEDIAL MEASURES

Abstract

Soil salinization is a continuously growing challenge worldwide, damaging the total arable land (20%) and irrigated land (33%), retarding crop production and threatening global food security. Several natural and anthropogenic factors have accelerated the soil salinization process in recent decades and made it an uncontrolled obstacle for crop production. Microorganisms perform numerous life-supporting activities, including organic matter decomposition, recycling of resources, symbiosis, resistance induction against biotic entities and ameliorating abiotic stresses. Abiotic stressors (e.g., salinity) deteriorate the soil microbial diversity, alter the ecological balance, and perturb the nutrient cycle. Several experts have reviewed the effects of salinity on soil microbial community and soil respiration under the available organic carbon sources. However, there is a dearth of studies directly illustrating the relationship between salinity and the enzymatic activities in saline soils, which is critical in harmonizing cell communications with the outer environment. Furthermore, it also defines the relationships between different members of the soil ecosystem and the equilibrium between them. Saline soils have more deteriorated enzyme activities as compared to alkaline calcareous soils. Plants and microbes play a crucial role in rehabilitating a deteriorated soil environment by mitigating the salinity stress. Around the world, many approaches (such as physical, chemical, biological, hydro-technical, etc.) have been extensively studied for soil remediation against salinity, but the synergistic approach is one of the highly recommended approaches by researchers. A synergistic approach is a collective, smart, and simultaneous application of all the available techniques to remediate saline soils. This review has discussed a balanced practice of all the components of the integrated approach to perform it sustainably. The manuscript will refine our knowledge about the current state of soil salinization, its impact on the environment and agroecosystem, and the advanced technologies useful for its remediation.