Halophytes vis-à-vis Saline Agriculture Perspectives and Opportunities for Food Security

This edited book deals with the distribution, classification and diversity of halophytic ecosystems, ecology of mangroves, coastal agroforestry, adaptations and mechanisms of salt tolerance in glycophytes verses halophytes, scope of biosaline agriculture, and potential utilization of halophytes in abiotic stressed environments in arid and semiarid regions and coastal areas.

In this era of global population increase and global environmental change, there is need to provide food to the ever-growing population, combating climate change and conserving biodiversity. Keeping in view the rich biodiversity of halophytes, there is wide scope in food industry, phytoremediation, as well as a source of bioactive compounds including modern drugs. The new technologies for the cultivation of halophytes help to utilize saline and arid wastelands and also waterlogged areas sustainably for humans and the livestock.

This book creates interest in educationists, researchers, industrialists, investors, soil and climate change scientists, development/extension workers, environmentalists, policy/decision makers, and government and non-government organizations. Also, the book serves as reference material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, ecology, soil science, and environmental sciences. National and international soil and agricultural scientists, ecologists, policy makers will also find this book immensely useful.

Chapter 1. Introduction: Definition, Evolutionary Trends, Classification, Historical Background, and Prospects of Halophytes in Agriculture.- Chapter 2. An Ecological Overview of Halophytes: Global Distribution, Floristic Diversity, Vegetation Composition and Utilization.- Chapter 3. Mangroves and Associated Flora: Prospects for Utilization in Coastal Agriculture.- 
Chapter 4. Seed Germination, Seed Bank and Reproductive Eco-physiology of Halophytes.- Chapter 5. Rare and Endangered Halophytes: Biodiversity, Economic Importance and Strategies for their Conservation.- Chapter 6. Halophytes at the Crossroads: Morphological, Anatomical, Physiological and Biochemical Responses to Salinity Stress.- Chapter 7. Ecophysiological Constraints under Salinity Stress: halophytes versus Non-halophytes.- Chapter 8. Exploring Eco-physiological Constraints in Halophytes and Innovative Strategies for Advancing Biosaline Agriculture.- Chapter 9. Engineering Salt Tolerance in Crops by CRISPR Mediated Genome Editing Technology:Target Traits, Current Perspective and Future Challenges.- Chapter 10. Mining Halophytic Genes for Developing Salt Tolerance in Crop Plants.- Chapter 11. Halotolerant Microbiome and their Role in Ameliorating Ecological Stress.- Chapter 12. Antioxidative Response Mechanisms in Halophytes: Their Role in Stress Defense.- Chapter 13. Genetic Treasures from Halophytes: Unlocking Salt Stress Tolerance Genes.- Chapter 14. Halophytic Genes to Edit Glycophyte’s Genome for Salinity Tolerance.- Chapter 15. Halophytes as Alternative Food and Cash Crops for Future Sustainability.- Chapter 16. Exploring the Potential of Halophytes for Bioremediation of Salt-Affected Soils: A Review.- Chapter 17. Halophytic Crops as a Solution for Food Security, Land Rehabilitation, and Mitigating Future Water Crises by Utilizing Marginal Quality Waters.- Chapter 18. Domestication of Wild Halophytes for Profitable Biosaline Agriculture.- Chapter 19. Harnessing the Potential of Halophytes for Enhanced Resilience in Arid Agroecosystems.- Chapter 20. Synthesis: Prospects of Halophytes in Saline Agriculture to Achieve Food and Livestock Security.

Dr Jagdish Chander Dagar, Ph. D., Former Assistant Director General and Emeritus Scientist in ICAR, has been well recognized both nationally and internationally and grown professionally through strong pursuit in agricultural, ecological and agroforestry research which is evident from his more than 300 research papers published in peer-reviewed Journals, book chapters and in proceedings of conferences/symposia and 13 books authored/ edited. He has guided many research students for their project work and obtaining Ph.D. Degrees.  His research interest has been in the areas of agroforestry, management of natural resources, biosaline agriculture, rehabilitation of degraded lands including salt-affected and waterlogged soils, biodrainage, ethnobotany, plant ecology, environmental sciences, biodiversity, halophytes, climate change, sustainable agriculture and policy. Recognizing the research contributions, he was conferred with several awards and honours: Sajjad Memorial Gold Medal, Hari Om Asharam Trust Award of ICAR, Swami Pranavananda Saraswati National Award of UGC, CSSRI Excellence Award on Soil Salinity & Water Management, Dr KG Tejwani Award for Excellence in Agroforestry Research & Development; and Life Time Achievement Award for outstanding work in Agroforestry Research & Development. Further, he is Fellow National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, International Society of Tropical Ecology, Indian Botanical Society, National Institute of Ecology, Range Management Society of India, National Environmental Science Academy, Andaman Science Association, Indian Society of Soil Salinity & Water Quality, and Honorary Fellow Indian Society of Agroforestry; and Life Member of above societies and of Indian Society of Coastal Agricultural Research. He has also been consultant of several national and international agencies such as FAO of UN, CIMMYT, and Haryana Forest Department. Dr Dagar is Chief Editor of Journal Soil Salinity & Water Quality and active in social services.

Dr Sharda R. Gupta, Ph D, Former Professor of Botany, Dean Life Sciences, and Emeritus Fellow of UGC is a well-known  ecologist nationally and internationally,  who has  served in  the Department of Botany, and the Institute of Environmental Studies at Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India. Dr Gupta has made significant contribution towards better understanding   biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of grassland and forest ecosystems, soil biodiversity, and ecological rehabilitation of salt-affected soils, carbon sequestration in agroforestry systems, and the sustainability of conservation agricultural systems. Her work concerns standardizing methods for studying decomposition processes, soil respiration, and soil microbial biomass in tropical systems. She has published 98 research papers in national and international journals; successfully completed several funded research projects; guided the project work of 20 research students for their Ph.D. Degree. She has been associated with the Soil Science Department, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, and Herts, UK on Commission of European Communities Fellowship (1990 – 1991).  For significant contributions in the field of ecology, environment sciences, and agroforestry, she has been elected as the Fellow of the National Institute of Ecology, India; cited in Asia's Who's who of the Men and Women of Achievement. She is now associated with the Institute of Environmental Studies, and actively participates in socially relevant programmes and activities.

Dr Ashwani Kumar, Ph D, Senior Scientist (Plant Physiology), has been working on various aspects of Crop Improvement for salt affected areas through institutional and externally funded research projects at ICAR-CSSRI, Karnal. He has made significant contributions for studying the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of different crop plants in varying environments of salinity or drought. His scientific efficiency can be evaluated based on his association in inter-divisional/inter-institutional research programs with funding of more than 3 crores from different agencies. The Google Scholar Citation of 803 with h-index of 15 depicts scientific output in the form of more than 50 peer-reviewed research papers, 15 book chapters, 15 popular articles, 4 technical bulletins and 9 training manuals, success stories etc along with teaching experience of more than 10 years as well as guided 08 research students for their Ph.D. Degree.