Validation across a gradient of lower, agriculturally

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the future work and stated research gap and stated challenges and future-work section of the source papers, classified as general, drawn from work published between 2024 and 2026, spanning 6 journals. Those papers have been cited 1,146 times in total.

Supporting evidence — 8 representative gaps

• Soil salinization in agriculture: Mitigation and adaptation strategies combining nature-based solutions and bioengineering (2024) · iScience · cited 382× · doi

  Figure 1. Saltwater intrusion effects (yellow and bare soil areas on the left side of the road) on soybeans in the Po River Delta (Italy) as seen from drone survey, 8 August 2022 (photo by S. Cucchiaro). around the globe highlight the pressing issue of salinity intrusion disasters and their severe consequences for agriculture in delta regions. The soil salinization phenomenon is widely spread also in inland arid regions.17 Inland deserts and arid lands cover vast expanses of the Earth’s surface, comprising diverse ecosystems such as deserts, steppes, and drylands. These regions are often fragile and highly sensitive to environmental disturbances, including changes in water availability and quality.18 These areas, characterized by low rainfall and high evaporation rates, are particularly susceptible to salinization due to limited freshwater resources and high soil salt concentrations.19 The causes of salinization in inland deserts and arid lands are multifaceted. Natural processes, such as weathering rocks and minerals, release salts into the soil and water.20 In Western Australia, for instance, rock weathering and deposition over thousands of years has resulted in salinity accumulation of approximately 100 and 15,000 tonnes/ha.21,22 However, human activities play a significant role in accelerating salinization processes. Improper irrigation practices, excessive groundwater extraction, and inadequate drainage systems can accumulate salts in the soil profile, gradually rendering the land unsuitable for cultivation.23–25 Soil salinization jeopardizes the productivity of agricultural lands, degrading soil fertility and threatening the survival of plant and animal species adapted to arid conditions.26 Addressing the challenges posed by soil salinization requires a multi-faceted approach. To mitigate such phenomenon, it is necessary to adopt sustainable water management practices, promoting efficient irrigation techniques (e.g., drop and sub-irrigation) combined with rainwater harvesting facilities. However, only with the adoption of NBS it is possible to solve the issue while preserving ecosystem services. The purpose of this perspective is to explore the capability of NBS to mitigate soil salinization in agriculture through a combination of sustainable solutions that can be adopted from coastal areas to inland arid lands. We also debated the possible benefit of bioengineering advances in selecting and creating salttolerant crops. Indeed, under the urgent need to combat hunger, given the actual acceleration of climate change, NBS could not be enough to act in large areas and support millions of people. Therefore, we propose combining salt-tolerant crop varieties with NBS to optimize the benefits in the world’s most vulnerable regions. For each solution described, we addressed the challenges and limitations of their implementations. A conceptual framework of the mitigation solutions described in the work is summarized in Figure 2.

  generalfuture workevidence 5/5
  Keywords: soil salinization arid areas regions inland lands intrusion deserts water salt irrigation saltwater delta issue
• Soil salinization in agriculture: Mitigation and adaptation strategies combining nature-based solutions and bioengineering (2024) · iScience · cited 382× · doi

  ll OPEN ACCESS Figure 2. Conceptual framework illustrating sustainable solutions discussed in this paper, to mitigate soil salinization in agriculture without a challenge. These include land tenure issues, insufficient local knowledge, and upfront costs that may deter investments.33 Moreover, the effectiveness of these solutions can be geographically contingent. For example, mangrove restoration may be highly effective in tropical regions like the Mekong Delta, but less in the colder climates where these plants may struggle to thrive. Similarly, salt marshes are more suit- able for areas with specific tidal ranges and sediment types.28 Therefore, understanding regional specificities is essential for successfully adopting NBS for combating soil salinization.

  generalfuture workevidence 5/5
  Keywords: solutions soil salinization speci open access conceptual framework illustrating sustainable discussed mitigate agriculture without challenge
• Soil salinization in agriculture: Mitigation and adaptation strategies combining nature-based solutions and bioengineering (2024) · iScience · cited 382× · doi

  wastage and, at the same time, preventing saltwater from being absorbed by the roots, therefore, it is an optimal practice for arid lands. Limitations in adopting such strategies are related to costs, which can limit large-scale implementation, especially for low-income countries. Concerning rainwater harvesting solutions, the size may not be sufficient to meet the water needs of large-scale commercial farming operations, or on the other hand, the climate is so dry that the rain collected is not enough to support agriculture. In such cases, supplementary water sources may still be required; therefore, more structured water reservoirs and groundwater use must be implemented. However, this latter solution has a price in terms of environmental impact; if groundwater exploitation reaches unsustainable levels, a collapse of soil ecosystems and entire communities without freshwater may be possible. BREEDING FOR SALT TOLERANCE IN CROP PLANTS Salinity is one of the most important environmental stresses affecting plant growth and development, reducing crop yield. Plants are known to promote adaptation mechanisms to tolerate saline conditions by activating or modulating specific genes that can regulate osmotic and oxidative stresses induced by salinity.77 Breeding crops and ornamental plants for salinity tolerance is challenging but possible, and significant improvements have been achieved in the last years by selecting salt-tolerant genotypes in model species.78,79 Nowadays, in the era of structural and functional genomics, the genetic factors, as well as the physiological and biochemical mechanisms underlying salinity tolerance, have been widely investigated and unveiled for the major crop plants, with potential applications in molecular breeding programs.77–79 Several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) related to salinity stress have been mapped by genome-wide analysis studies as well as candidate genes encoding for transcription factors and specific proteins induced by salinity stress have been identified in crop plants (reviewed by Afzal et al.77). This information makes now possible to combine conventional and molecular breeding approaches. In the past few decades, marker-assisted selection has deeply transformed plant breeding by giving breeders the foreknowledge of critical traits during the seedling stage, allowing them to make phenotypic predictions early on and with greater precision and accuracy.80 However, one of the major challenges in both conventional and molecular breeding is represented by the linkage drag, which depends on the unwanted transfer of undesirable linked genes from wild species to cultivated varieties.

  generalfuture workevidence 5/5
  Keywords: breeding salinity plants possible crop water tolerance plant speci genes molecular genome strategies related large
• Exploiting halotolerant endophytes to improve growth and salinity resilience of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don (2026) · Acta agriculturae Slovenica · doi

  Conventional approaches to mitigate salinity stress have limited success. There is a need for alternative approaches to improve crop yields in saline soils.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: conventional approaches mitigate salinity stress have limited success
• Comparative Effects of Nano-Silicon Application Methods on Salt Stress Tolerance in Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) (2026) · Türkiye Tarımsal Araştırmalar Dergisi · doi

  Salinity is a major abiotic stressor affecting crop yield and quality. Climate change and environmental degradation constrain agricultural productivity. There is a need to improve crop resilience and productivity under stress conditions.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: salinity major abiotic stressor affecting crop yield quality
• Morpho-physiological response of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla L.) and NaCl remotion ca-pacity (2026) · Biotecnia · doi

  Salinity affects plant growth and physiology. Climate change and poor water management exacerbate the problem in arid and semi-arid regions. There is a need to develop strategies for improving crop yields and quality in saline environments.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: salinity affects plant growth physiology climate change poor
• Salt tolerance of Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) ecotypes in callus cultures in vitro (2026) · JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY · doi

  High soil salinity is a serious and increasing problem all over the world. Salt stress reduces the productivity of plants by altering water and mineral uptake. There is a need to develop strategies for improving salt tolerance in plant species.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: high soil salinity serious increasing problem all world
• Organ-Specific Some Physiological, Biochemical, and Metabolic Responses of Spinach to Foliar and Soil-Applied Aminosol Under Salt Stress (2026) · Journal of Plant Growth Regulation · doi

  Validation across a gradient of lower, agriculturally realistic salinity levels under field conditions remains an important next step

  generalfuture-work sectionevidence 4/5
  Keywords: validation across gradient lower agriculturally realistic salinity levels

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