Helping crops stand up to salt

Journal Article · Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1985 · High Technol.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5304353

Raeburn, P

A new approach to the problem of increasing soil salinity is to raise salt-tolerant plants. The search for such plants involves finding new applications for naturally occurring salt-resistant plants (halophytes), using conventional breeding techniques to identify and strengthen crop varieties known to have better-than-average salt tolerance, and applying recombinant DNA methods to introduce salt resistance into existing plants. One promising plant is salicornia, which produces oil high in polyunsaturates at a greater yield than soybeans. Two varieties of atriplex yield as much animal feed as alfalfa and can be harvested several times a year. Seed companies are supporting the research.

• OSTI ID: 5304353
• Journal Information: High Technol.; (United States), Vol. 5:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
HERBS
GENETIC ENGINEERING
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SOILS
SALINITY
PLANT BREEDING
PLANT GROWTH
GROWTH
PLANTS
550400* - Genetics
553000 - Agriculture & Food Technology
290400 - Energy Planning & Policy- Energy Resources