Remediation of Antagonistic Saline Effect on Crops Using Organic Amendments-A Review

The major abiotic stress that affects crop development, growth and yield is salinity. Rock weathering, seawater intrusion are main causes of primary salinization and overusing fertilizers, poor irrigation water quality, water logging, and depositing of industrial brine caused secondary salinization. Worldwide approximately 8000 lakh ha of arable land are impacted by salinity. India has 67.27 lakh hectares of arable land, of which 29.56 lakh ha are saline, whereas 37.71 lakh ha are sodic. Recently, several techniques have been developed to alleviate the adverse effects of salt stress on crops and enable them to adapt. Research starts to focus more on organic amendments, including compost, vermi-compost, vermi-wash, biochar, bio-fertilizer and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Research suggests organic amendments enhance salinity tolerance and improve plant growth and yield via altering ionic equilibrium, photosynthesis machinery, systemic antioxidants, and reducing oxidative damage. However, there is little study of the beneficial regulatory function that organic amendments play in plants and the ways in which they help them endure stress. As a result, the current study addresses recent findings about organic amendments in plants experiencing salt stress as well as how these amendments assist in reducing stress. The constraints and future potential of implementing organic amendments are also evaluated in this review.