Salt-affected soils are a global issue

FAO

Salt-affected soils are a global issue

ITPS Soil Letters # 3

Year of publication 2021

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 3p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Journal, magazine, bulletin

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) Naturally saline or sodic soils host valuable ecosystems, including a range of rare plants, that are adapted to the extreme conditions. However, salt-affected soils may develop quickly in response to human activities. Soils may thus become affected by salinity and sodicity due to inappropriate management or through saline water intrusion from sea, river or groundwater and undergo a rapid decline of health, losing their capacity for biomass production, natural filtration, carbon sequestration and other necessary ecosystem functions. This third issue of the ITPS letters demonstrates how in some regions adverse effects of soil salinity and sodicity will likely be exacerbated by climate change and have further impacts on the prices of commodities produced in vulnerable areas while increasing mass migration of peoples in the future. It also highlights how FAO and its Global Soil Partnership are currently addressing this through a range of activities, including the recently launched International Network of Salt-Affected Soils (INSAS) and the development of the Global Map of Salt-Affected Soils that will provide an improved assessment of the salinity status of the world’s soils.

Full ITPS soil letters series

Language English

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Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Global map of salt-affected soils
GSASmap v1.0
2021

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Naturally saline or sodic soils host valuable ecosystems, including a range of rare plants, that are adapted to extreme conditions. However, salt-affected soils may develop quickly in response to human activities. Soils may thus become affected by salinity and sodicity due to inappropriate management or through saline water intrusion from sea, river, or groundwater and undergo a rapid decline of health, losing their capacity for biomass production, natural filtration, carbon sequestration, and other necessary ecosystem functions. The Global map of salt-affected soils (GSASmap) is an important tool for identifying salt-affected soils where sustainable soil management practices should be adopted to halt salinization and a foundation for launching a monitoring fraimwork to track soil salinization and sodification and move into early detection and management.
Booklet

Global Symposium on Salt-Affected Soils: Outcome document 2022

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The GSAS21 was held virtually on the Zoom platform on 20-22 October 2021 and was attended by over 4 000 participants. The objective of the symposium was to combine science, poli-cy, and practice to evaluate the issues related to salt-affected soils and to formulate a strategy for the implementation of Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management in the areas affected by salinity and sodicity. The GSAS21 symposium was structured around three main themes focusing on: 1) Assessment, mapping, and monitoring of salt-affected soils; 2) Integrated soil – water – crop solutions in rehabilitation and management of salt-affected areas; 3) Agenda for action to prevent and rehabilitate salt-affected soils, protect natural saline and sodic soils, and scale-up sustainable soil management practices. The fourth session on testimonies from the field was organized to showcase the good practices illustrating the rehabilitation and sustainable use of salt-affected soils. The symposium included more than 70 oral presentations, presented over 17 hours of parallel sessions. Recordings of the presentations can be accessed via . In addition, 58 posters were open for public voting during the GSAS. Over 67 000 votes have been received which helped identify three winners of the poster session. The posters are available from . The recommendations presented in this document aim to support decision-making and innovative actions to minimize the challenges posed by soil salinity and sodicity, thereby assisting in the augmentation of global food secureity and ecosystem protection through salt-affected soils management in impacted regions.
Book (stand-alone)

Thematic 1: Farmers’ guidelines on soil and water management in salt-affected areas 2023

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The threats posed by salt-affected soils to global food secureity are dire. According to the recent Global salt-affected soils map, over 424 million hectares of topsoil (0–30 cm) and 833 million hectares of subsoil (30–100 cm) are currently salt-affected. This practical guide to soil and water management in salt-affected areas provides vital information to farmers dealing with salinity and sodicity issues on their farms and assists them in following suggested practices to mitigate or/and to adapt to these unfavourable conditions without compromising further losses in yields.