The world’s human population is expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050, and global food production will need to increase by up to 70% by this time to match this growth (FAO, 2011). Food production (excluding crops used as biofuels) should increase by 70%. The annual production of cereals will have to reach about 3 billion tons compared to the current 2.1 billion and, the annual production of meat will have to increase by more than 200 million tons to reach 470 million tons. Therefore, population and food requirements continue to rise steadily while cultivated areas became constant since 1975. In several regions the cultivated areas showed a large decrease as consequence of abiotic constraints (salinity and drought) resulting in a large Imbalance between cultivated perimeters and food requirements.
The majority of the crop and forage species used in modern agriculture are salt sensitive (glycophytes) and can handle only a very limited concentration of salt in their growth media. A 50% yield decrease is observed in rice, wheat, Maize and Mung bean respectively at 4, 7, 3.3 and 2.4 g l-1 NaCl. Genetic engineering, advocated since the early 1990s, has not provided any cultivar with true salt tolerance as consequence of (i) the Complexity of the tolerance trait, (ii) the Quasi-absence of field validation: among more than 430 publications on genetically transformed plants, only 7 transgenic plants were evaluated in the field; and (iii) the limited range of genetic diversity in this trait within traditional crops, stress tolerance genes and mechanisms must be identified in extremophiles and then introduced into traditional crops.
Given the time constraints, an approach to breeding for salt tolerance that involves putting ‘all eggs in one basket’ may be unwise. Other options for combating salinisation, such as finding alternative crops for farming in those conditions and the restoration of salt-affected areas should be considered. This lecture focuses on the suitability of halophytic species to become important components of 21st century farming systems. We argue that the use of halophytes may be a viable commercial alternative to ease pressure on the requirement of good quality land and water for conventional cropping systems and the utilization of land degraded by salinity.
Biography
Professor Chedly Abdelly, born in 1957 in Tunisia, is a renowned ecologist and halophyte specialist. He earned his Doctorate of State in Natural Sciences from the Tunisian Faculty of Sciences in 1997. Abdelly’s research focuses on rehabilitating marginal environments and enhancing crop productivity in extreme habitats. He has identified traits in halophytes that allow them to tolerate salt and advocates for their use as models to study salt tolerance in plants.
With over 500 publications, an h-index of 78, and 24,509 citations, Abdelly’s academic contributions are significant. He edited the book “Biosaline Agriculture and High Salinity Tolerance” and has three patents to his name. He has also mentored 80 PhD and 37 Master’s students.
Abdelly’s excellence has been recognized with numerous awards, including the “Kwame Nkrumah” prize in 2020. He was elected to the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts in 2019 and the African Academy of Sciences in 2020. He has held leadership positions at various institutions, currently serving as the CEO of the Tunisian National Agency for Scientific Research Promotion.
His research disciplines include studying plants from harsh environments, plant biotechnology and ecophysiology, and promoting the application of research through technology transfer and innovation.