Halophytes - plants growing on saline soil - could be India's Answer to the problems of salt desert and wasteland reclamation, besides Being an economic boon
FROM the state of Gujarat comes one of
the more recent examples of innovation
in desert reclamation. A private industrial house (the Benzer group) has successfully reclaimed a large chunk of
saline wasteland in Bhachau district of
Kutch using halophytes, flora which
grow in saline habitats.
,The word 'Indian desert' usually
conjures up the much publicised image
of the Thar in Rajasthan. However, large
areas of Kutch and Saurashtra in the
neighbouring state of Gujarat harbour
equally and zones, like the Great and the
Little Rann of Kutch (rann in Gujarati
means a desert). These diverse, xeric
environs with varying degrees of salinity
and soil structure have given rise to a
multitude of halophytic plants.
Systematic cultivation of halophytes can
not only help green wastelands to a great
extent, but also provide us with food,
fuel, fodder, fibre, resins, essential oils
and medicines.
The Benzer group has used the
Salvadom species (locally known as pilu)
for its reclamation exercise. Salvadom
can grow in highly saline wasteland as
well as along the coast. After the
seedlings are two years old, the plant can
be irrigated with eight-nine degrees of
saline water.
In terms of halophytic vegetation,
Kutch and Saurashtra together harbour
greater biodiversity than Rajasthan.
Only a single species of a halophyte, the
Suaeda fruticosa, has been reported
from Rajasthan, whereas three species of
the Suaeda -the Sfruticosa, S nudiflora
and S maritima - are found in
Saurashtra and Kutch. These arc locally
called Iuno and morus and are used as
food, fodder and medicine.
In Gujarat, large areas suffer from
soil salinity and salt infiltration into
groundwater aquifers. While prime
agricultural lands are being overexploi
ted, large areas of saline wastelands
and coastal belts remain unutilised.
Under these circumstances, instead of
using costly remedial measures to
reclaim these wastelands, the local
halophytic species which can grow in
moderate to highly saline soils can be
cultivated.
While the seeds of Sadvadora
oleodies (mitho pilu) are eaten
by humans, birds and livestock,
S persica (kharo pilu) holds
greater commercial value; its
seeds contain 30-40 per cent nonedible oil which is used in soaps
and detergent, its leaves are eaten
by camels and its root bark has
medicinal value. Urochondra
sendosa arid Juncus maritim us can
be used as sources of fibre and
paper Pulp respectively. The
Suaeda maritinur can be used for
fixing seashore sand dunes. A
creeper, the Citrullus colocynthis
(Indravarna), which grows com-
monly along the sandy coastline
of Gujarat, can be cultivated for
its fruits which contain colocynth,
a drug used as a cathartic.
Unfortunately, no comprehensive survey of the halophytic
vegetation of Gujarat has been done. A
few isolated studies of the coastal halopbytic flora were conducted in the '60s.
According to a floristic survey conducred by the botany department of
M S University, Baroda, in eastern and
western Kutch in 1986, 12 plant species
were listed as being endangered. However, the study failed to include the eco-
logical and ethnobotanical aspects.
Since then, the and habitats of Gujarat
along with their vegetation have undergone considerable change and with the
current wave of inclustrialisation sweeping over the state, these species are
under threat.
The economic and environmental
potential of a large number of our
indigenous halophytic species remain
undiscovered and untapped. While the
government is squandering money
on importing expensive desalination
technologies from the Netherlands
and Israel, the most feasible solution
probably exists in our backyards.
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