Soil salinization represents an escalating threat to European agriculture, particularly across Mediterranean and coastal regions. Rising sea levels and climate-driven evaporation are increasingly turning productive land into marginal areas.
In the IASIS, we are validating phytomanagement as a strategy to restore these saline environments while producing high-value industrial feedstock for bio-based products.
We are validating the performance of salt-tolerant crops (salicornia, carinata, safflower, sorghum, and camelina) grown under low-input agricultural practices at three sites.
đź“ŤRavenna – Italy: Managed by UNIBO at the Agrisfera farmers cooperative, focusing on sandy-silty soils suffering from saltwater intrusion. Preliminary results suggest that applying biostimulants rich in amino acids had positive effects for carinata and safflower.
đź“ŤAitoliko and Orxomenos – Greece: Managed by CRES and ILIOS in regions with high natural salinity and legacy drainage issues. Here, we are testing the crops’ adaptability and the use of biofertilizers and digestate alongside drip irrigation to optimize yields and resilience.
đź“ŤSĂ©tubal – Portugal : Led by the University of Lisbon and Quadrado Selvagem, leveraging established Salicornia genotypes to optimize cultivation protocols. Complementary pot trials are evaluating carinata, sorghum, and camelina in local sandy soil to test the efficacy of biostimulants in sustaining productivity and counteracting the growth reduction typical of salt-stressed environments.
Looking ahead, improved plant genotypes developed in the first half of the project will be integrated into these field trials during the second phase to further maximize land recovery and feedstock quality.
