Cultivation of some salt tolerant varieties of wheat are needed especially in saline areas along with an efficient integrated agronomic (combining the physical, chemical and biological) approach. Besides meeting the poor rural communitys dietary need, it will also have good impacts on global warming through photosynthesis and cooling impact on the local / regional climate.
Majority of the rural communities are facing acute problem of poverty and are living below the poverty line. In developing countries like Pakistan, the development of some practical and economically sound strategies for efficiently utilization of some natural resources can uplift the rural communitys livelihood. In Pakistan most of the cultivatable lands have become unsuitable for cultivation (esp. agricultural crops) because of two major constraints salinity and waterlogging. Earlier statistics confirm that out of 20.8 million hectares of cultivatable area, Pakistan has already around 5.33 million hectares area degraded by alone salinity however, waterlogging has affected around 1.55 million hectares. Large tracts of land in the areas of Hafizabad, Gojra, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Shorkot, Layya, Rahim Yar Khan, Kohat, Mardan and Charsadda are unsuitable for cultivation because of salinity and sodicity, however, proper management practices through sustainable integrated approaches can improve the livelihood of the poor rural community. Among the several other factors, lack of awareness along with lack of proper management seems to be the major limiting factors in the little or no advancement in this direction. Involvement and demonstration of wheat crop sowing in saline soils through an integrated approach (combination of physical, biological and chemical), we will be capable to combat the salinity issues as well as deal such marginal and very low nutrient lands.
In short, the rural communities of such localities can be benefited through small incentives in the form of provision of quality germplasm of salt tolerant varieties, short-term training with innovative and integrated agronomic approaches and a solution for very low cost water or soil quality management.