Objectives and Learning Outcomes

The aim of this course is to develop an understanding of salt affected soils, various types of salt affected soils including saline, sodic, saline sodic soils, their management and reclamation. The students will be able to utilize salt-affected soils without reclamation only through appropriate management techniques. It will make the profitable use of salt-affected soils at status-quo. After completion of this course, the students will be able to utilize salt-affected soils without reclamation only through appropriate management techniques. It will make the profitable use of salt-affected soils at status-quo.

Contents

Theory

1.         Saline agriculture: Definition, history and prospects in Pakistan

2.         Components and approaches of saline agriculture

3.         Breeding, physiology, agronomy and nutrition

4.         Plants growth in degraded environments

5.         Plants for saline agriculture: Crops, grasses, bushes and trees

6.         Saline agriculture as a sustainable farming system

7.         Future of saline agriculture in the context of global climate change

Recommended Books

1.         Qureshi, R. H. and E. G. Barrett-Lennard. 1998. Saline Agriculture for Irrigated Land in Pakistan: A handbook. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Canberra, Australia.

2.         Ahmad, R. and K. A. Malik. (eds.). 2002. Prospects for Saline Agriculture. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

3.         Pessarakali, M. (ed.) 1999. Handbook of Plant and Crop Stress. Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, USA.

Assessment Criteria

Sessional: 12 (project, presentation, participation)

Project: 04

Presentation: 04

Participation: 04

Mid exam: 18

Final exam: 30