ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the response of cultivating Meswak (Salvadora persica) and halophytic grasses in highly saline Vertisols of India or by using highly saline ground water; and explores the physiological aspects of their salt tolerance under abiotic stress of salinity. Moreover, nitrogen being the most limiting nutrient for crop production on saline Vertisols being poor in N and organic matter, nitrogenous fertilizer when given with saline water resulted in significant increase in forage yield of both the grasses. The chapter discusses some of the technological interventions to green the barren saline Vertisols using Salvadora persica, a facultative halophyte and a potential source for seed oiland some forage grasses for fodder such as Dichanthium annulatum and Leptochloa fusca for saline waterlogged soils and Aeluropus lagopoides and Eragrostis specie for saline water irrigated lands. An attempt is also made to enlist the potential economic halophytes and salt tolerant plants that can profitably be culivated in saline Vertisols.
