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Global status of salt-affected soils

Main report









The following complementary information is available:

Annex 3 | Areas of salt-affected soils of different intensity in the GSASmap at the country level

Annex 5 | The responses to the INSAS survey “Status of salt-affected soils measurement, monitoring and management”

Annex 6 | Relative potential yield loss due to salinity stress


FAO. 2024. Global status of salt-affected soils Main report. Rome.



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    Booklet
    Global Symposium on Salt-Affected Soils: Outcome document 2022
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    The GSAS21 was held virtually on the Zoom platform on 20-22 October 2021 and was attended by over 4 000 participants. The objective of the symposium was to combine science, policy, and practice to evaluate the issues related to salt-affected soils and to formulate a strategy for the implementation of Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management in the areas affected by salinity and sodicity. The GSAS21 symposium was structured around three main themes focusing on: 1) Assessment, mapping, and monitoring of salt-affected soils; 2) Integrated soil – water – crop solutions in rehabilitation and management of salt-affected areas; 3) Agenda for action to prevent and rehabilitate salt-affected soils, protect natural saline and sodic soils, and scale-up sustainable soil management practices. The fourth session on testimonies from the field was organized to showcase the good practices illustrating the rehabilitation and sustainable use of salt-affected soils. The symposium included more than 70 oral presentations, presented over 17 hours of parallel sessions. Recordings of the presentations can be accessed via . In addition, 58 posters were open for public voting during the GSAS. Over 67 000 votes have been received which helped identify three winners of the poster session. The posters are available from . The recommendations presented in this document aim to support decision-making and innovative actions to minimize the challenges posed by soil salinity and sodicity, thereby assisting in the augmentation of global food security and ecosystem protection through salt-affected soils management in impacted regions.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Mapping of salt-affected soils – Technical manual 2020
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    Salt-affected soils such as saline or sodic soils are distributed in all continents at various levels of problem intensity. They are soils with high amounts of soluble salts and/or sodium ions. An updated information of their distribution and drivers is a first step towards their sustainable management. This book provides technical guidelines and approach for developing a harmonized multiscale soil information of salt-affected soils. The book is organized into three sections covering seven chapters. The sections are sequentially arranged but independently designed to benefit focused readership who may want to go straight to any section. Section 1 gives the background information. It has three chapters covering existing literature on the characteristics and mapping methods for salt problems in the soil. It is intended to illustrate the basic concepts, linkage of the characteristics of salt-affected soils with input data requirements for their mapping, existing classification methods, and global distribution of these soils. Section 2 covers the methodological procedures for developing multiscale spatial information of salt-affected soils. It has two chapters describing requirements, input data preparation, and the procedural steps for developing spatial information of salt-affected soils. It outlines how data from different sources and characteristics are harmonized and integrated to produce information of salt-affected soils. Section 3 covers information sharing and resources mobilization when developing information on salt-affected soils. It gives the guidelines for preparing spatial maps and steps for value-addition to benefit end-users of the information. It also contains a generic training program for building technical capacity for mapping salt-affected
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    Journal, magazine, bulletin
    Salt-affected soils are a global issue
    ITPS Soil Letters # 3
    2021
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    Naturally saline or sodic soils host valuable ecosystems, including a range of rare plants, that are adapted to the extreme conditions. However, salt-affected soils may develop quickly in response to human activities. Soils may thus become affected by salinity and sodicity due to inappropriate management or through saline water intrusion from sea, river or groundwater and undergo a rapid decline of health, losing their capacity for biomass production, natural filtration, carbon sequestration and other necessary ecosystem functions. This third issue of the ITPS letters demonstrates how in some regions adverse effects of soil salinity and sodicity will likely be exacerbated by climate change and have further impacts on the prices of commodities produced in vulnerable areas while increasing mass migration of peoples in the future. It also highlights how FAO and its Global Soil Partnership are currently addressing this through a range of activities, including the recently launched International Network of Salt-Affected Soils (INSAS) and the development of the Global Map of Salt-Affected Soils that will provide an improved assessment of the salinity status of the world’s soils.

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