THE ROOT PROJECT: How to guarantee tomato cultivation in salty soils

Today, one of the most discussed problems is the increase of global population. The need to meet the market demand for foods has directly influenced agricultural practices. Recently, food quality and environmental sustainability are also the focus of the public attention (Campobenedetto et al., 2021).

The challenge is the following: how to make agriculture environmentally friendly? Reducing pesticides, using water properly, and maintaining soil fertility are central topics in agronomic studies (Campobenedetto et al., 2021). Thus, agriculture will need to produce food for a growing world population using an ever-shrinking land area: climate changes, agricultural practices (i.e. excessive use of fertilizers) and water scarcity have resulted in increased salt concentration in the soil (Mannino et al., 2020). Soil salinity is not compatible with the current farming practices. The role of scientists is to understand how to make plants more resilient to salt stress using environmentally sustainable methods.