Halophytes
- Halophytes can be grown in deserts using salt water or brackish water for irrigation. One of the most-studied halophytic species is Salicornia bigelovii.
- Salicornia seed contains 30 to 35 percent oil, which can be used as edible oil or as a feedstock for advanced biofuels. The remaining seed mass has a protein profile similar to that of soybean meal.
- Salicornia produces 15 to 18 MT of biomass per hectare per year.
- A small number of R&D and commercial efforts have attempted to scale this technology under commercial conditions. Issues still to be addressed include the corrosiveness of salt water used for irrigation, poor seed quality due to a lack of germplasm databases and established breeding programs, lack of knowledge or tools for genetically transforming the crop, a lack of best management practices, high pumping and infrastructure costs, and the ambiguity of environmental impacts.
- Several projects have attempted to incorporate halophyte production into an integrated seawater aquaculture system but none have successfully operated commercially.
