SALTWORT, a perennial bush that grows on salt marshes around the world, has unexpectedly turned out to be a nutritious food source. The plant could become a new crop for farmers whose land is too choked with salt to support ordinary crops.
Salinity is a growing problem for farmers worldwide. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome estimates that more than 700 million hectares of the world’s soil – an area which would cover about two-thirds of the US – are poisoned either by salt itself or by other forms of sodium (see Graph).
On arable land, much of…
