As seas rise, saltwater plants offer hope farms will survive

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Date

June 16, 2015

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MB20150616_B-8

Excerpt

On a sun-scorched wasteland near India’s southern tip, an unlikely garden filled with spiky shrubs and spindly greens is growing, seemingly against all odds. The plants are living on saltwater, coping with drought and possibly offering viable farming alternatives for a future in which rising seas have inundated countless coastal farmlands. Sea rise, one of the consequences of climate change, now threatens millions of poor subsistence farmers across Asia. As ocean water swamps low-lying plots, experts say many could be forced to flee inland. “Sea level rise is inevitable, and we are not prepared,” said Swaminathan, who pioneered high-yield wheat and rice varieties for India in the 1960s. “The biggest problem in India is just the very large population. We can say people can relocate, but where could we even accommodate all those who need to move inland?”

Citation

As seas rise, saltwater plants offer hope farms will survive. (2015, June 16). Manila Bulletin, p. B-8.