Perspectives

The need to develop Biosaline agriculture can be seen in the perspective of a number of coherent global developments:

Increase in saline areas
At present, globally over 1 billion hectares of land are salinised. Each year an increase of 10 million hectares is observed. Climate change will accelerate the salinisation process in coastal areas as a result of seawater intrusion. The melting of glaciers will influence the availability of fresh water in arid areas in a negative way. With a growing world population and growing demands for prosperity the world over, we do not have a choice but to find ways to use saline resources even when (still) being more difficult and more expensive.

Increasing fresh water shortages
Agriculture is still the largest consumer of fresh water globally, although big differences can be observed between countries and continents. Agriculture will be more and more out-competed on the freshwater market by industrial and urban users, who bring apparently more economic value for the same amount of water.

Rising prices for fossil fuels and raw materials
Rising prices for energy and raw materials are caused by population growth and even more by the raising living standards of the population of countries like Brazil and China. This creates more and more a level playing field for saline resources.

International agreements and standards
Certification and taxes can also contribute in creating competitive markets for products from saline resources.