Rising salt: a test of tactics and techniques
Dryland salinity affects almost 2.5 million hectares of Australian farmland. Off-farm effects are felt through decline in water quality, habitat degradation, damage to buildings and other assets, and biodiversity loss. Strategies for salinity management aim to reduce the amount of water recharging into water tables. They include increasing water use by crops and pastures, strategic tree planting, switching from annual pastures to perennial systems and enhancing remnant vegetation.