Worldwide, agriculture accounts for 70% of all water consumption, and with the demand for water rising, there isn’t enough water for everything. The solution to this is irrigating with brackish water. However, brackish water increases the extent of salt-stressed soils and hurts plants. Salinity stress puts the world’s food security in danger. The microbiome in the rhizosphere plays a significant role in plant health and offers potential solutions for mitigating stress and improving crop yield. Unfortunately, these solutions require carbon additives, which makes them unsustainable. Using the rhizosphere of plants native to saline environments, I found plant growth-promoting bacteria that will sustain themselves while mitigating the salinity stress and improving crop yield irrigated with brackish water.

Growing up in south Israel, I was always around arid land framing and droughts. I used to think treated saline water was the best solution. However, after learning the effect of brackish water irrigation on plants, I was determined to find sustainable solutions for my country and agriculture worldwide.