JUNE 2017 SEEDWORLD.COM / 39 growth and can stop plant reproduction. And it’s entirely possible for yield losses to occur without any visual symptoms of soil salinization. In Canada, the govern- ment estimated that 22 million acres across the Prairies were affected by invisible salinity in the mid 2000s. “Farmers are losing about $400 million a year due to invisible salinity,” says Jack Payne, western Prairies regional agronomist with Farmers Edge, a global preci- sion ag company. He adds that yield losses in Alberta are around 25 per- cent, depending on the crop. “Invisible salinity is steal- ing more yield than we think,” Payne says. To help farmers determine if they are afflicted by invisible salinity, Povin recommends routine soil testing to identify the salinity level. Then and measures can be taken to manage any problems that might exist. Chronic Conditions In other areas of the world, soil salinization is not invisible. It’s a constant that farmers must learn to manage. In the south of Vietnam, in the Mekong Delta, the situation is more serious for many farmers. When the rainy season starts late and brings less rain than usual, the Mekong River carries less water. This allows the sea floods into the interior of the country and salinizes the soil, which can have devastating consequences. “Many rice growers in our region had to stop farming their fields last year because the strongly salinated water destroyed the rice shortly after it was planted,” says Phan Van Giang, who farms 9 acres (4 hectares) of rice and has for the past 20 years. One of the solutions Bayer brought to the table was Arize B-TE, and Phan Van Giang was the first farmer in his region to try it. “Compared with traditional rice ... [it] has greater toler- ance to salinization, drought and flooding, it is less sus- ceptible to disease, and it produces much higher yields, even in difficult years,” he explains. This year, Bayer plans to launch a new rice Arize seed variety, which the company says will survive twice the level of salinity compared to previ- ous varieties. Exploring Solutions Given the impact on crop production, soil salinization is an area where companies, large and small, are investing more resources with the goal of discovering solutions and tools to help farmers around the world best manage their crops. These include varieties with improved tolerance to soil salinity, seed treatments, microbials and magnetically treated water. A study, “Effect of electro- magnetic treatment of saline water on soil and crops,” was done looking at the effect of the electromagnetic treatment of saline water on seed germi- nation of corn. Results showed a significant increase in germi- nation rate of corn seedlings watered with electromagnetic- treated saline water, particularly when water was exposed to electromagnetic fields for 15 minutes. Knowing this and having done its own research, OmniEnviro, an Australian com- pany that manufactures water treatment systems, developed a method of magnetically treating salty water used for irrigating crops. When crops are irrigated with salty water, it subse- quently increases the level of soil salinity, says James Oshana, owner of Quantum BioTek’s OmniEnviro. And this interferes with plant nutrient absorption. He explains that after the water is magnetically treated, there is a change of the physi- ochemical characteristics of water leading to improved filtration and dissolvability. For instance, plant capillaries start to let either salt crystals or crys- tals of different elements and suspensions pass. Magnetically treated water washed three to four times more salts out of the soil than non-magnetized water, and at the same time increased oxygen concentrations by 10 percent. “Farmers are losing about $400 million a year due to invisible salinity.” — Jack Payne Rusty Rodriguez serves as CEO of Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies. Mike Hofer serves as BASF Seed Solutions global marketing director.