Can Dutch salt-tolerant potatoes solve the global food crisis?

This month it became known that at least two Dutch potato varieties can thrive in salty soil. Several Dutch scientists and farmers think this discovery could have tremendous consequences for the potato industry worldwide.

However, can these special potatoes also be the answer to the global food crisis?

Saltwater-loving crops such as these rare potatoes could provide a sustainable solution to the lack of arable land in the world, systems ecologist Jelte Rozema of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam told Xinhua.

The two species of potatoes were discovered in a pilot project in Texel, a Dutch island north of the country, where 30 different varieties of potatoes were planted in extremely salty soil for many years.

According to the research team, the fact that the potatoes and some other crops can survive in salinized agricultural land is good news because in the Netherlands alone, 125,00 hectares are expected to get salinized in the coming years.

Globally, more than 1 billion hectares of land has been rendered useless due to salinity. Most of the world's coastal areas struggle with the same problem.