Phytoextraction of salts by indigenous weeds in arid land

Abstract Reclamation of saline soil is becoming one of the most requirements for boosting crop production and sustainable agriculture. This study was conducted to investigate the capacity of three indigenous weeds growing naturally in arid land on west of Saudi Arabia. Salts content and biomass production for each weed species was evaluated. Salts concentration at three depths 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm was estimated at growing and none growing sites for each weed species. The salts content for the weeds was found to be 6.26%, 16.80% and 5.83 % for Setariaverticillata, Dipterygiumglaucum and Tribulusterrestris respectively. Biomass production based on the dry weights was 13.37, 9.24 and 5.63 t ha-1 respectively. The removal efficiency was varied according to soil depth and initial soil salinity concentration.