The shortage of the water and the scarcity of rain are increasing the risk of salinization and the significant deterioration of agricultural lands.  Therefore, appropriate on-site techniques such as phytoremediation is urgently needed.

Land reclamation operations in comprehensive scientific concept is to address the specific problems of agricultural production. These operations are the most appropriate approaches for advanced agricultural development to raise the efficiency of agricultural land exploitation and increase its productive capacity especially in irrigated areas.  because these activities and events cover a population area and large areas in the center and south Iraq and the great investments and huge efforts made in this field to provide an important material base for agricultural production and economic development.

The overall relationship of reclamation to the production process includes the following: (a) the process of saving (nutritional elements, water, heat, ventilation) (b) the process of transportation and securing the movement of the above requirements in the appropriate time, quantities and rates. The process of assembling or manufacturing the above components in the form of production (fruits, tubers, grains, fodder). These processes are characterized as a series or group of interconnected reactions affected or taking place through two-way channels or paths from soil to plant and vice versa and the need for energy in its various forms to serve These reactions (mechanical, electrical, thermal, atomic).

Washing salts to the lower layers is one of the common ways to reduce the salt content in the surface layer, but there are obstacles facing this traditional method of reclamation, including: - poor drainage due to the high level of ground water, the low water conductivity of the soil layers and the lack of availability of good quality water for washing or the high cost of this water. The scarcity of water resources has greatly affected the possibility of carrying out large-scale soil washing operations in Iraq. During the past hundred years, various methods of reclamation chemistry have been used, including the interaction of chemical reforming agents, plowing, the use of crops and washing water, all within certain amounts. All of these factors contribute to the reclamation of salt-affected soils.

From the above, it becomes clear that there is an urgent need at the present time for appropriate on-site techniques such as phytoremediation, which is defined as the use of plants to remove pollutants (salts) from the soil by salt-tolerant plants that produce a vegetative cover that absorbs salts and is removed from the field by harvesting. This type of reclamation is useful for dry and semi-arid lands with large areas far from water sources because this technique can be carried out on site without the need for large quantities of water to wash off the salts. There are factors that make this type of reclamation of great importance through the low economic cost, As well as the economic return achieved for farmers from the crops they grow during reclamation operations, improving soil structure, increasing the stability of soil aggregates, and forming macro pores, which increase the water conductivity of the soil, root penetration, homogeneity, increase the depth of the reclaimed area in the soil, and take into account environmental considerations. In the increase of organic carbon in the soil after reclamation. Despite the great benefits that accompany this type of reclamation, it needs more studies, especially in Iraq, on the types of salt-tolerant crops that can be used, as well as the soils in which reclamation with plants can be appropriate.

Phytoremediation is the selection of the crop or the genetic modification of the characteristics of some plant species to be able to live in the soil affected by salts. This option is the most acceptable, the least expensive and a drain on economic resources. The ability of plants to withstand salt stress to a certain level is of high importance for optimal resource management and this is the reason for the development of crops that have been adapted to a high salt tolerance that suits salt stress environments. The use of salt-tolerant plants is one of the techniques of reclaiming plants’ ability to grow in Soils affected by salinity, which leads to a decrease in salinity and an increase in the washing of dissolved salts below the root zone of the saline soil and improvement of soil characteristics through the effectiveness of its roots. The use of economically sustainable crops generates income for farmers compared to the high cost of establishing drainage networks.

This technology is considered to have a positive effect on the treatment site and is used to clean and remove pollutants from soil, water and air. Crops play a role in improving the water conductivity through the root passages and the production of CO2 gas through the respiration process, and then the formation of H2CO3 acid that helps dissolve lime. Noting that this technology does not cause harm to the environment, but on the contrary, it contributes to the goal of sustainable agriculture. Estimation of the efficiency of phytoremediation depends on the total amount of pollutants (salts) that have accumulated in the plant tissues as a result of the amount of their accumulation in the organic mass (dry) from the harvest of the crop. The use of halophyte plants for reclamation may not produce a large biomass to the same extent as the non-saline Glycophyte crops, but it is appropriate because of its adaptability and resistance to environmental conditions and its ability to excrete salts outside the plant body, but the economic return for it is little relatively. The plant can be used through the process of biological reclamation to remove and reduce pollutants from the environment, including metallic elements and pesticides, as well as oil derivatives. It also works to discourage or stop water and air erosion and reduce the movement of ground water to move from one place to another.