Abstract
Halophytes are flowering plants which are naturally found in saline habitats such as coastal swamps, coastal dunes, inland salt flats, playas and lands ruined by mal-agricultural practices. They have evolved a number of strategies to survive and reproduce under highly saline conditions where most plants cannot. These strategies range from numerous changes at cellular/molecular level to several morpho-anatomical adaptations. By utilizing combinations of such strategies, halophytes thrive under highly saline conditions and some can even grow better in the presence of salt. A number of these highly salt tolerant plants have several economic utilities and could be cultivated as food, fodder/forage,fuel and medicinal crops on saline lands with the help of salty water irrigation. Several potential crops among local halophytes have been identified and reported by Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilization, University of Karachi. However, further research is required to shape these candidate plants as proper crop. In addition research based investment would accelerate this developmental process enormously and make it a highly profitable venture, therefore both government and public sector should be encouraged to play their roles