Salt-affected soils are one of the fastest-growing threats to arable land worldwide — CEON’s soil salinity solutions are built to reverse that, restoring structure and productivity to saline and sodic ground rather than simply working around it.

The problem: Over a billion hectares of land globally are already affected by excess salt, with close to half of all arable land projected to be at risk by 2050. The damage isn’t one problem but two: high salt content creates osmotic stress that blocks water uptake even when soil moisture is technically adequate, while high sodium specifically breaks down clay structure — collapsing pore space, cutting infiltration, and leaving soil compacted and poorly aerated. Left untreated, both problems compound each other and yields keep declining.

How it works: The core mechanism is straightforward chemistry: soluble calcium — most commonly from gypsum (CaSO₄·2H₂O) — displaces sodium held on soil clay particles. Once displaced, that sodium is water-soluble and can be leached below the root zone with normal irrigation or rainfall, while the calcium left behind rebuilds structure by encouraging clay particles to flocculate — clump together into stable aggregates instead of dispersing. Where soils are calcareous and short on directly available calcium, acidifying amendments (elemental sulfur or sulfuric acid) are used instead, reacting with existing soil calcium carbonate to free up the calcium needed for the same exchange process.