The research frontiers and future directions of the assessment of enhanced production potential in saline-alkali soils

With the global population growth and rapid economic development, food demand continues to rise, making food security and sustainable development a central focus worldwide. However, food security faces severe challenges due to cultivated land degradation and climate change. Therefore, it is of great strategic significance to enhance the productivity of existing cultivated land and rationally develop reserve resources such as saline-alkali soils to ensure food security. However, the evaluation of production potential is mainly focused on cultivated land, while methods for assessing production potential improvement in saline-alkali soils remain limited. This paper systematically reviews the process of evaluating the production potential improvement of saline-alkali soils. First, an evaluation system for production potential of saline-alkali soils was developed, incorporating climate, agriculture, soil, and terrain, and introduced the indicators for each factor. Subsequently, this study evaluated the effectiveness of various measures in improving salinization indicators and crop yield. Then, an evaluation framework of production potential of saline-alkali soils suitable for regional scale was preliminarily constructed. Future research on enhancing production potential of saline-alkali soils can establish a digital platform to integrate multi-source data, enabling integrated dynamic monitoring of saline-alkali environment and crop growth. Effective management of saline-alkali soils requires differentiated measures tailored to distinct regional conditions, along with the development of region-specific dynamic evaluation systems. This study aims to systematically review evaluation indicators and improvement measures for the production potential of saline-alkali soils, and to preliminarily establish an evaluation framework for enhancing the production potential of saline-alkali soils at the regional scale. This study provides a reference for assessing the enhancement of production potential of saline-alkali soils, thereby promoting the effective utilization of saline-alkali soils resources and sustainable agricultural development.