| The sustainability of agricultural production in Iran is critically threatened by two major factors: drought and salinity, with over 30% of orchards currently experiencing varying degrees of saline stress across water and soil resources. The most severely affected regions include Kerman (pistachio, citrus, date palm), Yazd (pistachio, pomegranate, almond), Sistan and Baluchestan (date palm), Fars (citrus, pomegranate), South Khorasan (saffron, barberry, fig), Qom (pomegranate, pistachio, grape), Khuzestan (date palm, citrus), Bushehr (date palm, lime), Isfahan (apple, peach, nectarine, pomegranate), Khorasan Razavi (pomegranate, saffron, apricot), Hormozgan (date palm, lime, mango), Semnan (pistachio, pomegranate, olive), Golestan (olive, orange), East and West Azerbaijan surrounding Lake Urmia (apple, grape, pear, apricot), Zanjan (olive), Markazi (grape, walnut, almond), Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad (lime), Tehran (grape, peach), Alborz (peach, nectarine), and eastern Mazandaran (orange, tangerine), while greenhouse crops particularly cucumber face extreme salinity stress in Yazd and southern Kerman. The crops most impacted by salinity are pistachio, date palm, pomegranate, and citrus, with the highest economic losses observed in Kerman, Yazd, and Qom provinces. Given current conditions and anticipated climate change, the utilization of saline water and soil for horticultural production has become unavoidable, necessitating integrated management strategies, advanced agronomic practices, and breeding programs. However, developing salinity- and drought-tolerant rootstocks and cultivars requires approximately 5–10 years, underscoring the need for strategic planning to address future climate challenges. Beyond genetic improvements, effective management approaches include precise leaching requirements, optimized irrigation systems (e.g., drip irrigation, furrow planting), mulching (using biochar, sand, or semi-composted materials), soil amendments (gypsum, sulfur, acidic water, organic matter), rhizosphere enhancement via microbial inoculants (e.g., Trichoderma, Pseudomonas), land leveling, post-irrigation shallow tillage, and application of phytohormones and nutrients (e.g., salicylic acid, abscisic acid, macro- and micronutrients). Successful mitigation typically requires context-specific combinations of these strategies tailored to local soil-water conditions and crop types. |