Growth, Evapotranspiration, and Ion Uptake Characteristics of Alfalfa and Triticale Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Desalination Concentrate

Abstract

Persistent drought, low snowfall, and low rainfall have reduced availability of fresh water for irrigating agricultural crops in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Brackish groundwater (electrical conductivity; EC > 3 dSm−1) is increasingly used for irrigation in New Mexico. This study investigates the effect of ion uptake from brackish groundwater and concentrate irrigation on the performance of two forage species, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and triticale (×Triticosecale), in sand soils in greenhouse conditions. Two simultaneous experiments were run for 90 days using tap water (control; 0.7 dSm−1), brackish groundwater (BGW; 4 dSm−1), reverse osmosis concentrate (RO; 8 dSm−1, Ca2+ dominant), and BGW plus sodium chloride (BGW + NaCl; 8 dSm−1, Na+ dominant). BGW + NaCl irrigation significantly reduced the evapotranspiration (ET) of both the species. Deep percolation (DP) increased significantly with RO and BGW + NaCl irrigation in alfalfa but only with BGW + NaCl irrigation in triticale. Alfalfa plant growth decreased with increasing salinity, while triticale plants followed an opposite trend. ET continued to decrease with increasing salinity for both species. Na+ dominant (BGW + NaCl) irrigation produced robust growth and early flowering and ear head formation in triticale. Na+ ion concentration in shoots was above 0.66%, which led to reduced alfalfa growth, while more than 1.22% did not decrease triticale growth or biomass. Increased Ca2+ sequestration in alfalfa played a crucial role in reducing Na+ ion toxicity. Species performance primarily confirmed that alfalfa is moderately salt-tolerant while triticale is confirmed to be a halophyte producing abundant growth and biomass with higher Na+ uptake. Triticale proved to be a promising species for reuse of RO concentrate for agriculture in marginal lands.

Impact of Nitrogen and Boron Fertilization on Winter Triticale Productivity Parameters

“…The most promising trend for the future of this cereal in the food industry is to investigate the usefulness of triticale grain for baking [3,4,6] and bioenergy production, especially bioethanol [7,8]. Triticale is considered to be an interesting species that can be grown even in unfavorable biotic and abiotic conditions [9,10], even at high salinity [11]. Moreover, it is a species with high genetic potential.…”

Water Use and Yield Responses of Chile Pepper Cultivars Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Reverse Osmosis Concentrate

“…However, the disposal of RO concentrate from an inland desalination system can be problematic, and its sustainable management is a major environmental challenge that restricts the widespread application of RO for groundwater desalination. RO concentrate could serve as a potential source of irrigation for the production of salt-tolerant crops, along with brackish water available from natural saline aquifers [9,10], which will consequently encourage desalination through RO in freshwater scarce-areas.…”

Cultivo de plantas forrageiras de apelo regional para o Semiárido brasileiro sob a perspectiva de técnicas agrometeorológicas para melhoria da resiliência: uma revisão

“…A agricultura é responsável pelo consumo de 80 a 90% de toda a água doce disponível, mas devido as mudanças climáticas e o aumento populacional, vem sendo reduzido a sua utilização para a produção agrícola. Em regiões que apresentam climas áridos e semiáridos, como no Nordeste brasileiro, a baixa precipitação pluviométrica e a má distribuição ao longo do ano proporcionam aos agricultores utilizar-se da agricultura de sequeiro, porém essa atividade passa a ser de alto risco, por ocasionar estresse hídrico, deficiência de nutrientes, limitando o potencial agrícola dos vegetais (Baig, Shahid & Straquadine, 2013;Kankarla et al, 2019;Mbava et al, 2020).…”

“…Alguns problemas relacionados ao excesso de sais são devido ao processo de salinização primária, decorrente do processo de intemperismo, mas pode-se agravar pela ação antrópica, com o uso excessivo de água e fertilizantes, causando impactos no solo, como floculação e dispersão da argila, ocasionando toxidade e desiquilíbrio nutricional nas plantas. Porém a sua utilização se faz necessário, pois são as únicas fontes de águas disponíveis para a realização de irrigação (Bassol et al, 2010;Kankarla et al, 2019).…”

“…é um fator limitante para a produção agrícola (Queiroz et al, 2016;Kankarla et al, 2019). Em conjunta com essa prática, a adoção de cobertura permite vantagens ao produtor, por reduzir a temperatura da superfície do solo e perdas de água por evaporação, aumento da infiltração de água, redução de erosão, além de inibir o crescimento de plantas invasoras (Gao et al, 2019;Ibrahim et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020a).…”