Perceptions and Acceptance of Desalinated Seawater for Irrigation: A Case Study in the Níjar District (Southeast Spain)

Aznar-Sánchez, José A.; Ureña, Luis Jesús Belmonte; Valera, D.L.

doi:10.3390/w9060408

Cited by 37 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…On the other hand, from a social perspective, it should be considered that it is not enough to develop highly efficient technology but the benefits of this technology must be appropriately transmitted to the final user. Therefore, it is necessary to examine further the factors that influence the adoption of technology by farmers, who are often reluctant to incorporate it [82]. The existing technological innovations are able to provide solutions to the environmental impacts derived from agricultural activity; however, soil and water pollution continues to be a problem in all regions of the world [36].…”

Section: Principal Topics In Gt Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture

Aznar-Sánchez

Velasco-Muñoz

López-Felices

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Greenhouse farming is an agricultural management system that has demonstrated its efficiency in intensifying food production. These systems constitute a feasible alternative for ensuring food supply, which is one of the greatest challenges faced by humankind in the twenty-first century. Technology has been able to meet the challenges related to greenhouse farming in both contributing to overcoming its limitations, correcting adverse impacts and ensuring system sustainability. The objective of this article is to analyse the global research trends in greenhouse technology over the last two decades, in order to identify the main driving agents, the most outstanding research lines and possible gaps in the literature. Different methodologies have been used for the analysis; both quantitative and qualitative. The principal results show that there are different relevant lines of research related to different aspects of greenhouse farming: the use of water for irrigation, the design of the optimum structure of the greenhouse, conserving the soil in the best growing conditions, energy consumption of the system as a whole, climate control within the facility and pest control. The research is characterized by the being composed largely of ad hoc studies, which hinders the international collaboration between researchers and institutions. The research approach has shifted from being focused on increasing production and cost savings to aspects related to resource conservation and sustainability.

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Section: Principal Topics In Gt Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture

Aznar-Sánchez

Velasco-Muñoz

López-Felices

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although high costs, lack of essential ions for crop growth, and brine disposal are often cited as limiting factors, the farmers' perspective regarding their relative importance and how to overcome such limitations is currently absent from the literature [22]. The perception of the irrigators, due to their ergonomic characteristics and their quality/price profitability, is of vital importance and can be an obstacle to further developing desalinated seawater projects [23,24]. Furthermore, perception is directly influenced by environmental impacts of desalination, because desalination has great potential to change the physical, chemical, and ecological characteristics of the marine environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Close the Gap of Desalinated Seawater for Agricultural Irrigation? Confronting Attitudes between Managers and Farmers in Alicante and Murcia (Spain)

Ricart

Villar-Navascués

Gil-Guirado

et al. 2020

Water

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Although desalination water cost and quality standards have been widely studied, less attention has been paid to understanding how desalination plant managers and irrigation communities interact to address water scarcity. This paper aims to approach these questions from experience in Alicante and Murcia (Spain). Two specific questionnaires have been applied to (1) three desalination plants managed by the Spanish public company ACUAMED, and (2) 11 irrigation communities who use desalinated seawater. Discursive analysis has been applied in order to deepen understanding on the driving factors, benefits, and barriers of desalination use and management. Results highlighted how (1) irrigation communities consider desalination as a complementary water source to be combined with conventional water resources, (2) both ACUAMED and irrigation communities highlighted two main advantages of desalination: the security/guarantee of supply and water quality parameters, and (3) managers and irrigators disagree on the desalination model of seawater provision and management, since irrigators consider that the Central Union of the Tajo-Segura transfer irrigators (SCRATS) should have a leading role. In addition, the main driving factors and barriers useful for policy makers when closing the gap of desalination have been identified: water price and energy consumption; lack of water storage capacity and regulation; environmental impacts.

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“…Particularly, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [2] has proposed desalination of seawater (DSW) as a potential option, especially in arid and semi-arid regions [10]. Among the advantages of DSW are (i) unlimited agricultural water supply, and also affords drought risk-buffering value; (ii) increment of crop yields due to the low salinity of DSW; reduction of the salinity of the soil by displacing the salts out of the root zone, and (iii) the DSW alternative offers new water policies and water management options [11][12][13][14]. Nevertheless, the drawbacks of the DSW that still need to be solved/minimized are (i) the high energy consumption, and consequently high cost; (ii) possible toxicity risks due to minerals like boron (although it may not represent a risk for boron-tolerant crops like tomato [15]); (iii) together with other environmental aspects such as the gas emissions during DSW production, management of the produced high-salinity brines, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Irrigation with Desalinated Seawater and Hydroponic System on Tomato Quality

Antolinos

Sánchez-Martínez

Valero

et al. 2020

Water

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The use of desalinated seawater (DSW) as an alternative to conventional water resources is gradually gaining more interest due to the strong water deficit and increasing pressure on water resources in semi-arid regions. Furthermore, the combination of this alternative irrigation with the hydroponic cultivation system would allow continuous production almost through the whole year and hydroponic-related high crop yield. Nevertheless, the effects of DSW irrigation in hydroponic systems on the product quality need to be firstly studied to avoid product quality losses. In this study, we evaluated the effects on the quality of two tomato cvs. (Ramyle and Racymo) of three different irrigation treatments (T1, DSW; T2, DSW/well water mix; and T3, well water) under hydroponic or traditional cultivation systems. The soluble solid content of samples (highly correlated to dry matter content) grown under hydroponic conditions and T3 irrigation showed the highest values (5.8 °Brix) although such differences (<0.6 °Brix) with T1 might not be sensorially appreciated. Similarly, although T3 samples showed higher acidity than T1 samples, such differences (0.06%) would be not appreciated by the consumer. Tomatoes grown in hydroponic conditions had 1.1–1.2-fold higher firmness than conventional soil conditions showing hydroponic T3 samples had the highest value (21–23 N). Tomato cv. Racymo displayed higher color index (chroma) than cv. Ramyle, registering hydroponic T1 samples the most intense red color correlated with the highest lycopene content of 41.1 mg/kg. T1 irrigation of tomatoes cv. Ramyle did not induce significant changes while differences lower than 10% were observed in the tomato cv. Racymo. The highest total antioxidant capacity, which was highly correlated to the total phenolic content (R2 = 0.80), was found for hydroponic T1 samples with 1637/1243 µmol/kg for the tomato cvs. Ramyle/Racymo. Conclusively, the use of DSW would not compromise the consumer acceptance of tomatoes due to the low (not appreciable) quality differences, with even the total antioxidant capacity of these samples being increased. Furthermore, the mix of DSW with conventional water resources (lower cost) would not compromise the tomato quality.

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Perceptions and Acceptance of Desalinated Seawater for Irrigation: A Case Study in the Níjar District (Southeast Spain)

Cited by 37 publications

References 38 publications

An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture

An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture

How to Close the Gap of Desalinated Seawater for Agricultural Irrigation? Confronting Attitudes between Managers and Farmers in Alicante and Murcia (Spain)

Effects of Irrigation with Desalinated Seawater and Hydroponic System on Tomato Quality

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