Cherry tomato growth and yield in soilless system using wastewater from desalination process

Abstract

Sustainable agricultural production is the most challenge facing many arid and semiarid regions due to the severe shortage of water for irrigation, thus the use of saline water for irrigation is common. The aim of this research was to examine the response of cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L., cv. Samambaia) under four levels of salinity of the nutritional solution with added water reject from desalting under soilless conditions. Plants were grown in pots filled with coconut fiber and irrigated with nutrient solutions prepared with tap water and with saline waters prepared by dilution of reject water from brine desalination at 75; 50; 25 and 0% (CE of 2.1; 3.55; 4.88; 6.02 and 6.96 dS m-1, respectively). A completely randomized design was used with four replications and 5 treatments (salinity levels of the nutrient solutions). The hídrico consumption of the culture was influenced by the addition of rejects saline in the nutritional solution and the salinity threshold, considering itself it productivity of the culture, was around 3,51 dS m-1 in the nutrient solution. Addition of up to 25% of reject (75% dilution) to nutrient solution allow cropping cherry tomato, cv. ‘Samambaia’, without any yield reduction.