article · Sustainability
Using low-quality, saline water for agricultural irrigation offers a potential approach to coping with water shortages, though it introduces risks to crop safety and soil health. This greenhouse study examined the use of foliar-applied bio-nanofertilisers containing selenium and copper, applied individually or combined, on tomato plants irrigated with three water salinity levels. Saline irrigation increased soil accumulation of salts, organic matter, and calcium carbonate, whilst reducing plant enzymatic antioxidants and soil biological activity. Soil microbial counts and enzymes were higher 30 days after transplanting than at harvest after 80 days, declining as water salinity rose. Despite the stress induced by saline water, applying copper nanofertilisers alongside the highest salinity water produced the greatest tomato yield and highest soluble solids content. The findings indicate that testing further application doses remains necessary.
Water scarcity forces many agricultural producers to rely on poorer-quality saline water, which commonly damages soil health and suppresses crop productivity. Demonstrating that copper nanofertilisers can support tomato yields under saline irrigation provides valuable insight into managing crop performance and improving resource efficiency in water-stressed growing environments.
This research suggests a potential agronomic application for nanofertiliser manufacturers and greenhouse tomato growers needing to manage crops under saline irrigation. Because the work is early-stage greenhouse research, and the findings note that further testing on fertiliser dosages is still required, commercial field adoption remains at a preparatory stage.
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Under the global water crisis, utilizing low-quality water sources in agriculture for irrigation has offered an effective solution to address the shortage of water. Using an excess of low-quality water sources may cause serious risks to the environment, which threaten crop safety and human health. Three kinds of irrigation water (0.413, 1.44, and 2.84 dS m−1) were selected under foliar-applied bio-nanofertilizers of selenium (100 mg L−1) and copper (100 mg L−1) in individual and/or combined application. The nanofertilizers were tested on the production of tomato under greenhouse. After harvesting, the quality of tomato yield and soil biology was evaluated. Using saline water for irrigation caused many main features in this study such as increasing the accumulation of salts, soil organic matter, and CaCO3 in soil by 84.6, 32.3, and 18.4%, respectively, compared to control. The highest tomato yield (2.07 kg plant−1) and soluble solids content (9.24%) were recorded after irrigation with low water quality (2.84 dS m−1) and nano-Cu fertilization. The plant enzymatic antioxidants and soil biological activity were decreased in general due to the salinity stress of irrigation water. After 30 days from transplanting, all studied soil biological parameters (soil microbial counts and enzymes) were higher than the same parameters at harvesting (80 days) under different categories of water quality. The values of all soil biological parameters were decreased by increasing water salinity. This study was carried out to answer the question of whether the combined nanofertilizers of selenium and copper can promote tomato production under saline water irrigation. Further investigations are still needed concerning different applied doses of these nanofertilizers.
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DOI: 10.3390/su14063236
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