Abstract
Urban agriculture requires sustainable solutions to secure its water resources. A wicking bed (WB) is a simple system that could provide high yield and water use efficiency. This single trial glasshouse study compares the performance of a WB and surface irrigation (SI) system for growing tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) using fresh (FW) and recycled water (RW). The performance of both treatments was compared when irrigating 2 days per week and for two environmental conditions (indoor and outdoor). In addition, the reliability of using FW and RW at a 7-day irrigation interval was studied for WBs alone. Results showed that the irrigation water use efficiency (kg/m3) and the yield (kg/plant) are significantly different only between WB (FW) and SI (RW) considering all conditions. The accumulation of salts and the sodium absorption ratio (SAR) were high in the surface layer of WBs compared to SI. This indicates that the use of RW affects the level of salinity and sodicity in soil, which in turn may decrease the yield. However, WBs perform similar to, if not better than, SI with FW. The WBs show the advantage of reducing the leachate of nutrients into groundwater, compared to SI systems. Further research into irrigation and nutrient management in WBs to reduce the effect of salinity at the surface is recommended to increase the efficiency of the system.
Highlights
The results were compared between the two main treatment types (SI and wicking bed (WB)), between identical indoor and outdoor pots, between different soil volumes, and between different water quality treatments
The results were compared with corresponding surface irrigated (SI) treatments
Less frequent irrigation was required in WBs, it mainly depended on the area of the WB and the environmental conditions
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Countries must implement efficient irrigation systems to promote environmental sustainability and food security. Rooftop, and home gardens are widely accepted and are becoming increasingly popular, even in many developed cities, as they provide environmental, economic, and social benefits such as self-satisfaction, financial support, and healthy and safe foods. Even though urban agriculture has great potential benefits [1], it faces numerous challenges. These include availability of water, salinity in the soil, and soil contamination
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