Abstract
Ozone has a high oxidizing power avoiding the presence of residues, so it is a good candidate for use in organic farming. However, its application in fertigation has been little studied. Two experiments were conducted simultaneously to check the aims of this work. The aim of the first experiment was to study pepper response under the nutrient solution supply and the application of O3 and its interactions, and the aim of the second experiment was to determine the optimal dosage of O3 to be supplied, from the point of view of plant development and nutritional and physiological status in both experiments. We conclude that O3 supply via fertigation increased pepper biomass production. According to the results obtained, we recommend that the optimal dosage of O3 in pepper plants be from 0.18 to 0.36 mg L−1 due to its higher associated biomass production. Under these dosages, pepper plants showed a higher leaf area and higher photosynthetic pigment concentration. Similarly, under these dosages, N, P, and K plant uptake were higher, allowing a higher synthesis of bioassimilates.
Highlights
The current demand for quality horticultural products considering the international standards of safety, good agricultural practices (GAP), and sustainable development has led to the development of practices such as organic fertilization, the rational use of water and nutrients, and the biological control of pests and diseases, among others
The data obtained in our experiment show an increase in biomass especially accumulated in the stem fraction of pepper plants through the application of O3 in the nutritive solution treatments, in agreement with the results reported by Graham et al [18] in tomato
As far as physiological parameters were concerned, in our experiment, the application of O3 resulted in an increase in Chl b and Chl a+b under O0.18, in line with the results proposed by Sloan and Engelke [35], who reported a significant increase in chlorophyll concentration in Agrostis stolonifera under the application of O3
Summary
The current demand for quality horticultural products considering the international standards of safety, good agricultural practices (GAP), and sustainable development has led to the development of practices such as organic fertilization, the rational use of water and nutrients, and the biological control of pests and diseases, among others. Disinfection strategies for soils, substrates, and irrigation water include the use of different chemical compounds such as methyl bromide, chloropicrin, dazomet, and metam sodium, which are currently banned in the European Union [7]. The agricultural implementation of sustainable alternatives for cleaning urban wastewater through oxidative degradation of organic matter are based on the application of other chemical compounds with lower toxicity, such as hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) [8], chlorine (Cl2 ), peroxyacetic acid (C2 H4 O3 ) [9,10], and ozone (O3 ) [11], the most recently implemented.
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