Abstract
Water shortage has encouraged the quest for alternative sources of water for food production and agricultural development. Recycled water (RW) is one of the most available water resources with great potential for use in farm irrigation. This experiment was carried out to investigate the use of RW as the irrigation source and its application method, subsurface leaky irrigation (SLI) system or surface irrigation, in an orchard with young olive trees in central Iran. The results revealed that the SLI system was able to enhance tree growth, leaf area, maximum fluorescence (Fv/Fm) and photosynthesis rate by 68%, 26%, 4%, and 42%, respectively. In addition, trees irrigated with the SLI system using RW exhibited increased N and Mg uptakes by 138% and 8%, respectively. Plants irrigated with RW showed a growth improvement (42%), leaf area (26%), and photosynthesis rate (23.4%) compared with those irrigated with clean water. Furthermore, Mg, Na, K, P, and N content increased by 12%, 59%, 30%, 7%, and 92%, respectively, in leaf tissue when RW was applied. The results indicated that RW could be employed as a reliable irrigation source especially when it was delivered with the SLI system.
Highlights
Water shortage inarid regions and its declining availability to a critical level on a global scale dictates the reliance of sustainable and increasing agricultural production on alternative water resources for irrigation (Nirit et al )
There was no significant difference between the tree height and the leaf area between the Recycled water (RW) and the clean water (CW) in the first year, but they increased by 42% and 29%, respectively, with RW application in the second year
The results indicated that, compared with the surface irrigation (SI) system, the subsurface leaky irrigation (SLI) system increased photosynthesis rate (Pn), leaf area, height, and number of shoots by 42%, 26%, 68% and 19%, respectively
Summary
Water shortage in (semi-)arid regions and its declining availability to a critical level on a global scale dictates the reliance of sustainable and increasing agricultural production on alternative water resources for irrigation (Nirit et al ). Increasing water reuse as a result of the growing urbanization in Iran, which is located in a dry region, can be considered as the optimal use of RW to. Because water shortage is a limiting factor for increased agricultural production and greenspace development, water reuse may be a useful remedy
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