Abstract
Background:A pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of alternate irrigation with saline (S) and fresh (F) water on growth, nitrogen uptake and nitrogen use efficiency in Sorghum crop (Sorghum bicolorL.) manured withElaeagnus angustifolialeaves (GM) using15N.Method:Five types of irrigation systems abbreviated as (F, 2F:1S, 1F:1S, 1F:2S and S) and one rate of Green Manure (GM) were employed.Result:Results showed reductions in both Dry Matter yield (DM) and nitrogen uptake (NY) in sorghum grown under different types of irrigation systems as compared with the control (F). The reduction rates of these two parameters increased with increasing number of irrigations with saline water. However,E. angustifolialeaves applied as green manure mitigated the harmful effect of salinity on plant growth parameters. The percent increments as a result of GM application were 9, 19, 43, 43 and 65% for DM, and 33, 30, 42, 36 and 60% for NY in F, 2F:1S, 1F:1S, 1F:2S and S, respectively. Nitrogen use efficiency of added green manure ranged between 25 and 47% in the different types of irrigation systems. Our results indicated that increment of NY in green manured sorghum plants was mainly attributed to its nitrogen availability. According to the availability of S and F water resources, and the economic returns aimed by farmers in the semi-arid regions, it is recommended to use (2F:1S, 1F:1S and 1F:2S) in combination withE. angustifolialeaf GM. Such a procedure can be considered as a promising agricultural practice to improve yield with a proper water resource investment.
Highlights
The increasing demand for water resources in the world, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions, has forced farmers to use low quality water such as agricultural drainage water and marginal quality ground water for irrigation
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of green manuring with Elaeagnus angustifolia leaves on a dry matter yield, nitrogen uptake, amount and percent of nitrogen derived from the different resources and nitrogen use efficiency of green manure in sorghum plants alternatively irrigated with saline and/or fresh water using 15N isotopic dilution technique
In spite of the increased salinity, soils under the different treatments were classified as non-saline soils according to [26], indicating the safe employment of the different irrigation systems used in this study
Summary
The increasing demand for water resources in the world, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions, has forced farmers to use low quality water such as agricultural drainage water and marginal quality ground water for irrigation. Irrigation with this low quality water during the whole growing season of the crops, even the tolerant ones, does not always produce acceptable yield. Mixing agricultural drainage water as well as low quality ground water with good quality water in ratios to keep the salinity of the irrigation water below the threshold of the target crop is an acceptable practice and is used by many scientists [1 - 3]. A pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of alternate irrigation with saline (S) and fresh (F) water on growth, nitrogen uptake and nitrogen use efficiency in Sorghum crop (Sorghum bicolor L.) manured with Elaeagnus angustifolia leaves (GM) using 15N
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