Abstract
In recent years Jatropha curcas L. has emerged as a biofuel crop with potential for its production in marginal land with application of treated sewage water. Since this is a new crop for its profitable cultivation, additional research is needed to develop optimal management programs, including macro and micronutrients applications. A pot experiment was conducted in a Greenhouse at the National Research Center, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt, during 2010 summer to evaluate effects of varying concentrations of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) in irrigation water (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 ppm) on the growth, biomass production, photosynthetic pigments, and mineral nutrients status in the plants. Increasing concentrations of Fe, Mn, and Zn in irrigation water up to 150 ppm increased the biomass weight, photosynthetic pigments, and nutrient uptake by Jatropha plants. Further increase in concentrations of micronutrients showed negative effects on the above response parameters. Therefore, this study demonstrates that Jatropha can be grown under irrigation using waste water containing reasonable concentrations of micronutrients and heavy metals. This property of Jatropha provides some support for potential use of this crop for phytoremediation of metal contaminated soils. However, long term field research is needed to further verify both the above beneficial effects.
Highlights
Egypt is facing fresh water shortage due to rapidly increasing demands of population growth, which is about 2 million per year
The use of treated waste water is restricted for irrigation of food crops, this can be a good source for irrigation of non-food crops
The results indicate that application of micronutrients was very effective in promoting the growth of Jatropha plants
Summary
Egypt is facing fresh water shortage due to rapidly increasing demands of population growth, which is about 2 million per year. The expansion of agricultural production in the desert area to meet the growing demand for food production has further accelerated the increasing pressure on the available fresh water resources. There is an interest in using poor quality water for irrigation. One such source of poor quality irrigation water is treated sewage water, which contains large amount of organic materials and some inorganic elements essential for plant growth. It may contain non-essential heavy metals which when present in large amount could be harmful if consumed in excess quantities through food chain [1]. The use of treated waste water is restricted for irrigation of food crops, this can be a good source for irrigation of non-food crops
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