Abstract
ABSTRACT The use of saline water and wastewater in agriculture has been increasingly considered, and this is due to the increase in awareness about the conservation of natural resources and population growth, implying a greater demand for food. Drip irrigation already has many benefits and, with the splitting of the depths to be applied, results in pulse drip irrigation, which further favors the plant by providing more constant moisture in the soil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the application of wastewater and saline water by pulse drip irrigation on eggplant yield and water use efficiency. The experimental design was randomized blocks in 2 x 5 factorial scheme, corresponding to continuous and pulse drip irrigation and five types of water (municipal, saline (sodium chloride), saline (calcium chloride), wastewater, and a mix of saline (sodium chloride) and wastewater), with five repetitions. Water use efficiency was quantified according to the water applied and the production. Pulse drip irrigation promoted higher marketable fruit yield. The best performance of eggplant was verified when wastewater was applied via pulse drip irrigation. Wastewater via pulse drip irrigation can be used to grow eggplant for higher marketable yield and water use efficiency.
Highlights
The reuse of water should be considered as the efficient use of water, which includes the control of losses and waste and the minimization of effluent production (Cunha et al, 2011)
The present study aimed to evaluate the production variables and water use efficiency of eggplant, using saline water (NaCl and CaCl2) and wastewater, comparing pulse irrigation with continuous irrigation
For the number of total fruits (NTF) variable, the unfolding of the interaction (Table1) shows that there was no significant difference between the continuous drip (CD) and pulse drip (PD) with the waters W1, W2 and W4
Summary
The reuse of water should be considered as the efficient use of water, which includes the control of losses and waste and the minimization of effluent production (Cunha et al, 2011). Water is one of the resources with major limitation in the semiarid region and, to mitigate this problem, the use of saline water and wastewater in the irrigation of agricultural crops is considered (Medeiros et al, 2017; 2018). Medeiros et al (2015) state that irrigation with wastewater emerges as a source of water and nutritional resources for eggplant crop. According to Medeiros et al (2017), under semiarid conditions, it is possible to produce eggplant using wastewater, minimizing the application of mineral fertilizers. Santos et al (2018), studying salt stress in eggplant, observed that the variables yield, length, fresh mass and number of fruits per plant decreased with the increase in irrigation water salinity According to Medeiros et al (2017), under semiarid conditions, it is possible to produce eggplant using wastewater, minimizing the application of mineral fertilizers. Santos et al (2018), studying salt stress in eggplant, observed that the variables yield, length, fresh mass and number of fruits per plant decreased with the increase in irrigation water salinity
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