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Effect of using raw waste water from food industry on soil fertility, cucumber and tomato growth, yield and fruit quality
Scientia Horticulturae 193 (2015) 99–104
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Effect of using raw waste water from food industry on soil fertility, cucumber and tomato growth, yield and fruit quality Qaryouti M. a,∗ , Bani-Hani N. b , Abu-Sharar T.M. c , Shnikat I. d , Hiari M. e , Radiadeh M. f a
Plant physiologist, National Center for Agriculture Research and Extension (NCARE), Amman, Jordan, Soil and Irrigation Researcher NCARE, Amman, Jordan Professor of Soil and Water Chemistry, Department of Land, Water and Environment, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan d Horticulture Researcher (NCARE), Amman, Jordan e Horticulture Research Assistant (NCARE), Amman, Jordan f Horticulture Research Assistant, Amman, Jordan b c
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 11 July 2014 Received in revised form 1 July 2015 Accepted 2 July 2015 Keywords: Industrial wastewater reuse Food industry Soil Fertility K fertilizer Poor quality water
a b s t r a c t Raw waste water (RWW) from food industry is rich of organic matter and mineral nutrients, particularly, K and to lesser extents N then P. Such richness is attributed to the nature of some substrates involved in the food processing e.g. molace of sugar beet or sugar cane. These two crops are known to require high amount of K and, thus, to further enrichment of their derivatives with that nutrient. As cost of K fertilizers is relatively high, this experiment was conducted to study the effect of applying RWW on soil fertility, yield quantity and quality of greenhouse cucumber and tomato. Uniform 30-day old cucumber seedlings and 45-day old tomato seedlings were transplanted to two multi-span greenhouses (1000 m2 ) on December 12, 2012, at Dair Alla Research Station in Central Jordan Valley (JV). The transplanted seedlings were subjected to 5 RWW treatments of 75% of the traditional amount of K fertilizer farmers of the JV apply during the growing season, 100% of K of the traditional amount of K-fertilizer of which 25% were applied before transplanting and 75% were applied during the growing season, 125% of the traditional amount of K-fertilizer where 25% were added to the soil before transplanting and 100% were added during the growing season, traditional amounts of N, P and K chemical fertilizers, and traditional amounts of N and P chemical fertilizers only. The results showed that RWW can effectively substitute K-chemical fertilizer and can also improve some soil fertility parameters by the end of the growing season. For example, increases in available K and organic matter in the RWW treated cucumber beds were 25–71% and 2–11%, respectively. Similar increases were reported in the case of tomato beds (7–62% and 7–17%). Such increases corresponded to increases in K uptake by cucumber and tomato plants (30 and 37%, respectively). Calcium uptake was also increased to levels as high as 40 and 34% in both crop cases. Results of this study indicated that the application of Raw Waste Water from Food Industry improve cucumber and tomato performance and soil fertility. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Jordan is one of the most water scarce countries in the world (probably the poorest) with approximately 145 m3 of available water resources per capita per year. This number is below the widely recognized “water poverty line” of 1000 m3 per capita per year (Water Strategy of Jordan, 2008–2022Water Strategy of
∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +962 64726091. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Qaryouti), [email protected] (N. Bani-Hani), [email protected] (T.M. Abu-Sharar), [email protected] (I. Shnikat). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.07.002 0304-4238/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Jordan, 2008–2022). This critical situation is further aggravated by the new influx of more than 1.5 × 106 Syrian refugees in the repercussion of the Syrian civil war. These refugees added extra burden on the already exhausted water resources. In such a situation the country has to optimize management of its limited water resources (Abu-Sharar and Battikhi, 2002). Oster (1994) acknowledge the necessity of using poor quality waters in irrigation as the industrial and municipal needs grow in a pace higher than the growing World population. Because of the growing shortage in fresh water supply for irrigation, the Jordan’s Standard Specifications of Reclaimed Industrial Waste Water (JS 202/2007) allows, in certain cases, the reuse of waters of such properties in irrigation. However, the legislator required early field study aimed at the demonstration of
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sound environmental and public health safety in such cases (Article 4–5 of the former Standard). Raw waste water (RWW) of the food industry is particularly rich in K (∼4 g/l) (Table 3). This water also contains organic matter and variable levels of macro- and micronutrients (Table 3). In this regard, Abu-Sharar (2002) reported the safe application of the RWW of that quality in irrigation of alfalfa field. The author concluded that the RWW of that industry can alternatively be utilized in conjunction with fresh water to produce alfalfa. The author also indicated maximum water use efficiency by alfalfa when the alternative irrigation comprised one portion of RWW to be followed by three portions of fresh water. Similar studies on the use of reclaimed industrial wastewater (Prazeres et al., 2014) and domestic wastewater (Aiello et al., 2007; El-Hamouri et al., 1996) were carried out to investigate the impacts of these waters on tomato yield and quality and on soil and environment. Since the earlier studies didn’t take into account the optimization of K-use efficiency by irrigated crops, taking into consideration both water shortage and cost of K-chemical fertilizer in one irrigation practice would be of paramount importance. According to Agricultural Bulletin (Department of Statistics, 2011), the costs of KNO3 and K2 SO4 fertilizers were about 1.0 US$ per kg of either fertilizer or 2.5 and 2.3 US$ per kg of elemental K, respectively. These prices were much higher than that of unit N-fertilizer. For example, the price of one kg of urea-N at the same period was 1.1 US$ per kg ureaN. Subsequently, this work was initiated to study the possibility of substituting K-chemical fertilizer by RWW-K. The effect of RWW-K on fruit yield of cucumber and tomato growing in green house in the Central Jordan Valley (JV) was evaluated. Irrigated soil characteristics and other crop indicators like plant vegetative growth and selected plant mineral nutrient contents were also examined. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Crop cultivars Two crop cultivars of greenhouse vegetables were used in these experiments; cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) “RS 24189 F1” from Royal Sluis Com. (USA), and indeterminate tomato; (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) “Newton” from Syngenta Company, The Netherlands. The cultivars were selected as they are the ones of the most commonly growing under protected environment in the JV. 2.2. RWW treatments Uniform 30-day old cucumber seedlings and 45-day old tomato seedlings were transplanted into two multi-span greenhouses (1000 m2 area) on December 12, 2012, at Dair Alla Research Center in Central JV. The seedlings were transplanted in raised beds after addition of farm manure (40 tons per ha) in November, 2012. The multi-span greenhouses were equipped with drip irrigation network and polyethylene black mulch. The fertilizer treatments are summarized in Table 1. With the exception of the treatments, the crops enjoyed similar agricultural management including the traditional application of all other macro- and micro- nutrients as shown in Table 2. Each treatment comprised five 6 m long rows of raised beds, 30 plants each. The experimental design was randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates for each crop. The subsequent statistical analysis was carried out according to Cochran and Cox (1957). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine significant differences and mean separation at 0.05 level using Duncan multiple range test. Surface soil was sampled for appropriate analyses before the commencement and at the end of the field experiment. Five plastic tanks, each 2 m3 capacity, were placed in adjacent area to supply the treatments with their respective needs of the RWW and
Table 1 Summary of the fertilizer treatments. Treatment 1
75% of traditional K fertilizer from the RWW
Treatment 2
100% of traditional K fertilizer from the RWW divided into two portions: 25% before transplanting and 75 % added during plant growth 125% of traditional K fertilizer from the RWW divided into two portions: 25% added to the soil before transplanting and 100 % added during plants growth Traditional farmers’ method of chemical N, P and K fertilizers application Traditional farmers’ method of chemical N and P fertilizers application with zero K fertilizer
Treatment 3
Treatment 4 Treatment 5
Note: Traditional amounts of K-fertilizer application to cucumber and tomato fields are 45 and 65 kg K ha−1 , respectively (El Zuraiqi et al., 2004).
other appropriate chemical fertilizers of (NH4 )2 SO4 , Mg(NO3 )2 , Ca(NO3 )2 and KNO3 (El-Zuraiqi et al., 2004). Foliage application of P, as orthophospheric acid and mineral salts of micronutrients was practiced from separate solutions adjusted at pH 6.5–7.0 to maintain most of P as (H2 PO− 4 ). Crop water requirement was based on Class A pan readings 15 and 25 days following cucumber and tomato transplanting, respectively. The Pan was placed in the multi-span plastic house and the obtained readings were multiplied by the respective crop coefficient (Allen et al., 1998). Volumes of good quality irrigation water were 4750 m3 ha−1 for tomato and 3570 m3 ha−1 for cucumber. These volumes were applied during growing periods of January 15, 2013 through April 15, 2013 for cucumber and January 15, 2013 through May 30, 2013 for tomato, respectively. A 2 m3 of irrigation water were delivered to each crop treatment in the early period of 15 or 25 days. Chemical analyses of irrigation water were carried out on a monthly basis following standard methods of analysis (Ryan et al., 2001). Sodium, K, Mg and Ca concentrations were determined using Varian Spectra AA 200 Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Irrigation with treatmental RWW was initiated on the 15th of January, 2013. 2.3. Crop performance indicators 2.3.1. Plant height, plant fresh and dry weight and leaf area Plant height was measured for ten plants in each treatmental replicate selected randomly on 90th after seedling transplanting. Plant dry weights were measured on the 120th day after seedlings transplanting. Three plants from each treatment replicate were selected randomly for this purpose. The aerial and root parts of each plant were carefully removed, washed with distilled water, placed on filter paper and air dried to evaporate the wetting water at room temperature (22–25 ◦ C). Separate fresh plant parts of roots, stems and leaves were then employed in the determination of fresh mass and the measurement of leaf area. Afterword, these parts were dried at 60 ◦ C and constant mass was reported (AOAC, 1990). Dry weights were determined using laboratory ventilated oven (1445 SHEL LAB). Leaf area was determined using Portable Area Meter (LI-3000 A). The dry plant material was used for nutrient analysis. 2.3.2. Mineral composition Oven dry plant shoot and fruit samples, from both crops, were used for mineral analysis according to (AOAC, 1990). In brief, the samples were dried to 60 ◦ C using ventilated oven (1445 SHEL LAB) then the samples were ground using stainless steel blender. Samples from the ground materials were ashed at 450–500 ◦ C for 4 hrs using Thermo Scientific Muffle Furnaces (Thermolyne® ). A 10 ml of 0.1N HNO3 were added to 100 mg of the plant ash then the mixture was heated for 10 min. The resulting solution was then filtered into 50 ml volumetric flask. An additional 10 ml of the HNO3 solution was added to the residue of plant ash for further dissolution of that material and finally the volume of the filtrate was made to 50 ml
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Table 2 Quantities of chemical fertilizers applied to the respective treatments of tomato and cucumber crops. Treatment number
RWW (m3 /ha)
KNO3 (kg/ha)
Ca(NO3 )2 (l/ha)
Mg(NO3 )2
(NH4 )2 SO4
Conc. H3 PO4
Cucumber 1 2 3 4 5
90 120 150 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 1246 0.00
1462 1462 1462 1462 1462
1089 1089 1089 1089 1089
1246 1246 1246 0.00 1246
127 127 127 127 127
Tomato 1 2 3 4 5
120 150 180 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 1548 0.00
1945 1945 1945 1945 1945
1449 1449 1449 1449 1449
1548 1548 1548 0.00 1548
169 169 169 169 169
using deionized water. Concentration of soluble K was determined by flame photometery (PFP-7 flame photometer). Soluble Ca and Mg were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometery. Total P was determined in accordance with Olsen method (Jones, 2001). Total N was determined by Kjeldal method (Waling et al., 1989).
2.4. Fruit yield and quality 2.4.1. Fruit yield and number Tomato fruits were harvested at the red and mature stage. Cucumber fruits were harvested at immature stage. The harvested fruit for each crop were counted and weighed to calculate average fruit weight.
2.4.2. Fruit pH and total soluble solids Fruit juice filtrates were used to determine fruit pH and Total soluble solids (TSS) of using pH meter and Reichert-Jarg Digital (ABBE Mark II model 10481) refractometer.
2.4.3. Fruit shelf life Tomato and cucumber fruit shelf life was determined by storing 5 kg from each treatment in refrigerator at 11 ◦ C for 15 days. The losses in fruit weight were determined by weighing the fruit after 15 days.
2.5. Soil analysis Random composite and surface (0–25 cm) soil samples from each treatmental plot were collected before the commencement of the experiment. A second set of samples were similarly collected at the end of the experiment. For each group of samples, organic matter, ECe , pH, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and Cl were determined using standard methods of analysis (Ryan et al., 2001).
3. Results and discussion 3.1. Characteristics of irrigation water and RWW Table 3 summarizes major properties of the RWW. The results were provided by The Royal Scientific Society of Jordan. The Table shows high TDS (total dissolved solids) of about 27 g/l which could be attributed to the high concentration of soluble organic substances. This was confirmed by subjecting a subsample of RWW to oxidation by few drops of H2 O2 and measuring EC of the oxidized solution. Substantial drop in EC was observed due to disappearance of the organic solutes. The common Cl and HCO3 salts of Ca, Mg and Na contributed about 13 g/l to the TDS which is less than the reported TDS. A fraction of 4 g/l was due to the dissolved K which is the macro nutrient of our interest. This element is expected to be taken up by the growing crops and, thus, would contribute little to the end soil salinity. The high fraction of organic matter would help improve the physical–chemical properties of the irrigated soil (Abu-Sharar, 1993). This, in turn, would improve the soil function as a medium for plant growth. Moreover, the table reports a relative enrichment of that water by Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu. Concentrations of CN, As, Be, Li, Ni, Pb, Se, Cd, Cr, Hg, V and Co were at or less than 0.1 mg/l and thus, were not reported in the Table. Although the RWW was enriched by Na as evidenced by the high Na concentration and the relative predominance of that element as indicated by the SAR value of 10.4, low pH and high concentrations of soluble salts and organic solutes and irrigation with good quality water (Table 4) are expected to offset the deleterious effect of sodicity on soil structure (Abu-Sharar, 1988). In this respect, the results presented in Table 4 show a cyclic tendency of decreasing salinity, Cl and Na concentrations when moving from the end of fall season to the following winter and spring times to be followed by increases in the dry summer time. Recharge of the major source of fresh water (King Abdulla Canal) with fresh rain and base flow waters was reflected on the decreasing water salinity. All analyzed water samples showed a water chemistry dominated by the CaCO3 –H2 O system as evidenced by the pH value of or close to the theoretical pH value of the former system (8.5).
Table 3 Selected chemical properties of the raw waste water (RWW) from food industry. All values are in mg/l except for E. coli (MPN/100 ml) and nematode eggs (egg/l). Parameter TDS TSS Cl HCO3 Ca COD
Parameter 26930 1880 3078 5593 2232 150
Mg K Na pH NO3 BOD5
Parameter 351 4000 2000 6.27 522 60
Total N FOG Cu Fe Mn P
Parameter 1410 42 0.11 6.63 0.57 15
Zn Mo SAR E.coli Nematode eggs Phenol
0.64 <0.01 10.4 < 1.8 0 <0.002
TDS: Total Dissolved Solids; TSS:Total Suspended Solids; FOG: Fat, Oil and Grease; SAR: Sodium Adsorption Ratio; COD: Chemical Oxygen Demand; BOD5 : Biological Oxygen Demand in 5 days. Reference: Royal Scientific Society of Jordan and SADEF – pôle d’Aspach – Dernière mise à jour- France, 2013.
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Table 4 Selected chemical properties of irrigation water samples. Date
EC (dS m−1 )
pH
Cl (mg/l)
SO4 (mg/l)
Na (mg/l)
K (mg/l)
Ca (mg/l)
Mg (mg/l)
NO3 -N (mg/l)
SAR
2/10/2012 22/1/2013 5/2/2013 5/3/2013 2/4/2013 7/5/2013 4/6/2013 Average
2.42 1.05 1.50 1.35 1.41 1.62 1.76 1.60
8.72 8.70 8.70 8.67 8.66 8.69 8.58 8.66
11.53 7.17 6.85 6.37 6.08 6.61 6.9 7.36
6.43 1.42 2.57 2.38 3.18 4.43 4.47 3.55
11.79 6.96 7.75 6.54 6.77 8 00 8. 03 7.96
0 .57 0.39 0 .43 0. 35 0. 33 0 38 0 .39 0.39
5.29 3.55 4.04 5.19 4.22 3.59 4.15 4.29
6.32 3.49 2.54 1.19 2.56 4 .00 3.9 3.33
11.84 12.15 10.8 9.24 8.79 8.22 8 .08 10.17
4.89 3.71 4.27 3.66 3.68 4.11 4.00 4.05
3.2. Crop performance indicators
fruit yield and average fruit weight were observed from treatment 3 as contrasted by the lowest yield and fruit weight of treatment 5 (Table 6). Tomato fruit yield and average fruit weight was not significantly affected by RWW treatments (Table 6). However, the highest tomato yield was that of treatment 4. In this regard, AlLahham et al. (2003) reported an increase in tomato fruit size and weight when irrigated with reclaimed domestic wastewater. Subsequently, these authors suggested that the reclaimed wastewater can replace fresh water in irrigation of tomatoes eaten after cooking provided that the effluent quality is continuously monitored to avoid microbial contamination. In general, our results indicated that using RWW had the capacity to produce cucumber and tomato fruit yield not significantly different from these produced when the crops were provided by their K-nutritional requirement in the form of chemical fertilizers. Additional improvements in soil physical and biochemical edaphic properties were reported. This can be attributed to the extra application of RWW-micronutrients and to the ameliorative effect of that organic solutes-rich water.
Statistical analysis showed that cucumber plant height of treatment 4 increased significantly as compared with other treatments except for treatments 2 and 3 (Table 5), However, leaf area were not significantly affected by the RWW treatments. Tomato plant height was not affected by treatments, while plant leaf area improved significantly by treatment 3 followed by treatments 2 and 4. Cucumber stem and root dry weights were not significantly different with the RWW treatments but significant increase in leaf dry weight was observed with the application of chemical-fertilizers treatments as shown in Table 5. Tomato stem and leaf dry weights were not significantly affected by the RWW application. The lowest root dry weight was observed in treatment 1. Organic carbon might have had indirect effect on plant growth. For example, Thurman (1985) showed that dissolved organic carbon was an important factor in soil ecosystem as it was capable of adjusting soil pH, microbial activity, and nutrient bioavailability and mobility. Table 5 showed that cucumber plant vegetative growth was significantly affected by the treatments; these Tables also indicate that the application of RWW was sufficient to produce vegetative growth parameters matching those produced when complete chemical fertilizers were applied. However, treatments 2–4, in case of tomato, resulted in increase in tomato vegetative growth as evidenced by leaf area. This could be attributed to the relatively higher salt tolerance of tomato as compared to cucumber. Cucumber plants is considered salt-sensitive crop (Jones et al., 1989; Chartzoulakis, 1994). To the contrary, Maas and Hoffman (1977) classified both crops as moderately sensitive to salt stress but the percent reduction per unit increase in salinity beyond the threshold value of 2.5 dSm−1 was 13% for cucumber as compared to 9.9% for tomato. The results of Table 8 show relatively high soil salinity at the beginning and end of the experiment. The highest cucumber
3.3. Cucumber and tomato fruit shelf life Fruit shelf life is an indicator of post harvest fruit quality. Post harvest physiological weight loss is strongly affected by many pre harvest factors such as nutrient application including K (Lester et al., 2006). This indictor is determined by measuring reduction in fruit fresh weight following storage in refrigerator at 11 ◦ C for a specified period. Table 6 shows a superior result for treatment 3 that produced minimum cucumber and tomato weight losses after 15 d storage period. According to (Javaria et al., 2012), tomato fruit shelf life was significantly increased with increasing K fertilizer application up to 400 kg K2 O ha−1 after which the fruit shelf life started to decrease.
Table 5 Selected crop performance indicators for cucumber and tomato as affected by the five RWW treatments. Treatment no.
Plant height (cm)
Leaf area (cm2 )
Average dry weight (g plant−1 ) Root
Stem
Leaf
Plant
Cucumber 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
210.1 ± 21.0b2 225.2 ± 17.1 ab 222.2 ± 12.5 ab 233.1 ± 8.1 a 213.1 ± 8.6 b *
4677 ± 596 5147 ± 691 4728 ± 642 5804 ± 837 4433 ± 557 ns
0.58 ± 0.20 0.67 ± 0.03 0.68 ± 0.28 0.57 ± 0.06 0.63 ± 0.30 ns
7.45 ± 1.2 6.58 ± 1.0 7.87 ± 1.9 9.10 ± 1.2 7.10 ± 1.5 ns
19.7 ± 20.9 ± 21.8 ± 26.6 ± 19.2 ± *
Tomato 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
161.0 ± 24.8 172.7 ± 18.0 181.8 ± 17.2 174.4 ± 23.2 186.3 ± 13.1 ns
9583 ± 1287 b 11080 ± 3068 ab 13020 ± 3193 a 10770 ± 777 ab 9560 ± 450 b *
13.1 ± 3.3 c 28.7 ± 3.7ab 19.6 ± 2.2 bc 33.8 ± 9.2 a 27.5 ± 2.0 ab *
26.6 ± 2.0 29.5 ± 5.9 30.8 ± 1.9 28.8 ± 3.4 25.6 ± 2.3 ns
72.30 ± 8.8 80.30 ± 15.5 88.10 ± 3.2 71.27 ± 4.7 69.97 ± 9.4 ns
2.4 b 2.6 ab 3.2 ab 4.3 a 3.1 b
27.7 ± 28.2 ± 30.4 ± 36.2 ± 27.0 ± *
3.5 ab 3.0 ab 5.4 ab 5.2 a 4.8 b
112.0 ± 7.8 138.5 ± 18.4 138.5 ± 11.2 133.8 ± 11.9 123.0 ± 10.7 ns
Results represent mean ± SD for three separate samples. 2 Means within columns, for each crop, having different letters are significantly different, ** and * indicates significant difference at p < 0.01 and 0.05 according to DMRT, respectively. ns = non-significant. 1
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Table 6 Cucumber and tomato yield and quality as affected by the by the five RWW treatments. Treatment no.
Fruit yield (Ton ha−1 )
Average fruit weight (g)
Fruit pH
Total solable solids (Brix%)
Weight loss (%) following storage at 11 ◦ C for 15 days
Cucumber 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
105.7 ± 8.6 bc 111.9 ± 8.6 ab 115.0 ± 4.2 a 105.2 ± 8.6 bc 100.9 ± 8.9 c *
86.9 ± 3.5 ab 86.8 ± 1.5 ab 92.6 ± 2.3 a 82.8 ± 1.5 b 82.7 ± 2.0 b *
5.1 ± 0.1 b 5.3 ± 0.2 a 5.4 ± 0.1 a 5.5 ± 0.1 a 5.3 ± 0.2 a *
3.3 ± 0.2 a 3.0 ± 0.1 bc 2.8 ± 0.1 c 2.8 ± 0.1 c 3.2 ± 0.3 ab *
14.6 ± 2.6 14.0 ± 1.7 11.2 ± 1.6 12.9 ± 2.5 13.2 ± 1.8 ns
Tomato 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
104.4 ± 7.6 105.6 ± 8.1 108.2 ± 15.4 119.7 ± 5.5 96.6 ± 8.7 ns
69.8 ± 10.1 77.0 ± 5.6 73.0 ± 17.1 73.5 ± 11.8 62.7 ± 10.0 ns
5.1 ± 0.5 4.6 ± 0.2 4.4 ± 0.1 4.5 ± 0.1 4.6 ± 0.4 ns
6.2 ± 0.5 5.7 ± 0.4 5.3 ± 0.6 5.6 ± 0.9 5.5 ± 0.9 ns
4.7 ± 0.9 a 3.9 ± 0.4 ab 3.6 ± 0.3 b 4.3 ± 0.7 a 3.7 ± 0.3 ab *
Results represent mean ± SD for three separate samples. Means within columns, for each crop, having different letters are significantly different, ** and * indicates significant difference at p < 0.01 and 0.05 according to DMRT, respectively. ns = non-significant. 1
2
3.4. Nutrient uptake Potassium is essential for plant water balance, plant growth and synthesis processes (Amtmann and Rubio, 2012). Total nutrient uptake of N, P, K, Ca and Mg is summarized in Table 8. Positive effect of RWW on the two crops nutrients uptake can be observed, especially for K. Prazeres et al. (2013) indicated that when pretreated cheese whey wastewater was used to irrigate two tomato cultivars at increasing salinity levels, no significant effects were observed on different plant attributes like dry matter of the leaves, stems and roots. Moreover, the results showed that the pretreated wastewater can be a source of nutrients for cucumber and tomato plants, with reduced effects on growth and development (Table 7).
3.5. Effect of RWW on selected soil properties Results of selected soil properties are reported in Table 8 which shows no significant changes in both soil CaCO3 and OM. This is quite understood as these two constituents can’t be changed in a relatively short period of one growing season. To the contrary, substantial reduction in final soil salinity and pH levels irrespective of the growing crop or treatment. In this regard, drip irrigatedsoils cultivated under plastic house condition usually accumulate
salts at the outer periphery of the wetting front. Soil samples collected before the onset of the experiment were composite surface samples. This means a mixture of surface soil or a mixture of saline and non-saline samples was obtained for the analysis. At the end of the experiment, the composite samples were collected along the irrigation line i.e. from the salt-washed zone. In regard to the reported reduction in soil pH, this was due to the anaerobic oxidation of the RWW-applied organic matter. Production of CO2 is known to dissolve in soil solution producing H2 CO3 and, thus, causing reduction in pH. The practice of applying black polyethylene mulch to the soil surface should have prevented gas exchange between soil and ambient air. By the end of the experiment, soil-N decreased to variable levels. This could be attributed to the labile nature of N and to the excessive crop demand for that nutrient under intensive cultivation. No noticeable change in NaHCO3 -extractable-soil P was observed irrespective of the excessive uptake of that macronutrient by the crops. This observation could have been attributed to the increasing P-solubility from the solid phase due to lowering soil pH. To the contrary, CH3 COONH4 extractable K increased by the conclusion of the experiment with the exception of soil samples collected from treatment 5 plots of both crops. The highest increase in soil K was observed in treatment 3 (125% of the traditionally applied K-fertilizer). This means that the amount of RWW-applied K of that treatment
Table 7 Total nutrient uptake by cucumber and tomato crops as affected by the five RWW treatments. Treatment
Nutrient uptake (kg ha−1 ) N
P
K
Mg
Ca
Cucumber 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
163.5 ± 6.81 b2 208.4 ± 18.0 a 194.2 ± 5.5 ab 194.4 ± 20.0 ab 170.8 ± 18.5 ab *
20.0 ± 0.8 22.0 ± 1.9 24.5 ± 0.8 20.6 ± 3.9 20.5 ± 2.3 ns
130.6 ± 5.2 158.8 ± 13.9 157.7 ± 4.8 142.5 ± 27.7 120.7 ± 13.0 ns
26.6 ± 2.0 bc 25.3 ± 1.9 bc 28.6 ± 1.5 ab 31.0 ± 2.4 a 23.8 ± 2.5 c *
73.3 ± 5.9 b 85.3 ± 6.0 a 95.1 ± 4.4 a 86.4 ± 4.5 a 67.9 ± 7.3 b **
Tomato 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
244.9 ± 24.2 a 245.8 ± 22.1 a 201.8 ± 23.9 b 201.1 ± 15.6 b 188.4 ± 5.1 b **
22.8 ± 2.3 22.5 ± 1.9 22.4 ± 3.1 22.1 ± 1.6 20.4 ± 0.2 ns
203.3 ± 22.2 ab 231.1 ± 19.8 a 232.0 ± 35.0 a 239.3 ± 21.4 a 168.8 ± 21.2 b **
43.9 ± 2.5 b 52.3 ± 7.2 a 53.1 ± 2.0 a 52.6 ± 3.6 a 44.2 ± 3.7 b *
130.2 ± 9.4 bc 155.1 ± 23.7 a 167.4 ± 12.2 a 150.5 ± 14.6 ab 124.8 ± 11.0 c *
Results represent mean ± SD for three separate samples. Means within columns, for each crop, having different letters are significantly different, ** and * indicates significant difference at p < 0.01 and 0.05 according to DMRT, respectively. ns = non-significant. 1 2
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Table 8 Selected chemical and nutrient properties of composite surface soil samples collected from the experimental plots before and at the end of the five RWW treatments. ECe (dSm−1 )
pH
Before
After
Before
After
Before
Cucumber plots 7.57 1 2 3 4 5
3.5 4.0 4.0 3.5 3.4
7.64
6.8 6.6 6.6 6.8 6.8
Tomato plots 7.20 1 2 3 4 5
4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 3.5
8.16
6.8 6.8 7.6 7.6 6.8
Treatment
P (g g−1 soil)
K (g g−1 soil)
Na (meL−1 )
CaCO3 (%)
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
0.41
0.224 0.182 0.182 0.224 0.224
36.77
42.8 37.5 37.5 38.5 38.5
362
470 550 650 450 250
4.6
3.95 4.14 4.14 3.95 3.95
15.83
18.0 21.7 21.7 18.0 18.0
2.86
2.92 2.78 3.17 2.54 2.44
0.39
0.224 0.224 0.196 0.196 0.224
48.97
41.00 41.00 42.25 42.25 42.75
356
388 488 580 580 270
5.4
4.14 4.14 4.14 4.14 3.95
15.83
16.8 16.8 19.3 19.3 18.0
3.46
3.66 3.70 4.05 3.11 3.20
N (%)
exceeded crop requirement and was not leached down deep in the soil profile due to the conservative water application by drip irrigation. 4. Conclusions This field experiment showed that RWW of the food processing industry can effectively replace K-chemical fertilizer in providing cucumber and tomato crops growing in the Central JV with their nutrient requirement. Furthermore, available soil P was maintained relatively constant by the end of the experiment, most likely due to increasing solubility of that element in response to the reduction in soil acidity as a result of anaerobic oxidation of RWW-applied organic matter (polyethylene mulch soil cover). The reduction in soil pH was postulated to improve availability status of several other nutrients, particularly micronutrients. In addition, some crop parameters, especially cucumber plant height and fruit yield and average fruit weight, and tomato leaf area and plant dry weight were even significantly increased with the replacement of K-chemical fertilizer by the RWW-K. References Abu-Sharar, T.M., 1988. Stability of soil aggregates as inferred from optical transmission of soil suspension. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 52, 951–954. Abu-Sharar, T.M., 1993. Effects of sewage sludge treatments on aggregate slaking, clay dispersion and hydraulic conductivity of a semiarid soil sample. Geoderma 59, 327–343. Abu-Sharar, T.M., 2002. Industrial wastewater: hazardous effluent or water resource. (A case study from the Jordan yeast company). In: Proceedings of the Conference on Environmental Problems of the Mediterranean Region, North Cyprus. April, 2002. Abu-Sharar, T.M., Battikhi, A.M., 2002. Water resources management under competitive sectoral demand: a case study from Jordan. Water Int. 27, 364–378. Aiello, R., Cirelli, G.L., Consoli, S., 2007. Effects of reclaimed wastewater irrigation on soil and tomato fruits: a case study in Sicily (Italy). Agric. Water Manag. 2, 65–72. Al-Lahham, O., El Assi, N.M., Fayyad, M., 2003. Impact of treated wastewater irrigation on quality attributes and contamination of tomato fruit. Agric. Water Manag. 61 (1), 51–62. Allen, R.G., Pereira, L.S., Raes, D., Smith, M., 1998. Crop Evapotranspiration. Guidelines for Computing Crop Water Requirements (Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56). Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome.
Organic matter (%)
Amtmann, A., Rubio, F., 2012. Potassium in Plants. eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester http://www.els.net AOAC, 1990. Official Methods of Analysis, 15th ed. The Association of Official Analytical Chemists Inc., USA. Chartzoulakis, K.S., 1994. Photosynthesis, water relations and leaf growth of cucumber exposed to salt stress. Sci. Hort. 59 (1), 27–35. Cochran, W.G., Cox, G.M., 1957. Experimental Designs. Wiley Publication. Department of Statistics (DoS), 2011. The Agricultural Bulletin, Annual Report. Amman, Jordan. El-Hamouri, A., Handouf, M., Mekrane, M., Touzani, A., Khana, K., Khallayoune, Benchokrount, T., 1996. Use of wastewater for crop production under arid and saline conditions: Yield and hygienic quality of the crop and soil contaminations. Water Sci. Technol. 33 (10–11), 327–334. El-Zuraiqi, S., Rusan, M.J., Al Qawasmi, W., 2004. Fertigation in Jordan. IPI Regional Workshop on Potassium and Fertigation Development in West Asia and North Africa. Rabat, Morocco. Javaria, S., Qasim Khan, M., Rahman, H.U.R., Bakhsh, I., 2012. Response of tomato yield and post harvest life to potash levels. Sarhad J. Agric. Vol.28 (2), 227–236. Jones, J.B., 2001. Laboratory Guide for Conducting Soil Tests and Plant Analysis guide book. CRC Press. Taylor & Francis Group, U. S. Jones, R.W., Pike, L.M., Yourman, L.F., 1989. Salinity influences cucumber growth and yield. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 114, 547–551. Lester, G.E., Jifon, Makus, D.J., 2006. Supplemental foliar potassium applications with or without a surfactant can enhance netted muskmelon quality. HortSci 41 (3), 741–744. Maas, E.V., Hoffman, G.J., 1977. Crop salt tolerance – current assessment. J. Irrig. Drain. Div. ASCE 103 (IR2), 115–134. Oster, J.D., 1994. Irrigation with poor quality water. Agric. Water Manag. 25, 271–297. Prazeres, A.R., Carvalho, F., Rivas, J., Patanita, M., Dôres, J., 2013. Growth and development of tomato plants Lycopersicon Esculentum Mill. under different saline conditions by fertirrigation with pretreated cheese whey wastewater. Water Sci. Technol. 67 (9), 2033–2041. Prazeres, A.R., Carvalho, F.J., Rivas Patanita, M., Dôres, J., 2014. Reuse of pretreated cheese whey wastewater for industrial tomato production (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Agric. Water Manag. 140, 87–95. Ryan, J., Estefan, G., Rashid, A., 2001. Soil and plant analysis laboratory manual. In: Jointly published by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), Second ed. Aleppo, Syria, 172 pp. Thurman, E.M., 1985. Organic Geochemistry of Natural Waters. Developments in Biogeochemistry, vol 2. United States Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, USA. Waling, I., Vark, W.V., Houba, G., Vanderlee, J.J., 1989. Soil and Plant Analysis, a Series of Syllabi. Part 7. Plant Anal Proceed. Wageningen Agricultural University, Netherland. Water Strategy Document, 2008–2022. Ministry of Water and Irrigation. Amman, Jordan.
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Effect of using raw waste water from food industry on soil fertility, cucumber and tomato growth, yield and fruit quality Qaryouti M. a,∗ , Bani-Hani N. b , Abu-Sharar T.M. c , Shnikat I. d , Hiari M. e , Radiadeh M. f a
Plant physiologist, National Center for Agriculture Research and Extension (NCARE), Amman, Jordan, Soil and Irrigation Researcher NCARE, Amman, Jordan Professor of Soil and Water Chemistry, Department of Land, Water and Environment, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan d Horticulture Researcher (NCARE), Amman, Jordan e Horticulture Research Assistant (NCARE), Amman, Jordan f Horticulture Research Assistant, Amman, Jordan b c
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 11 July 2014 Received in revised form 1 July 2015 Accepted 2 July 2015 Keywords: Industrial wastewater reuse Food industry Soil Fertility K fertilizer Poor quality water
a b s t r a c t Raw waste water (RWW) from food industry is rich of organic matter and mineral nutrients, particularly, K and to lesser extents N then P. Such richness is attributed to the nature of some substrates involved in the food processing e.g. molace of sugar beet or sugar cane. These two crops are known to require high amount of K and, thus, to further enrichment of their derivatives with that nutrient. As cost of K fertilizers is relatively high, this experiment was conducted to study the effect of applying RWW on soil fertility, yield quantity and quality of greenhouse cucumber and tomato. Uniform 30-day old cucumber seedlings and 45-day old tomato seedlings were transplanted to two multi-span greenhouses (1000 m2 ) on December 12, 2012, at Dair Alla Research Station in Central Jordan Valley (JV). The transplanted seedlings were subjected to 5 RWW treatments of 75% of the traditional amount of K fertilizer farmers of the JV apply during the growing season, 100% of K of the traditional amount of K-fertilizer of which 25% were applied before transplanting and 75% were applied during the growing season, 125% of the traditional amount of K-fertilizer where 25% were added to the soil before transplanting and 100% were added during the growing season, traditional amounts of N, P and K chemical fertilizers, and traditional amounts of N and P chemical fertilizers only. The results showed that RWW can effectively substitute K-chemical fertilizer and can also improve some soil fertility parameters by the end of the growing season. For example, increases in available K and organic matter in the RWW treated cucumber beds were 25–71% and 2–11%, respectively. Similar increases were reported in the case of tomato beds (7–62% and 7–17%). Such increases corresponded to increases in K uptake by cucumber and tomato plants (30 and 37%, respectively). Calcium uptake was also increased to levels as high as 40 and 34% in both crop cases. Results of this study indicated that the application of Raw Waste Water from Food Industry improve cucumber and tomato performance and soil fertility. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Jordan is one of the most water scarce countries in the world (probably the poorest) with approximately 145 m3 of available water resources per capita per year. This number is below the widely recognized “water poverty line” of 1000 m3 per capita per year (Water Strategy of Jordan, 2008–2022Water Strategy of
∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +962 64726091. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Qaryouti), [email protected] (N. Bani-Hani), [email protected] (T.M. Abu-Sharar), [email protected] (I. Shnikat). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.07.002 0304-4238/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Jordan, 2008–2022). This critical situation is further aggravated by the new influx of more than 1.5 × 106 Syrian refugees in the repercussion of the Syrian civil war. These refugees added extra burden on the already exhausted water resources. In such a situation the country has to optimize management of its limited water resources (Abu-Sharar and Battikhi, 2002). Oster (1994) acknowledge the necessity of using poor quality waters in irrigation as the industrial and municipal needs grow in a pace higher than the growing World population. Because of the growing shortage in fresh water supply for irrigation, the Jordan’s Standard Specifications of Reclaimed Industrial Waste Water (JS 202/2007) allows, in certain cases, the reuse of waters of such properties in irrigation. However, the legislator required early field study aimed at the demonstration of
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sound environmental and public health safety in such cases (Article 4–5 of the former Standard). Raw waste water (RWW) of the food industry is particularly rich in K (∼4 g/l) (Table 3). This water also contains organic matter and variable levels of macro- and micronutrients (Table 3). In this regard, Abu-Sharar (2002) reported the safe application of the RWW of that quality in irrigation of alfalfa field. The author concluded that the RWW of that industry can alternatively be utilized in conjunction with fresh water to produce alfalfa. The author also indicated maximum water use efficiency by alfalfa when the alternative irrigation comprised one portion of RWW to be followed by three portions of fresh water. Similar studies on the use of reclaimed industrial wastewater (Prazeres et al., 2014) and domestic wastewater (Aiello et al., 2007; El-Hamouri et al., 1996) were carried out to investigate the impacts of these waters on tomato yield and quality and on soil and environment. Since the earlier studies didn’t take into account the optimization of K-use efficiency by irrigated crops, taking into consideration both water shortage and cost of K-chemical fertilizer in one irrigation practice would be of paramount importance. According to Agricultural Bulletin (Department of Statistics, 2011), the costs of KNO3 and K2 SO4 fertilizers were about 1.0 US$ per kg of either fertilizer or 2.5 and 2.3 US$ per kg of elemental K, respectively. These prices were much higher than that of unit N-fertilizer. For example, the price of one kg of urea-N at the same period was 1.1 US$ per kg ureaN. Subsequently, this work was initiated to study the possibility of substituting K-chemical fertilizer by RWW-K. The effect of RWW-K on fruit yield of cucumber and tomato growing in green house in the Central Jordan Valley (JV) was evaluated. Irrigated soil characteristics and other crop indicators like plant vegetative growth and selected plant mineral nutrient contents were also examined. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Crop cultivars Two crop cultivars of greenhouse vegetables were used in these experiments; cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) “RS 24189 F1” from Royal Sluis Com. (USA), and indeterminate tomato; (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) “Newton” from Syngenta Company, The Netherlands. The cultivars were selected as they are the ones of the most commonly growing under protected environment in the JV. 2.2. RWW treatments Uniform 30-day old cucumber seedlings and 45-day old tomato seedlings were transplanted into two multi-span greenhouses (1000 m2 area) on December 12, 2012, at Dair Alla Research Center in Central JV. The seedlings were transplanted in raised beds after addition of farm manure (40 tons per ha) in November, 2012. The multi-span greenhouses were equipped with drip irrigation network and polyethylene black mulch. The fertilizer treatments are summarized in Table 1. With the exception of the treatments, the crops enjoyed similar agricultural management including the traditional application of all other macro- and micro- nutrients as shown in Table 2. Each treatment comprised five 6 m long rows of raised beds, 30 plants each. The experimental design was randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates for each crop. The subsequent statistical analysis was carried out according to Cochran and Cox (1957). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine significant differences and mean separation at 0.05 level using Duncan multiple range test. Surface soil was sampled for appropriate analyses before the commencement and at the end of the field experiment. Five plastic tanks, each 2 m3 capacity, were placed in adjacent area to supply the treatments with their respective needs of the RWW and
Table 1 Summary of the fertilizer treatments. Treatment 1
75% of traditional K fertilizer from the RWW
Treatment 2
100% of traditional K fertilizer from the RWW divided into two portions: 25% before transplanting and 75 % added during plant growth 125% of traditional K fertilizer from the RWW divided into two portions: 25% added to the soil before transplanting and 100 % added during plants growth Traditional farmers’ method of chemical N, P and K fertilizers application Traditional farmers’ method of chemical N and P fertilizers application with zero K fertilizer
Treatment 3
Treatment 4 Treatment 5
Note: Traditional amounts of K-fertilizer application to cucumber and tomato fields are 45 and 65 kg K ha−1 , respectively (El Zuraiqi et al., 2004).
other appropriate chemical fertilizers of (NH4 )2 SO4 , Mg(NO3 )2 , Ca(NO3 )2 and KNO3 (El-Zuraiqi et al., 2004). Foliage application of P, as orthophospheric acid and mineral salts of micronutrients was practiced from separate solutions adjusted at pH 6.5–7.0 to maintain most of P as (H2 PO− 4 ). Crop water requirement was based on Class A pan readings 15 and 25 days following cucumber and tomato transplanting, respectively. The Pan was placed in the multi-span plastic house and the obtained readings were multiplied by the respective crop coefficient (Allen et al., 1998). Volumes of good quality irrigation water were 4750 m3 ha−1 for tomato and 3570 m3 ha−1 for cucumber. These volumes were applied during growing periods of January 15, 2013 through April 15, 2013 for cucumber and January 15, 2013 through May 30, 2013 for tomato, respectively. A 2 m3 of irrigation water were delivered to each crop treatment in the early period of 15 or 25 days. Chemical analyses of irrigation water were carried out on a monthly basis following standard methods of analysis (Ryan et al., 2001). Sodium, K, Mg and Ca concentrations were determined using Varian Spectra AA 200 Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Irrigation with treatmental RWW was initiated on the 15th of January, 2013. 2.3. Crop performance indicators 2.3.1. Plant height, plant fresh and dry weight and leaf area Plant height was measured for ten plants in each treatmental replicate selected randomly on 90th after seedling transplanting. Plant dry weights were measured on the 120th day after seedlings transplanting. Three plants from each treatment replicate were selected randomly for this purpose. The aerial and root parts of each plant were carefully removed, washed with distilled water, placed on filter paper and air dried to evaporate the wetting water at room temperature (22–25 ◦ C). Separate fresh plant parts of roots, stems and leaves were then employed in the determination of fresh mass and the measurement of leaf area. Afterword, these parts were dried at 60 ◦ C and constant mass was reported (AOAC, 1990). Dry weights were determined using laboratory ventilated oven (1445 SHEL LAB). Leaf area was determined using Portable Area Meter (LI-3000 A). The dry plant material was used for nutrient analysis. 2.3.2. Mineral composition Oven dry plant shoot and fruit samples, from both crops, were used for mineral analysis according to (AOAC, 1990). In brief, the samples were dried to 60 ◦ C using ventilated oven (1445 SHEL LAB) then the samples were ground using stainless steel blender. Samples from the ground materials were ashed at 450–500 ◦ C for 4 hrs using Thermo Scientific Muffle Furnaces (Thermolyne® ). A 10 ml of 0.1N HNO3 were added to 100 mg of the plant ash then the mixture was heated for 10 min. The resulting solution was then filtered into 50 ml volumetric flask. An additional 10 ml of the HNO3 solution was added to the residue of plant ash for further dissolution of that material and finally the volume of the filtrate was made to 50 ml
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Table 2 Quantities of chemical fertilizers applied to the respective treatments of tomato and cucumber crops. Treatment number
RWW (m3 /ha)
KNO3 (kg/ha)
Ca(NO3 )2 (l/ha)
Mg(NO3 )2
(NH4 )2 SO4
Conc. H3 PO4
Cucumber 1 2 3 4 5
90 120 150 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 1246 0.00
1462 1462 1462 1462 1462
1089 1089 1089 1089 1089
1246 1246 1246 0.00 1246
127 127 127 127 127
Tomato 1 2 3 4 5
120 150 180 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 1548 0.00
1945 1945 1945 1945 1945
1449 1449 1449 1449 1449
1548 1548 1548 0.00 1548
169 169 169 169 169
using deionized water. Concentration of soluble K was determined by flame photometery (PFP-7 flame photometer). Soluble Ca and Mg were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometery. Total P was determined in accordance with Olsen method (Jones, 2001). Total N was determined by Kjeldal method (Waling et al., 1989).
2.4. Fruit yield and quality 2.4.1. Fruit yield and number Tomato fruits were harvested at the red and mature stage. Cucumber fruits were harvested at immature stage. The harvested fruit for each crop were counted and weighed to calculate average fruit weight.
2.4.2. Fruit pH and total soluble solids Fruit juice filtrates were used to determine fruit pH and Total soluble solids (TSS) of using pH meter and Reichert-Jarg Digital (ABBE Mark II model 10481) refractometer.
2.4.3. Fruit shelf life Tomato and cucumber fruit shelf life was determined by storing 5 kg from each treatment in refrigerator at 11 ◦ C for 15 days. The losses in fruit weight were determined by weighing the fruit after 15 days.
2.5. Soil analysis Random composite and surface (0–25 cm) soil samples from each treatmental plot were collected before the commencement of the experiment. A second set of samples were similarly collected at the end of the experiment. For each group of samples, organic matter, ECe , pH, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and Cl were determined using standard methods of analysis (Ryan et al., 2001).
3. Results and discussion 3.1. Characteristics of irrigation water and RWW Table 3 summarizes major properties of the RWW. The results were provided by The Royal Scientific Society of Jordan. The Table shows high TDS (total dissolved solids) of about 27 g/l which could be attributed to the high concentration of soluble organic substances. This was confirmed by subjecting a subsample of RWW to oxidation by few drops of H2 O2 and measuring EC of the oxidized solution. Substantial drop in EC was observed due to disappearance of the organic solutes. The common Cl and HCO3 salts of Ca, Mg and Na contributed about 13 g/l to the TDS which is less than the reported TDS. A fraction of 4 g/l was due to the dissolved K which is the macro nutrient of our interest. This element is expected to be taken up by the growing crops and, thus, would contribute little to the end soil salinity. The high fraction of organic matter would help improve the physical–chemical properties of the irrigated soil (Abu-Sharar, 1993). This, in turn, would improve the soil function as a medium for plant growth. Moreover, the table reports a relative enrichment of that water by Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu. Concentrations of CN, As, Be, Li, Ni, Pb, Se, Cd, Cr, Hg, V and Co were at or less than 0.1 mg/l and thus, were not reported in the Table. Although the RWW was enriched by Na as evidenced by the high Na concentration and the relative predominance of that element as indicated by the SAR value of 10.4, low pH and high concentrations of soluble salts and organic solutes and irrigation with good quality water (Table 4) are expected to offset the deleterious effect of sodicity on soil structure (Abu-Sharar, 1988). In this respect, the results presented in Table 4 show a cyclic tendency of decreasing salinity, Cl and Na concentrations when moving from the end of fall season to the following winter and spring times to be followed by increases in the dry summer time. Recharge of the major source of fresh water (King Abdulla Canal) with fresh rain and base flow waters was reflected on the decreasing water salinity. All analyzed water samples showed a water chemistry dominated by the CaCO3 –H2 O system as evidenced by the pH value of or close to the theoretical pH value of the former system (8.5).
Table 3 Selected chemical properties of the raw waste water (RWW) from food industry. All values are in mg/l except for E. coli (MPN/100 ml) and nematode eggs (egg/l). Parameter TDS TSS Cl HCO3 Ca COD
Parameter 26930 1880 3078 5593 2232 150
Mg K Na pH NO3 BOD5
Parameter 351 4000 2000 6.27 522 60
Total N FOG Cu Fe Mn P
Parameter 1410 42 0.11 6.63 0.57 15
Zn Mo SAR E.coli Nematode eggs Phenol
0.64 <0.01 10.4 < 1.8 0 <0.002
TDS: Total Dissolved Solids; TSS:Total Suspended Solids; FOG: Fat, Oil and Grease; SAR: Sodium Adsorption Ratio; COD: Chemical Oxygen Demand; BOD5 : Biological Oxygen Demand in 5 days. Reference: Royal Scientific Society of Jordan and SADEF – pôle d’Aspach – Dernière mise à jour- France, 2013.
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Table 4 Selected chemical properties of irrigation water samples. Date
EC (dS m−1 )
pH
Cl (mg/l)
SO4 (mg/l)
Na (mg/l)
K (mg/l)
Ca (mg/l)
Mg (mg/l)
NO3 -N (mg/l)
SAR
2/10/2012 22/1/2013 5/2/2013 5/3/2013 2/4/2013 7/5/2013 4/6/2013 Average
2.42 1.05 1.50 1.35 1.41 1.62 1.76 1.60
8.72 8.70 8.70 8.67 8.66 8.69 8.58 8.66
11.53 7.17 6.85 6.37 6.08 6.61 6.9 7.36
6.43 1.42 2.57 2.38 3.18 4.43 4.47 3.55
11.79 6.96 7.75 6.54 6.77 8 00 8. 03 7.96
0 .57 0.39 0 .43 0. 35 0. 33 0 38 0 .39 0.39
5.29 3.55 4.04 5.19 4.22 3.59 4.15 4.29
6.32 3.49 2.54 1.19 2.56 4 .00 3.9 3.33
11.84 12.15 10.8 9.24 8.79 8.22 8 .08 10.17
4.89 3.71 4.27 3.66 3.68 4.11 4.00 4.05
3.2. Crop performance indicators
fruit yield and average fruit weight were observed from treatment 3 as contrasted by the lowest yield and fruit weight of treatment 5 (Table 6). Tomato fruit yield and average fruit weight was not significantly affected by RWW treatments (Table 6). However, the highest tomato yield was that of treatment 4. In this regard, AlLahham et al. (2003) reported an increase in tomato fruit size and weight when irrigated with reclaimed domestic wastewater. Subsequently, these authors suggested that the reclaimed wastewater can replace fresh water in irrigation of tomatoes eaten after cooking provided that the effluent quality is continuously monitored to avoid microbial contamination. In general, our results indicated that using RWW had the capacity to produce cucumber and tomato fruit yield not significantly different from these produced when the crops were provided by their K-nutritional requirement in the form of chemical fertilizers. Additional improvements in soil physical and biochemical edaphic properties were reported. This can be attributed to the extra application of RWW-micronutrients and to the ameliorative effect of that organic solutes-rich water.
Statistical analysis showed that cucumber plant height of treatment 4 increased significantly as compared with other treatments except for treatments 2 and 3 (Table 5), However, leaf area were not significantly affected by the RWW treatments. Tomato plant height was not affected by treatments, while plant leaf area improved significantly by treatment 3 followed by treatments 2 and 4. Cucumber stem and root dry weights were not significantly different with the RWW treatments but significant increase in leaf dry weight was observed with the application of chemical-fertilizers treatments as shown in Table 5. Tomato stem and leaf dry weights were not significantly affected by the RWW application. The lowest root dry weight was observed in treatment 1. Organic carbon might have had indirect effect on plant growth. For example, Thurman (1985) showed that dissolved organic carbon was an important factor in soil ecosystem as it was capable of adjusting soil pH, microbial activity, and nutrient bioavailability and mobility. Table 5 showed that cucumber plant vegetative growth was significantly affected by the treatments; these Tables also indicate that the application of RWW was sufficient to produce vegetative growth parameters matching those produced when complete chemical fertilizers were applied. However, treatments 2–4, in case of tomato, resulted in increase in tomato vegetative growth as evidenced by leaf area. This could be attributed to the relatively higher salt tolerance of tomato as compared to cucumber. Cucumber plants is considered salt-sensitive crop (Jones et al., 1989; Chartzoulakis, 1994). To the contrary, Maas and Hoffman (1977) classified both crops as moderately sensitive to salt stress but the percent reduction per unit increase in salinity beyond the threshold value of 2.5 dSm−1 was 13% for cucumber as compared to 9.9% for tomato. The results of Table 8 show relatively high soil salinity at the beginning and end of the experiment. The highest cucumber
3.3. Cucumber and tomato fruit shelf life Fruit shelf life is an indicator of post harvest fruit quality. Post harvest physiological weight loss is strongly affected by many pre harvest factors such as nutrient application including K (Lester et al., 2006). This indictor is determined by measuring reduction in fruit fresh weight following storage in refrigerator at 11 ◦ C for a specified period. Table 6 shows a superior result for treatment 3 that produced minimum cucumber and tomato weight losses after 15 d storage period. According to (Javaria et al., 2012), tomato fruit shelf life was significantly increased with increasing K fertilizer application up to 400 kg K2 O ha−1 after which the fruit shelf life started to decrease.
Table 5 Selected crop performance indicators for cucumber and tomato as affected by the five RWW treatments. Treatment no.
Plant height (cm)
Leaf area (cm2 )
Average dry weight (g plant−1 ) Root
Stem
Leaf
Plant
Cucumber 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
210.1 ± 21.0b2 225.2 ± 17.1 ab 222.2 ± 12.5 ab 233.1 ± 8.1 a 213.1 ± 8.6 b *
4677 ± 596 5147 ± 691 4728 ± 642 5804 ± 837 4433 ± 557 ns
0.58 ± 0.20 0.67 ± 0.03 0.68 ± 0.28 0.57 ± 0.06 0.63 ± 0.30 ns
7.45 ± 1.2 6.58 ± 1.0 7.87 ± 1.9 9.10 ± 1.2 7.10 ± 1.5 ns
19.7 ± 20.9 ± 21.8 ± 26.6 ± 19.2 ± *
Tomato 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
161.0 ± 24.8 172.7 ± 18.0 181.8 ± 17.2 174.4 ± 23.2 186.3 ± 13.1 ns
9583 ± 1287 b 11080 ± 3068 ab 13020 ± 3193 a 10770 ± 777 ab 9560 ± 450 b *
13.1 ± 3.3 c 28.7 ± 3.7ab 19.6 ± 2.2 bc 33.8 ± 9.2 a 27.5 ± 2.0 ab *
26.6 ± 2.0 29.5 ± 5.9 30.8 ± 1.9 28.8 ± 3.4 25.6 ± 2.3 ns
72.30 ± 8.8 80.30 ± 15.5 88.10 ± 3.2 71.27 ± 4.7 69.97 ± 9.4 ns
2.4 b 2.6 ab 3.2 ab 4.3 a 3.1 b
27.7 ± 28.2 ± 30.4 ± 36.2 ± 27.0 ± *
3.5 ab 3.0 ab 5.4 ab 5.2 a 4.8 b
112.0 ± 7.8 138.5 ± 18.4 138.5 ± 11.2 133.8 ± 11.9 123.0 ± 10.7 ns
Results represent mean ± SD for three separate samples. 2 Means within columns, for each crop, having different letters are significantly different, ** and * indicates significant difference at p < 0.01 and 0.05 according to DMRT, respectively. ns = non-significant. 1
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Table 6 Cucumber and tomato yield and quality as affected by the by the five RWW treatments. Treatment no.
Fruit yield (Ton ha−1 )
Average fruit weight (g)
Fruit pH
Total solable solids (Brix%)
Weight loss (%) following storage at 11 ◦ C for 15 days
Cucumber 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
105.7 ± 8.6 bc 111.9 ± 8.6 ab 115.0 ± 4.2 a 105.2 ± 8.6 bc 100.9 ± 8.9 c *
86.9 ± 3.5 ab 86.8 ± 1.5 ab 92.6 ± 2.3 a 82.8 ± 1.5 b 82.7 ± 2.0 b *
5.1 ± 0.1 b 5.3 ± 0.2 a 5.4 ± 0.1 a 5.5 ± 0.1 a 5.3 ± 0.2 a *
3.3 ± 0.2 a 3.0 ± 0.1 bc 2.8 ± 0.1 c 2.8 ± 0.1 c 3.2 ± 0.3 ab *
14.6 ± 2.6 14.0 ± 1.7 11.2 ± 1.6 12.9 ± 2.5 13.2 ± 1.8 ns
Tomato 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
104.4 ± 7.6 105.6 ± 8.1 108.2 ± 15.4 119.7 ± 5.5 96.6 ± 8.7 ns
69.8 ± 10.1 77.0 ± 5.6 73.0 ± 17.1 73.5 ± 11.8 62.7 ± 10.0 ns
5.1 ± 0.5 4.6 ± 0.2 4.4 ± 0.1 4.5 ± 0.1 4.6 ± 0.4 ns
6.2 ± 0.5 5.7 ± 0.4 5.3 ± 0.6 5.6 ± 0.9 5.5 ± 0.9 ns
4.7 ± 0.9 a 3.9 ± 0.4 ab 3.6 ± 0.3 b 4.3 ± 0.7 a 3.7 ± 0.3 ab *
Results represent mean ± SD for three separate samples. Means within columns, for each crop, having different letters are significantly different, ** and * indicates significant difference at p < 0.01 and 0.05 according to DMRT, respectively. ns = non-significant. 1
2
3.4. Nutrient uptake Potassium is essential for plant water balance, plant growth and synthesis processes (Amtmann and Rubio, 2012). Total nutrient uptake of N, P, K, Ca and Mg is summarized in Table 8. Positive effect of RWW on the two crops nutrients uptake can be observed, especially for K. Prazeres et al. (2013) indicated that when pretreated cheese whey wastewater was used to irrigate two tomato cultivars at increasing salinity levels, no significant effects were observed on different plant attributes like dry matter of the leaves, stems and roots. Moreover, the results showed that the pretreated wastewater can be a source of nutrients for cucumber and tomato plants, with reduced effects on growth and development (Table 7).
3.5. Effect of RWW on selected soil properties Results of selected soil properties are reported in Table 8 which shows no significant changes in both soil CaCO3 and OM. This is quite understood as these two constituents can’t be changed in a relatively short period of one growing season. To the contrary, substantial reduction in final soil salinity and pH levels irrespective of the growing crop or treatment. In this regard, drip irrigatedsoils cultivated under plastic house condition usually accumulate
salts at the outer periphery of the wetting front. Soil samples collected before the onset of the experiment were composite surface samples. This means a mixture of surface soil or a mixture of saline and non-saline samples was obtained for the analysis. At the end of the experiment, the composite samples were collected along the irrigation line i.e. from the salt-washed zone. In regard to the reported reduction in soil pH, this was due to the anaerobic oxidation of the RWW-applied organic matter. Production of CO2 is known to dissolve in soil solution producing H2 CO3 and, thus, causing reduction in pH. The practice of applying black polyethylene mulch to the soil surface should have prevented gas exchange between soil and ambient air. By the end of the experiment, soil-N decreased to variable levels. This could be attributed to the labile nature of N and to the excessive crop demand for that nutrient under intensive cultivation. No noticeable change in NaHCO3 -extractable-soil P was observed irrespective of the excessive uptake of that macronutrient by the crops. This observation could have been attributed to the increasing P-solubility from the solid phase due to lowering soil pH. To the contrary, CH3 COONH4 extractable K increased by the conclusion of the experiment with the exception of soil samples collected from treatment 5 plots of both crops. The highest increase in soil K was observed in treatment 3 (125% of the traditionally applied K-fertilizer). This means that the amount of RWW-applied K of that treatment
Table 7 Total nutrient uptake by cucumber and tomato crops as affected by the five RWW treatments. Treatment
Nutrient uptake (kg ha−1 ) N
P
K
Mg
Ca
Cucumber 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
163.5 ± 6.81 b2 208.4 ± 18.0 a 194.2 ± 5.5 ab 194.4 ± 20.0 ab 170.8 ± 18.5 ab *
20.0 ± 0.8 22.0 ± 1.9 24.5 ± 0.8 20.6 ± 3.9 20.5 ± 2.3 ns
130.6 ± 5.2 158.8 ± 13.9 157.7 ± 4.8 142.5 ± 27.7 120.7 ± 13.0 ns
26.6 ± 2.0 bc 25.3 ± 1.9 bc 28.6 ± 1.5 ab 31.0 ± 2.4 a 23.8 ± 2.5 c *
73.3 ± 5.9 b 85.3 ± 6.0 a 95.1 ± 4.4 a 86.4 ± 4.5 a 67.9 ± 7.3 b **
Tomato 1 2 3 4 5 Significance
244.9 ± 24.2 a 245.8 ± 22.1 a 201.8 ± 23.9 b 201.1 ± 15.6 b 188.4 ± 5.1 b **
22.8 ± 2.3 22.5 ± 1.9 22.4 ± 3.1 22.1 ± 1.6 20.4 ± 0.2 ns
203.3 ± 22.2 ab 231.1 ± 19.8 a 232.0 ± 35.0 a 239.3 ± 21.4 a 168.8 ± 21.2 b **
43.9 ± 2.5 b 52.3 ± 7.2 a 53.1 ± 2.0 a 52.6 ± 3.6 a 44.2 ± 3.7 b *
130.2 ± 9.4 bc 155.1 ± 23.7 a 167.4 ± 12.2 a 150.5 ± 14.6 ab 124.8 ± 11.0 c *
Results represent mean ± SD for three separate samples. Means within columns, for each crop, having different letters are significantly different, ** and * indicates significant difference at p < 0.01 and 0.05 according to DMRT, respectively. ns = non-significant. 1 2
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Table 8 Selected chemical and nutrient properties of composite surface soil samples collected from the experimental plots before and at the end of the five RWW treatments. ECe (dSm−1 )
pH
Before
After
Before
After
Before
Cucumber plots 7.57 1 2 3 4 5
3.5 4.0 4.0 3.5 3.4
7.64
6.8 6.6 6.6 6.8 6.8
Tomato plots 7.20 1 2 3 4 5
4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 3.5
8.16
6.8 6.8 7.6 7.6 6.8
Treatment
P (g g−1 soil)
K (g g−1 soil)
Na (meL−1 )
CaCO3 (%)
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
0.41
0.224 0.182 0.182 0.224 0.224
36.77
42.8 37.5 37.5 38.5 38.5
362
470 550 650 450 250
4.6
3.95 4.14 4.14 3.95 3.95
15.83
18.0 21.7 21.7 18.0 18.0
2.86
2.92 2.78 3.17 2.54 2.44
0.39
0.224 0.224 0.196 0.196 0.224
48.97
41.00 41.00 42.25 42.25 42.75
356
388 488 580 580 270
5.4
4.14 4.14 4.14 4.14 3.95
15.83
16.8 16.8 19.3 19.3 18.0
3.46
3.66 3.70 4.05 3.11 3.20
N (%)
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