Water Use and Yield Responses of Chile Pepper Cultivars Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Reverse Osmosis Concentrate
Freshwater availability is declining in most of semi-arid and arid regions across the world, including the southwestern United States. The use of marginal quality groundwater has been increasing for sustaining agriculture in these arid regions. Reverse Osmosis (RO) can treat brackish groundwater, bu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Horticulturae |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/2/27 |
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| author | Gurjinder S. Baath Manoj K. Shukla Paul W. Bosland Stephanie J. Walker Rupinder K. Saini Randall Shaw |
| author_facet | Gurjinder S. Baath Manoj K. Shukla Paul W. Bosland Stephanie J. Walker Rupinder K. Saini Randall Shaw |
| author_sort | Gurjinder S. Baath |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Freshwater availability is declining in most of semi-arid and arid regions across the world, including the southwestern United States. The use of marginal quality groundwater has been increasing for sustaining agriculture in these arid regions. Reverse Osmosis (RO) can treat brackish groundwater, but the possibility of using an RO concentrate for irrigation needs further exploration. This greenhouse study evaluates the water use and yield responses of five selected chile pepper (<i>Capsicum annuum</i> L.) cultivars irrigated with natural brackish groundwater and RO concentrate. The four saline water treatments used for irrigation were tap water with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 0.6 dS m<sup>−1</sup> (control), groundwater with EC 3 and 5 dS m<sup>−1</sup>, and an RO concentrate with EC 8 dS m<sup>−1</sup>. The evapotranspiration (ET) of all chile pepper cultivars decreased and the leaching fraction (LF) increased, particularly in the 5 dS m<sup>−1</sup> and 8 dS m<sup>−1</sup> irrigation treatments. Based on the water use efficiency (WUE) of the selected chile pepper cultivars, brackish water with an EC ≤ 3 dS/m could be used for irrigation in scarce freshwater areas while maintaining the appropriate LFs. A piecewise linear function resulted in a threshold soil electrical conductivity (EC<sub>e</sub>) ranging between 1.0–1.3 dS m<sup>−1</sup> for the tested chile pepper cultivars. Both piecewise linear and sigmoid non-linear functions suggested that the yield reductions in chile peppers irrigated with Ca<sup>2+</sup> rich brackish groundwater were less than those reported in studies using an NaCl-dominant saline solution. Further research is needed to understand the role of supplementary calcium in improving the salt tolerance of chile peppers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:01:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4ae89a58ebbd4e8dbabb96d2b91da758 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2311-7524 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:01:11Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Horticulturae |
| spelling | doaj.art-4ae89a58ebbd4e8dbabb96d2b91da7582023-11-19T23:33:31ZengMDPI AGHorticulturae2311-75242020-05-01622710.3390/horticulturae6020027Water Use and Yield Responses of Chile Pepper Cultivars Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Reverse Osmosis ConcentrateGurjinder S. Baath0Manoj K. Shukla1Paul W. Bosland2Stephanie J. Walker3Rupinder K. Saini4Randall Shaw5Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, 371 Agricultural Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078, USADepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, MSC 3Q, P.O. Box 30003, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USADepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, MSC 3Q, P.O. Box 30003, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USADepartment of Extension Plant Sciences, New Mexico State University, MSC 3AE, P.O. Box 30003, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USADepartment of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USABrackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility, 500 La Velle Road, Alamogordo, NM 88310, USAFreshwater availability is declining in most of semi-arid and arid regions across the world, including the southwestern United States. The use of marginal quality groundwater has been increasing for sustaining agriculture in these arid regions. Reverse Osmosis (RO) can treat brackish groundwater, but the possibility of using an RO concentrate for irrigation needs further exploration. This greenhouse study evaluates the water use and yield responses of five selected chile pepper (<i>Capsicum annuum</i> L.) cultivars irrigated with natural brackish groundwater and RO concentrate. The four saline water treatments used for irrigation were tap water with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 0.6 dS m<sup>−1</sup> (control), groundwater with EC 3 and 5 dS m<sup>−1</sup>, and an RO concentrate with EC 8 dS m<sup>−1</sup>. The evapotranspiration (ET) of all chile pepper cultivars decreased and the leaching fraction (LF) increased, particularly in the 5 dS m<sup>−1</sup> and 8 dS m<sup>−1</sup> irrigation treatments. Based on the water use efficiency (WUE) of the selected chile pepper cultivars, brackish water with an EC ≤ 3 dS/m could be used for irrigation in scarce freshwater areas while maintaining the appropriate LFs. A piecewise linear function resulted in a threshold soil electrical conductivity (EC<sub>e</sub>) ranging between 1.0–1.3 dS m<sup>−1</sup> for the tested chile pepper cultivars. Both piecewise linear and sigmoid non-linear functions suggested that the yield reductions in chile peppers irrigated with Ca<sup>2+</sup> rich brackish groundwater were less than those reported in studies using an NaCl-dominant saline solution. Further research is needed to understand the role of supplementary calcium in improving the salt tolerance of chile peppers.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/2/27<i>Capsicum annuum</i>salinityevapotranspirationleaching fractioncalcium |
| spellingShingle | Gurjinder S. Baath Manoj K. Shukla Paul W. Bosland Stephanie J. Walker Rupinder K. Saini Randall Shaw Water Use and Yield Responses of Chile Pepper Cultivars Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Reverse Osmosis Concentrate Horticulturae <i>Capsicum annuum</i> salinity evapotranspiration leaching fraction calcium |
| title | Water Use and Yield Responses of Chile Pepper Cultivars Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Reverse Osmosis Concentrate |
| title_full | Water Use and Yield Responses of Chile Pepper Cultivars Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Reverse Osmosis Concentrate |
| title_fullStr | Water Use and Yield Responses of Chile Pepper Cultivars Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Reverse Osmosis Concentrate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Water Use and Yield Responses of Chile Pepper Cultivars Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Reverse Osmosis Concentrate |
| title_short | Water Use and Yield Responses of Chile Pepper Cultivars Irrigated with Brackish Groundwater and Reverse Osmosis Concentrate |
| title_sort | water use and yield responses of chile pepper cultivars irrigated with brackish groundwater and reverse osmosis concentrate |
| topic | <i>Capsicum annuum</i> salinity evapotranspiration leaching fraction calcium |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/2/27 |
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