Effect of urban treated sewage on yield and yield components of sweet pepper

The growing expansion of world population as well as the development of agricultural and industrial activities for supplying food on one hand and the recent frequent droughts on the other hand has maximized the utilization of surface fresh water resources in most countries on arid belt and therefore they are under an excessive pressure. One major solution to fight water crisis is the chain usage of water according to its quality in different sections and optimum usage of unconventional waters in agriculture. Therefore, the current study was carried out to examine the effects of irrigation with urban sewage on yield and yield components of sweet pepper in Sewage Treatment Station of Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran in 2007. The experiment was a randomized complete block design with four replications and five treatments (urban sewage with concentrations of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%). The results showed that application of treated sewage as irrigation water significantly increased chlorophyll, plant height, fruit fresh and dry weight, fruit number and shoot and root dry weight compared with control. The greatest increase happened in sewage concentration of 100%. The treatments did not show significant difference with control regarding Mn concentration of sweet pepper plants, while as sewage percentage increased, the concentrations of N, P, Fe and Na significantly increased. Hence, the sewage can be used in irrigating sweet pepper. However, it should be noted that the quality and characteristics of sewage varies with place and even with time in a given place. Thus, sewage application in irrigation must be in sound managerial framework under constant control on the basis of water, soil, plant and environment characteristics of a given place.