The effect of different levels of aerated saline water on the yield and water productivity of tomato plant in greenhouse

An experiment was conducted with greenhouse tomato plants to determine the effects of oxygen enrichment of the irrigation water on yield and yield components. The study was conducted based on randomized complete blocks as a split plot design with 4 replicates and 3 treatments for 2 years. It is possible to simultaneously irrigate and provide roots with sufficient oxygen via injection of ambient air by means of a venturi coupled to a subsurface drip irrigation system (SDI) called as oxygation. In this study, three levels of irrigation water aeration comprising 0 (the Control), 12 and 24 volumetric percent (i.e. air volume/water volume) was applied to tomato plants grown on a saline clay soil and saline water in a greenhouse in Esfahan Agricultural Research Centre. The type and amount of the required fertilizers were determined from the analysis of soil samples. Tomato plant growth was promoted under conditions which facilitated consistently high oxygen in the root zone. The differences between the aeration treatments and the zero aeration control were significant at the 5% level only for the fruit diameter, fruit length, the number of fruit and total fruits weight. There were no significant effects (P > 0.05) between control and aeration levels for height plant, root dry mater and plant dry mater. The results also showed that the values of yield and water productivity in the treatment of 24% oxygenation compared to the control treatment increased by 21.7% and 21.5%, respectively. Data from this study indicate that tomato production in saline soils and saline water can be improved under SDI if the subsurface drip irrigation is aerated.