Impact of Irrigation with Saline Water on the Production of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) under Soilless and Traditional Techniques

Abstract

A greenhouse experiment was carried out to evaluate the response of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) to saline water irrigation under soilless and traditional techniques. A special fertigation technique with two different salinity levels (1 dS m-1 and 4 dS m-1) of water was used under different soilless media, namely, perlite, gravel, and pozzolana as inert media, in addition to traditional techniques. Results showed that among the three soilless substrates, perlite medium produced the highest total yields with larger fruit sizes. Furthermore, the perlite medium enabled significant savings in water, compared to gravel (-15%) and pozzolana (-20%). Moreover, the results corroborated the existing knowledge on the tolerance of tomato to brackish water irrigation, since there was no significant difference in yield of plants grown in the soil irrigated with water with salinity levels of 1.1   dSm-1 and 4-5  dS m-1. Plant biometric data revealed a better and quicker development of plants grown in the soilless media compared to those grown in the soil, even in the case of freshwater irrigation.