A sandponics comparative study investigating different sand media based integrated aqua vegeculture systems using desalinated water

Scientific Reports, vol. 12, pp. 11093

Abstract

Abstract This study investigated the utilization of fish effluents as irrigation water and nutrient sources to close the crop yield gap and increase Swiss chard productivity in a closed-loop sandponics system. The experiment was operated using desalinated water from a Reverse Osmosis plant. The study followed a completely randomized design with four variants, i.e., an aquaponic system (T1) and three sandponics systems; October (T2), Benu Suef (T3) and Fayoum (T4). Results indicated that T2 and T4 significantly recorded the highest plant heights in all cuts. The number of leaves per plant decreased with the increase in cut number. Leaf area and chlorophyll was significantly different between the treatments. T1 significantly had low biomass yields in cuts one and two, almost 40% less than T3 and T4. The various systems efficiently minimized water consumption ranging from 1.5 to 1.96 L/m 2 /day. The crop protein content ranged from 11.84 to 18.72 mg/100 g dry weight. Mineral composition in cut one was significantly higher compared to cuts two and three. The study recommends a novel technique for increasing crop production using fish effluents under sandponics systems while increasing water and fertilizer efficiency to close the crop yield gap.

Authors 4

1. Hani Sewilam corresponding Aachen UNESCO Chair in Hydrological Changes and Water Resources Management

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   UNESCO Chair in Hydrological Changes and Water Resources Management, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. sewilam@lfi.rwth-aachen.de

   UNESCO Chair in Hydrological Changes and Water Resources Management, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. Fahad Kimera

   American University in Cairo

   Affiliation as printed

   Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES), School of Science and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt

3. Peter Nasr

   American University in Cairo

   Affiliation as printed

   Research Consultant and Adjunct Faculty, Center for Applied Research On the Environment and Sustainability (CARES), School of Science and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt

4. Mahmoud A.O. Dawood

   Kafrelsheikh University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, 33516, Egypt