The Effects of Irrigations with Treated Wastewaters on Nutritional Status and Uptake of Some Elements of Safflower
Project no. 969 · Status: Kapanmış · 2016
Summary
Due to population growth, industrialization and global warming, annual available water per capita is gradually decreasing in Turkey. Therefore, efforts for reusing and recycling of treated wastewater are becoming more important. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a valuable oil plant, and the use of vegetable oils in biodiesel production as well as safflower cultivation is becoming widespread. The nutritional status of the safflower is affected by the soil properties and irrigation practices. Moreover, plant nutritional status is among the primary factors affecting the yield and quality. In this study, effects of irrigations with treated domestic/industrial wastewaters of İTOB Organized Industrial Zone (Tekeli-Menderes, İzmir) on nutritional status and uptake of some elements of safflower were investigated. In order to determine the effects of treated wastewater on safflower (Dinçer variety), wastewaters treated with MBR technology and groundwater were used as irrigation water source. According to results, higher dry matter formation was determined in plants irrigated with groundwater than irrigated with wastewater. It was also observed that there were differences between groundwater and wastewater irrigation treatments in terms of macro and micro element contents of the plants. The N and Zn concentrations determined in the leaves was higher in plants irrigated with treated wastewater. There were no statistical differences between plants irrigated with groundwater and treated wastewater regarding to heavy metal contents. This result is the same in all plant parts. Consequently, the element contents of plant parts were generally higher in the plants irrigated with treated wastewater. Overall results obtained from this research showed that, MBR effluent water of “İTOB Organized Industrial Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant” could be utilized as irrigation water in safflower cultivation. Keywords: Irrigation, treated wastewater, safflower, yield, plant nutrition element, heavy metal.