Abstract
In many water scarce areas, saline water has been included as an important substitutable resource in agricultural irrigation. It would be of practical use to investigate the effect of stage-specific saline irrigation on yield, fruit quality, and other growth responses of greenhouse tomato, to establish a proper irrigation management strategy for tomato production in these regions. Here, saline irrigations (3.33, 8.33, and 16.67 dS m−1 NaCl solution) were applied during four growth stages of greenhouse tomato (L. esculentum Mill. cv. Zhongza No. 9) grown in the North China Plain, respectively. These include flowering and fruit-bearing stage (stage 1), first cluster fruit expanding stage (stage 2), second cluster fruit expanding stage (stage 3), and harvesting stage (stage 4). Compared with the following three stages, yield loss was most remarkable in stage 1 under all three salinity levels. Under irrigation practices using 3.33 dS m−1 saline water in all four stages, 8.33 dS m−1 saline water in latter three stages, and 16.67 dS m−1 saline water in stage 4, yield reduction was not significant while fruit quality was improved. In conclusion, it is feasible to use stage-specific saline irrigation for tomato production in water scarce areas like North China Plain.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Assouline S, Moller M, Cohen S, Ben-Hur M, Grava A, Narkis K, Silber A (2006) Soil-plant system response to pulsed drip irrigation and salinity: bell pepper case study. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:1556–1568
Ayers RS (1977) Quality of water for irrigation. J Irrig Drain Div 103:135–154
Bennett AJ (2000) Environmental consequences of increasing production: some current perspectives. Agr Ecosyst Environ 82:89–95
Campos CAB, Fernandes PD, Gheyi HR, Blanco FF, Campos SAF (2006) Yield and fruit quality of industrial tomato under saline irrigation. Sci Agr 63:146–152
Cook R, Calvin L (2005) Greenhouse tomatoes change the dynamics of the North American fresh tomato industry. In: Economic Research Report Number 2, United States Department of Agriculture. Available via DIALOG. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err2/. Accessed 2 Dec 2009
Cuartero J, Fernandez-Munoz R (1999) Tomato and salinity. Sci Hortic 78:83–125
del Amor FM, Martinez V, Cerda A (2001) Salt tolerance of tomato plants as affected by stage of plant development. Hortscience 36:1260–1263
Fales FW (1951) The assimilation and degradation of carbohydrates by yeast cells. J biol chem 193:113–124
He CX, Chen SC, Zhang ZB (2006) Studies on water-topdressing quantitative of tomato trans-summer high yield cultivation in plastic greenhouse. North China Agron J 21:31–36
He J, Chen XK, Shi Y, Li AH (2007) Dynamic computable general equilibrium model and sensitivity analysis for shadow price of water resource in China. Water Resour Manage 21:1517–1533
Heuer B, Ravina I, Davidov S (2005) Seed yield, oil content, and fatty acid composition of stock (matthiola incana) under saline irrigation. Aust J Agric Res 56:45–47
Kirda C, Cetin M, Dasgan Y, Topcu S, Kaman H, Ekici B, Derici MR, Ozguven AI (2004) Yield response of greenhouse grown tomato to partial root drying and conventional deficit irrigation. Agric Water Manage 69:191–201
Li YL, Stanghellini C, Challa H (2001) Effect of electrical conductivity and transpiration on production of greenhouse tomato (lycopersicon esculentum L.). Sci Hortic 88:11–29
Maas EV (1986) Salt tolerance of plants. Appl Agric Res 1:12–26
Magan JJ, Gallardo M, Thompson RB, Lorenzo P (2008) Effects of salinity on fruit yield and quality of tomato grown in soil-less culture in greenhouses in Mediterranean climatic conditions. Agric Water Manage 95:1041–1055
Malash N, Flowers TJ, Ragab R (2005) Effect of irrigation systems and water management practices using saline and non-saline water on tomato production. Agric Water Manage 78:25–38
Malash NM, Flowers TJ, Ragab R (2008) Effect of irrigation methods, management and salinity of irrigation water on tomato yield, soil moisture and salinity distribution. Irrig Sci 26:313–323
Mao XS, Liu MY, Wang XY, Liu CM, Hou ZM, Shi JZ (2003) Effects of deficit irrigation on yield and water use of greenhouse grown cucumber in the North China Plain. Agric Water Manage 61:219–228
Psarras G, Bertaki M, Chartzoulakis K (2008) Response of greenhouse tomato to salt stress and K+ supplement. Plant Biosyst 142:149–153
Pulupol LU, Behboudian MH, Fisher KJ (1996) Growth, yield, and postharvest attributes of glasshouse tomatoes produced under deficit irrigation. Hortscience 31:926–929
Qadir M, Sharma BR, Bruggeman A, Choukr-Allah R, Karajeh F (2007) Non-conventional water resources and opportunities for water augmentation to achieve food security in water scarce countries. Agric Water Manage 87:2–22
Reina-Sanchez A, Romero-Aranda R, Cuartero J (2005) Plant water uptake and water use efficiency of greenhouse tomato cultivars irrigated with saline water. Agric Water Manage 78:54–66
Satti SME, Lopez M, Alsaid FA (1994) Salinity induced changes in vegetative and reproductive growth in tomato. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 25:501–510
Shahnazari A, Ahmadi SH, Laerke PE, Liu F, Plauborg F, Jacobsen SE, Jensen CR, Andersen MN (2008) Nitrogen dynamics in the soil-plant system under deficit and partial root-zone drying irrigation strategies in potatoes. Eur J Agron 28:65–73
Sharma BR, Minhas PS (2005) Strategies for managing saline/alkali waters for sustainable agricultural production in South Asia. Agric Water Manage 78:136–151
Stevens MA, Kader AA, Albright-Holton M, Algazi M (1977) Genotypic variation for flavour and composition in fresh market tomatoes. J Am Soc Horti Sci 102:680–689
Vanieperen W (1996) Effects of different day and night salinity levels on vegetative growth, yield and quality of tomato. J Horti Sci 71:99–111
Wan SQ, Kang YH, Wang D, Liu SP, Feng LP (2007) Effect of drip irrigation with saline water on tomato (lycopersicon esculentum Mill) yield and water use in semi-humid area. Agric Water Manage 90:63–74
Xia J, Su RQ, He XW, Huang TQ (2008) Water resources problems in China and their countermeasures and suggestions. Bull Chin Acad Sci 23:116–120
Yurtseven E, Kesmez GD, Unlukara A (2005) The effects of water salinity and potassium levels on yield, fruit quality and water consumption of a native central anatolian tomato species (lycopersicon esculantum). Agric Water Manage 78:128–135
Zhang YQ, Kendy E, Yu Q, Liu CM, Shen YJ, Sun HY (2004) Effect of soil water deficit on evapotranspiration, crop yield, and water use efficiency in the North China Plain. Agric Water Manage 64:107–122
Zhang ZJ, Luo GZ, Wang Z, Liu CH, Li YS, Jiang XQ (2009) Study on sustainable utilization of groundwater in North China Plain. Resour Sci 31:355–360
Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Chaoxing He and Ph.D. candidates, Yanshan Fan and Haibin Qin, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for help nursing the tomato seedlings. We also thank Xuchu Wang, Dan Jiang, Xianyang Chen, and Pengxiang Fan of our laboratory for critical reading of this article. This work was supported by the National High Technology and Research Development Program of P. R. China (“863” project) (Grant No. 2007AA091705) and the Knowledge Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KSCX2-YW-N-003).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by J. Ayars.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bao, H., Li, Y. Effect of stage-specific saline irrigation on greenhouse tomato production. Irrig Sci 28, 421–430 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-009-0204-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-009-0204-x